impur Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I had never used one before, but I plan on using one all the time on my 60g cube i just setup. I frequently use a shopvac to clean the sump on my 75gal and that just gets to be a pain in the rear. I picked up a 6" sock from Garrett for a great price but its gonna be too big. After seeing the LFS charging $15 for the 4" ones, i ended up going to Walmart and buying 2 yards of the same material for $6. I made a pattern out of cardboard, cut them to size and have my wife sew em into a sock. This way i have 10+ fresh ones at all times to swap out. My sock holder is so simple I can change out the sock in 30 seconds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I had never used one before, but I plan on using one all the time on my 60g cube i just setup. I frequently use a shopvac to clean the sump on my 75gal and that just gets to be a pain in the rear. I picked up a 6" sock from Garrett for a great price but its gonna be too big. After seeing the LFS charging $15 for the 4" ones, i ended up going to Walmart and buying 2 yards of the same material for $6. I made a pattern out of cardboard, cut them to size and have my wife sew em into a sock. This way i have 10+ fresh ones at all times to swap out. My sock holder is so simple I can change out the sock in 30 seconds This is a great idea. We want pics and a diy thread!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'll get some pics together tonight then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I believe that Lowman and Grassi are right. Socks can be nitrate factories which may be mitigated by aeration and regular changing. A lot of the material is used as filters on big rigs, hence the Purolator labels. I have bought rimmed filters for as little as $2.50 apiece from industrial suppliers. Premium Tank (Garrett) has some really cool filters that are bonded on the exterior surface. I think they are distributed by BRS? Make sure you are getting felted and not just mesh material. I have gone back to using socks but need to be reminded by my wife to change them when they smell.(whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 OK now for the stupid question.....How do you know when to change them? color change of the material? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 OK now for the stupid question.....How do you know when to change them? color change of the material? Everyone's answer will be slightly different but my tank has enough return flow that when the water level rises in my sock to near overflowing (over the edge of the sock)I change it out...that usually is 2-3 days...that means enough "stuff" has collected on the inside walls of the sock to restrict water flow thru... DrMerle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I change mine when the water starts to rise, but before it overflows. Usually about once a week, and by then the color is starting to brown a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohaynow Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 So i found a nice easy and most importantly, cheap, way to get my filter sock back in a spot where its not shoved in the corner and will be able to work more effectively or so i think. I picked up a small rubbermaid wastebasket and put a divider of eggcrate in it. On one side I will have my filter sock and the other will have my live rock rubble. Then via a uniseal and one inch pipe, the water will be carted over to my sump where it will go through my refugium, overflow into my skimmer's portion and then finally back into the tank. Anyone see any problems with this setup? My return pump is rated for 700 gallons per hour, so by the time it reaches the top of my tank its only pumping about 400-500 so the one inch pipe should be able to keep up with everything just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Many people don't use them. They are not essential for the tank as far as care. I just like the way the tank looks with using them. We didn't put one in the Pioneer school tank as it was one less thing that the teachers had to be responsible for and the tank still looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninkylou Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I have 2 of them. I use a few old towels for water spillage...I am not very neat. I just put 1 sock in the wash with the towels and just run them with hot water. I find the sock gets much cleaner when I have something else in the wash for it to beat against, and since I am only using the towels for tank maintenance washing them without soap seems to be fine. I don't bleach my socks...I don't really see a reason other than having them white and they are in the sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I just started using one on one of my drains. The other drain that goes to my fuge doesn't have one. I have noticed it keeps my sump looking nice, but other than that I have noticed 0 positive effects. To me they seem to be kind of a pain so far because it is another thing I have to do maintainance on. If there was any other positive affects I would keep running them but I am thinking about stopping. I was hoping it would clear up some of the free floating stuff in the water column but I notice nothing. It does get nasty looking so I know it's pulling stuff out I just can't tell a difference with my corals, water quality/clarity or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Well not all filter socks are created equally. We really like the ones we got from Tim at Westside. It filters out the debris better. We had one that I couldn't tell and the water looked all grainy still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 John you should have looked at my sump under the 75. Never had a filter sock and the sump is filthy! I used to vacuum it with a shop vac at least once a month. That became more of a pain than replacing the socks for me, so the cube will always have a sock on the drain. The ones i made seem to work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I've used the mesh socks before and have been disappointed. My thinking was;200 mesh vs 200 felt and they should be the same at filtering. Plus the mesh is easier to clean. Well it is easier to clean but it does not filter anywhere near as much as felt. It seems the the indirect path that the water is forced to take with felt material allows for a much higher exposure to capture the particulates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 removed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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