Filter Socks-Cleaning, Etc...

[texhorns98]

So I've just started running a filter sock on my drain lines. I have two drains going into the sump and one big filter sock around both of them. Two questions:

1. How do you know when they need to be changed? When people talk about overflowing, are they referring to junk coming out of the top of the sock, or just water spilling out over the top?

2. What method do you use to clean them? My wife suggested putting it in the laundry with some towels until I told her it had fish poop on it. Now I'll have to wash by hand or wait until she's not around to toss it in the laundry.

Thanks!

 

[rostato]

They will just spill water over the top. I have like 8 of them. When they get dirty I tyhrow them in a bucket in the garage. When I throw the last one in the tank, I throw all them into the washer with some bleach and run a second rinse. If I still smell bleach I rinse again. I should use a conditioner on them.

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I would wait until I had a good size load of them and wash them in the laundry. Just let her know I’s not as nasty as she thinks. Your skimmer, if you are running one, removes most of that fish poop. I always washed them alone with hot water and detergent then put them through several rinse cycles including one with declorinator. </span></span>

 

[budsreef]

I turn mine inside out and use a hose to clean them and then just let them air dry. If you clean them as soon as you take them out the hose works great. If I get lazy and let them dry first, then I hose them as best as I can and then soak in bleach water.

Make sure the sock is lower than the lip of the tank because when they get clooged water will come over the top as others have said.

 

[dakota9]

Bleach, rinse, rinse and LET DRY!

 

[weaglereefer]

Throw them in with a few plain white t-shirts with some bleach and a hot wash, and an extra rinse cycle.

 

[dakota9]

Does it seem like after a filter sock is used once it cloggs up faster than it did when new? I know tthats the way it works out for me..... I think the weave shrinks when its washed and that causes it to clog quicker

 

[jamos5790]

Yeah Dakota I think I have had that happen too.

 

[wbrown]

bleach, rinse x2, very dry as in a week on a shelf or longer.
I have several pair for my tanks.
I've noticed the weave seems to condense after washing too, I figured it was normal.

 

[william1]

Wash with bleach water and a double rinse.... twicwe a month.

 

[dannybradley]

Run on hot cycle with bleach, then let it dry completely. By the time it dries, the bleach goes to 2 NaCl + 2 H2O &#8594; Cl2 + H2 + 2 NaOH. That bleach to salt, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide.

 

[twocute2b4u]

I cleaned the filter sock on my tank for the first time yesterday and only used the spray attachment on my sink to clean all of the muck out. I sprayed it clean from the outside, turned it inside out and cleaned from the inside, then I put it back in the tank. I felt that I removed a good portion of the junk.