- Location
- Hicksville, NY
OK, before everyone ?dogpiles? me :redface: for spouting this heresy this I have been doing a lot of ?research? on the benefits of having and NOT having filter socks, and I?ve come to the conclusion that they are beneficial and they are a detriment at the same time. This is based upon MANY threads I've seen all over the web where there are proponents of (and detractors of) filter socks. I tend to fall in the latter category after all this reading. Why?
The way I look at it, AS LONG AS YOU ARE DILIGENT at removing filter socks on a VERY short-term basis ? say, 2-3 days max ? they are probably OK, but they do not continually export material, they only hold it "off to the side, so to speak, until you intervene and change the sock out.
Now here?s my idea: Remove the filter socks and allow the skimmer to gunk-up a little faster because now it?s going to see water with more suspended crap in it. This should result in gunkier skimmate which is CONTINUOUSLY BEING EXPORTED instead of just ?held? as in the case of a filter sock. The idea here is to remove instead of just sequester :wink1:
OK, I?m ready ? let me have it :smash: !
-John
- Filter socks keep water crystal clear by removing suspended silt, sand, ?mulm? and detritus from the water column. Filter socks also KEEP this same unwanted material in the water and allow trapped ?mulm? and detritus the opportunity to decompose until it?s so small that it passed through the filter?s mesh anyway, and even before that the water is being continually polluted by this material as is decomposing.
- Filter socks are beneficial in keeping water clarity pristine be exporting the material they can catch and getting out of suspension in the water column. Filter socks also must be changed regularly ? if they are not, they become bacterial breeding grounds. Even when you DO change them out, the stuff has already been in there for X period of time - it's not getting any less decomposed as it sits there, even for a day.
The way I look at it, AS LONG AS YOU ARE DILIGENT at removing filter socks on a VERY short-term basis ? say, 2-3 days max ? they are probably OK, but they do not continually export material, they only hold it "off to the side, so to speak, until you intervene and change the sock out.
Now here?s my idea: Remove the filter socks and allow the skimmer to gunk-up a little faster because now it?s going to see water with more suspended crap in it. This should result in gunkier skimmate which is CONTINUOUSLY BEING EXPORTED instead of just ?held? as in the case of a filter sock. The idea here is to remove instead of just sequester :wink1:
OK, I?m ready ? let me have it :smash: !
-John