Oh No!

[urbanknight]

Yesterday, I noticed that the bubbles in my skimmer were not as fine as they normally were. It has been about two months since I disassembled it for cleaning. Although it looked clean, I decided to take it apart and give it a citric acid bath. I discovered the culprit of my larger than normal bubbles in the skimmer was my filter socks! Look at this mess that I removed from the impeller sprockets! I was able to remove even more than what is there next to the impeller. Lesson learned...replace the filter socks when they ravel and have little balls on them after washing!

 

[kullas]

Nice catch

 

[Adam]

Or just don't use socks.

 

[NanCrab]

Or just don't use socks.

What would you use instead of socks?

 

[Adam]

What would you us instead of socks?

New tank, use socks to help with the ugly phase.
Mature tank, take the socks out and only use them to polish the water after a deep cleaning or when you want to show off the tank. Otherwise use nothing.

 

[civics14]

What would you use instead of socks?

I use filter cups with polyfill stuffing for polishing my water. No more washing nasty socks. Just change out every 3-4 days.

$10 50oz bag from walmart last about 6 months for me. I have 4 cups.

 

[lmm1967]

I don't have a filter sock or similar physical filtration device in the house.

I have started running carbon in a reactor on one system which does actually act like /perform a little like mechanical filtration.

I hate seeing pods and brittle stars stuck in filter socks etc

 

[NanCrab]

I have a carbon reactor but it isn’t hooked up simply because I don’t need that right now with a brand new tank. I thought the purpose of filter socks was to catch larger debris so it wouldn’t get into the return pump?

 

[raz0945]

Doug sorry about the problem, haven't seen that happen before, I hope your pump is ok. I've always used socks and I love them, they get all kinds of junk out of the water(fish poop,food, algae, molts from pods, loose bubble algae, sand, tiny pieces of crate, tiny pieces of foil from fish cubes, bristleworms and mini brittle stars and large pods). I change them about ever 4-5 days, turn them inside out and pick the live critters out and put them into the tanks that need them. I usually get 25 to 50 pods each time I change them, I would hate to buy them again. Lol Holley

 

[sharis100]

I pulled my filter floss on my big system and am only running the Clarisea. This helps my pod population in traveling between display, frag and refugium. No change in water clarity. Although we did have to adjust the nutrient level slightly to compensate for no filter floss daily changes.

 

[lmm1967]

I have a carbon reactor but it isn’t hooked up simply because I don’t need that right now with a brand new tank. I thought the purpose of filter socks was to catch larger debris so it wouldn’t get into the return pump?

Nah - no need to worry about stuff getting to your return pump - it'll pass most things being caught by your socks right through. Including those pods and brittle stars I mentioned - and most of them live through the ride.

Snails will can be a pain but they do that whether you have filter socks or not.

 

[popsbjd]

I use filter cups with polyfill stuffing for polishing my water. No more washing nasty socks. Just change out every 3-4 days.

$10 50oz bag from walmart last about 6 months for me. I have 4 cups.

I literally just bought 10lbs of polyfil from walmart. It was $26. The box is absurdly big. Should last me several years.

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Steve Burton]

I use this:
IZO All Supply Bonded Dacron Upholstery Grade Polyester Batting 48 Inch Wide (5 yards) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GLZGHL8/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_R6dAEb3TR33AW

 

[Eric_n_Ga]

Ew

 

[urbanknight]

I have to laugh at myself. Over a year ago I did a post titled "I fired my filter socks." I made cups to fit my sump and used polyfil in them. I bought a bunch of filter socks in a deal with some other stuff and decided to switch back to them. I think I'll follow Adam's advice and kick the socks to the curb again. I think I'll try matrix in one cup and carbon in the other for a while. I can always use the polyfil when I do a deep cleaning. Thanks Holly!

 

[RonS]

I just ordered the Aquamaxx roller filter. However, I have two drains, a primary and secondary ("Bean Animal"). The secondary drains almost nothing - it's primary job is to be a backup. I'm considering running the roller on the primary drain, and letting whatever comes down the secondary just pass through. My main concern is for detritus in the sump (I'm pretty cramped and cleaning is a huge PITA), but I also hate seeing all those critters and beneficial stuff get filtered out. This may be a good compromise...