Filter Sock Cleaning

[civics14]

So, I been thinking about switching to socks for ease of cleaning vs nylon mesh and rinsing them out. They start to get smelly overtime and stained.

Well, I'm on septic and I always try to avoid bleach if at all possible. I've read people had really good luck with hydrogen peroxide as a soaking agent then run a regular wash cycle. Then digging deeper I found that some people were using oxiclean (this particular one). So, I brought it up with Randy Holmes-Farley (the reef chemist) and the ingredients, hoping to get some clarification.

Anyone ever use oxiclean free for this purpose? Here is the ingredients below. The concern is the last 2 for me. Not sure if they wash out easy.
Sodium Carbonate
Sodium Carbonate Peroxide
C12-15 alcohols ethoxylated
Acrylic acid homopolymer

 

[ichthyoid]

The main active ingredient used is actually sodium percarbonate (which they call the peroxide above). That is what it becomes when dissolved in water. You can buy it here, just make a solution by weight & dissolve -

Example: 5g of the powder to 95ml of water makes a 5% solution
* always add the powder slowly to the water while stirring. Not the other way around.

Premium - Sodium Percarbonate - 99.9% Pure - Anhydrous 2 Pounds (Solid Hydrogen Peroxide - Oxygenated Bleach) - Multi-Use - Safe in Home - Ecoxall Chemicals: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Premium - Sodium Percarbonate - 99.9% Pure - Anhydrous 2 Pounds (Solid Hydrogen Peroxide - Oxygenated Bleach) - Multi-Use - Safe in Home - Ecoxall Chemicals: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[civics14]

The main active ingredient used is actually sodium percarbonate (which they call the peroxide above). That is what it becomes when dissolved in water. You can buy it here, just make a solution by weight & dissolve -

Example: 5g of the powder to 95ml of water makes a 5% solution
* always add the powder slowly to the water while stirring. Not the other way around.

Premium - Sodium Percarbonate - 99.9% Pure - Anhydrous 2 Pounds (Solid Hydrogen Peroxide - Oxygenated Bleach) - Multi-Use - Safe in Home - Ecoxall Chemicals: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Premium - Sodium Percarbonate - 99.9% Pure - Anhydrous 2 Pounds (Solid Hydrogen Peroxide - Oxygenated Bleach) - Multi-Use - Safe in Home - Ecoxall Chemicals: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

I thought of going this route as well, but I decided to try oxiclean free first since it’s fairly cheap at only $6.83 for 3lbs. I used 2 Tablespoon on a trial load of two socks and it came out super clean. I might stick with this for now.

But i did order a bunch more socks now since this is easier than rising the nylon mesh bags out

 

[jcook54]

I do the same thing but with sodium precarbonate powder. I've got 5lbs sitting in the laundry room and throw a tablespoon or two in whenever I wash my filter socks and it seems to work pretty well.

 

[billyocean]

You can soak in bleach/water in a 5 gallon bucket..then flush a couple times. After that washing machine.

 

[Adam]

Pure Sodium Precarbonate is what I've used as well. No other added chemicals. I mix it pretty strong and then let whatever I'm cleaning sit till the bubbling stops and rinse several times.

For the record, even though I will use them initially at startup, I hate filter socks. As soon as things are stable and bacteria colonies are built up I won't be using them.

 

[civics14]

Pure Sodium Precarbonate is what I've used as well. No other added chemicals. I mix it pretty strong and then let whatever I'm cleaning sit till the bubbling stops and rinse several times.

For the record, even though I will use them initially at startup, I hate filter socks. As soon as things are stable and bacteria colonies are built up I won't be using them.

I just like how it keeps the water column clear

 

[Adam]

I just like how it keeps the water column clear

My $0.02. UV keeps the water color clear. Detritus is free coral food.

Once or twice a week I blow the rocks off with a maxjet pump zip tied to a 1/2" or 3/4" piece of pvc. I crank up the pumps & powerheads and proceed to blow the crap everywhere. I'll even blast the sump and get everything in suspension a couple times a month. Think of a storm hitting the reef.

My lighting schedule is different than most. Whites on 1st and off last. Once the blues turn off for the day and the whites are real low all the coral extend and put out their feeders. That's the window that I do this in. Once the whites turn off is when I shut the skimmer down for a few hours and add aminos. You could do aminos on a different night and let the skimmer pick up some of the stuff blown around if you wanted to.

You brought up Randy Holmes-Farley. He's stated he doesn't care about detritus and had over an inch of it in his sump before. I keep certain CUC in the sump and I prefer to blow things around occasionally.

Detritus is it as bad as some make out?

I have been running my 100 gallon for nearly a year now without filter wool. socks or other forms of mechanical filtration unless you call protein skimming mechanical filtration which is it to a point. I currently use Siporax, Oxydators and an ATS to deal with nutrients and all seems well. I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[civics14]

My $0.02. UV keeps the water color clear. Detritus is free coral food.

Once or twice a week I blow the rocks off with a maxjet pump zip tied to a 1/2" or 3/4" piece of pvc. I crank up the pumps & powerheads and proceed to blow the crap everywhere. I'll even blast the sump and get everything in suspension a couple times a month. Think of a storm hitting the reef.

My lighting schedule is different than most. Whites on 1st and off last. Once the blues turn off for the day and the whites are real low all the coral extend and put out their feeders. That's the window that I do this in. Once the whites turn off is when I shut the skimmer down for a few hours and add aminos. You could do aminos on a different night and let the skimmer pick up some of the stuff blown around if you wanted to.

You brought up Randy Holmes-Farley. He's stated he doesn't care about detritus and had over an inch of it in his sump before. I keep certain CUC in the sump and I prefer to blow things around occasionally.

Detritus is it as bad as some make out?

I have been running my 100 gallon for nearly a year now without filter wool. socks or other forms of mechanical filtration unless you call protein skimming mechanical filtration which is it to a point. I currently use Siporax, Oxydators and an ATS to deal with nutrients and all seems well. I...

www.reef2reef.com

Oh, its not that I care about detritus on the bottom. I care about it and floating particles in the water column. Just not visually pleasing to me.

 

[Adam]

Oh, its not that I care about detritus on the bottom. I care about it and floating particles in the water column. Just not visually pleasing to me.

That's all food for something

*Edit* I used to feel the same way. Then I got tired of swapping & cleaning socks or other filter material twice a week. Cleaning the skimmer is bad enough. Once I stopped the socks I found it really didn't bother me. Most stuff either settles out or ends up in the sump. DIY Coral Snow dosed in the system before you go to be will yield a crystal clear system when you get up in the morning too. If I'm going to have people over I'll throw the socks in a couple hours before they are due to arrive. Once they leave, out they go.