kriswaters Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 What type of material are these "filter socks" made of??? Is there something at home that you could use to DIY??? I was thinking panty-hose. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 I have seen some patterns for filter socks made of fabric felt. I don't remember what site it was on. Maybe RC or NR. It may be worth a try to DIY some filter socks. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 I went away from the socks as I found that the cleaning process was a hassle. I designed my sump to flow the incoming water over an 18" x 8" filter floss pad. The flow of the water keeps the pad in place and it rests on top of the plastic egg crate material commonly used. For floss material I go to the fabric store and buy a full roll of 10oz quilt batting. This costs about $45 and lasts about 1 to 2 years. About once every 3 months or so I cut out a bunch of pads and store them away. When I have to change filter pads it takes less than a minute to pull out the dirty pad and drop in a new clean pad. I then throw away the old pad and I am done. I typically change the pad once a week, and if I am stirring up the detritus, I'll double up the pads for a quicker polish job on the water. If anyone is interested I can sketch up the design. Rico Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Rico, I would love to hear more. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 I use the large nylon filter socks. I have two so every week I switch them out and wash the filthy one. I wash it by itself, small load, hot water, a TBL or so of bleach (no detergent), extra rinse cycle. Works great for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 I designed my sump to allow maximum water flow with minimum bubbles, and to be easy to maintain. I found that filter socks require more effort to maintain than just pulling out filter floss and throwing it in the garbage and then dropping in a new piece of filter floss. It takes me about 30 seconds to change my filter. And if the tank is stirred up I can double the floss material for a quicker polish. The main point is to show how you can setup flow through a sump to use filter floss (quilt batting) to easily keep your tank clean. Sump Design Notes To minimize noise and bubbles I made 2 vertical saw cuts up the length of the pipe. This allows air to escape without producing gurgling bubbles. By forcing the water from the tank to flow over the top of baffle #1 before the filter floss, a large amount of the bubbles are eliminated. The filter floss is just 10 ounce quilt batting purchased from the local fabric store. Very cheap. I can buy a full roll for about $45 and it lasts close to 2 years. The flow of the water will normally keep the filter floss in place, however you may want to put another layer of plastic grate on top as air bubbles can collect under the floss and if you stop the flow, it will rise. Forcing the water to flow under baffle #2 and then over baffle #3 any remaining air bubbles will be forced to the surface of the water. Baffle #2 is intentionally not allowed to go to the top of the sump. This provides a fail safe path for the water if the filter floss material become clogged. The bubble trap baffle covers the pump intake as it tends to create a vortex and suck from the surface. This is a piece of acryic that is siliconed inplace on all sides with a 1" gap from the bottom of the sump to the edge on one side only. This forces all water to the pump to be drawn from the bottom of the sump and stops the vortex problem. I have a 240 main tank with 2 45 gallon refugiums and can easily run 3000 gph through this sump without getting bubbles. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions. Ricol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 (worthless) Show us pictures of your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Ok, Here are a few pics And here is the web site (2 pages) showing the construction of the 240. http://webpages.charter.net/rberg/ Rico Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 how long have you had the idols? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Unfortunately they recently expired due to a close encounter with a closed loop suction screen and could not get away. I have since completely changed the closed loop suction to now incorporate 12" of perforated 2" pipe to reduce the suction velocity. They had been in the tank over a year and a half. Rico Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 You have a very nice set up Rico!!! Thanks for sharing your pictures. Those are some pretty cool clams you have there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Very nice Rico! You obviously put a lot of time, thought and effort! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Ok, so I went out and bought two pairs of cheapy knee high nylons. I rinsed them well in RO water then attached one to each end of my overflow pipe that leads to the fuge. The pipe has a "T" on it, thus both nylons were used. I used the power head to blow off the rocks and the sand, and as usually, junky water. This time however, it cleared up quite rapidly then with just the skimmer working and the crud going straight into the fuge then the return then back to the tank. The little knee highs trapped all of that crap! I bought white, just so I could see when they were dirty. I think that I will use them only when I power off the rocks and sand. I still like the floss idea of Rico's. I am trying to figure out how to incorporate it into my sump! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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