- Location
- westchester
im just wondering about fellow reefers input on using or not using socks
to filter with or without socks pros and cons?
- Thread starter salpet
- Start date
- Location
- Matawan, NJ
i love my filter socks.. i found a lot of diff running w/ and w/o the socks. with socks i change every 3 days.. throw used ones in 5 gallon bucket. and end of the week or 2 weeks, put in the machine all together. changing every 2-3 days (depending on how much i feed that week) i have seen reduction on phosphate , nitrate and clarity of water. will not go back sockless.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
I am happy not running socks. When I do my water change I just suck up whatever settled in my sump and good to go. Corals seem to like the extra food and there is no more changing socks every 2 to 3 days and no worries I'm putting a contamination in my tank. Don't see any difference with or without socks
- Location
- Connecticut
I have a fish only tank and without a sock the sump bottom gets dirty pretty fast. Here is a link to a recent thread on this topic.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/170079-filter-socks.html
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/170079-filter-socks.html
- Location
- Long island
Alls I have ever used is socks. Change them every week and the old ones I rinse in bleach, then rinse, and rinse again with RO water and let them dry in the sun... Once there is no more bleach smell they are good to go and I have never had a problem. They catch some pretty disgusting stuff, and the next chamber is my skimmer and it cleans up the extra garbage. Its always personal preference, people suggest them and others don't.
I am very high on my bioload, sometimes too high. Socks help me keep things clean while feeding heavily. In a low bioload tank with low nutrients, you could give or take. Not really necessary. Socks are just another way to reduce nutrients if you need it.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Don't understand how it reduces nutients? It sits in the tank getting dirty so now you have a dirty sock sitting a few hours after a new sick is put in. All it's doing is catching solid waste. What it does is keep free floating detritus from entering the tank don't see how it is reducing nutients? Like I said haven't noticed any difference in water quality or higher po4 or no3 since I stopped using socks 5 months ago
yes the socks are catching solid waste and then removed, before it can break down any further. without the sock it will continue to break down fowling your water further. the way i see it.
i wouldn't go with out socks. other wise your depending on your skimmer and biological filtration. and I'm sure it works for some.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Not just relying on that. I rely on my water changes sucking up whatever settles into my fuge and sump. Just saying if you take fish poo and put it in the sock you don't think it's still getting through into your tank? It's sitting in there for 3 days. Yes your removing the sock but 3 days at 77 degrees it's getting through into your tank. Like the earlier post I have always used filter socks and see no difference in water quality what so ever in the 2 at all except I'm not a slave in changing socks and cleaning them
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
And I even feel the extra waste floating around is feeding my corals because between my dosing and no socks my sps are growing a lot faster in my new tank then my old setuo
your absolutely right, the poo stays in the sock till you change it. with out the sock what ever poo doesn't get eaten, stays in your system.
if you can maintain good parameters with out them, then don't change what your doing.
i feel i have to use socks cause i struggle with clean water.
- Location
- Wallingford, CT
I've used socks for 10+ years and one day decided to do a trial of 3 months without socks.
I lowered my drain pipes so that they would be about an inch below the water line and drilled the portion of the pipes about six inches above the water line to alleviate any back pressure for submerging the exit flow.
Needless to say, I went back to socks after the 3 months.
Without the socks, I could not maintain the clear look in the display (and I utilize ozone + UV filtration).
There was always a constant salt creep everywhere above the sump including the first 3~4 inches of the floor directly in front of the sump.
Started to accumulate detritus at the bottom of the sump after just 3 months.
The good that I did see was live mysid shrimps flourish in the sump and even some baby red banded trochus snails that were never evident when I utilized socks but the cons from above outweighed the pros for me.
I lowered my drain pipes so that they would be about an inch below the water line and drilled the portion of the pipes about six inches above the water line to alleviate any back pressure for submerging the exit flow.
Needless to say, I went back to socks after the 3 months.
Without the socks, I could not maintain the clear look in the display (and I utilize ozone + UV filtration).
There was always a constant salt creep everywhere above the sump including the first 3~4 inches of the floor directly in front of the sump.
Started to accumulate detritus at the bottom of the sump after just 3 months.
The good that I did see was live mysid shrimps flourish in the sump and even some baby red banded trochus snails that were never evident when I utilized socks but the cons from above outweighed the pros for me.
- Location
- Staten Island, Brooklyn
never used socks, depending on skimmer, refugium, scrubber, and twice a week water changes to keep my nutrients down.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Pecan I had the same issue with salt creep and splashing so I just put a a piece of glass going from front to back,put 2 bulkhead for the drain pipes and problem solved 
- Location
- Westchester, N.Y
I stop using them because sometimes I forget to remove them after 3 days. So I only run them one day a week when I clean tank and do water change. I see no difference when using than or not. I'm finding the less I do the better the tank runs on its own.
- Location
- Long Island
I never used them water change once a week also use my turkey baser to clean out the sump once a week also run two cups of rox 8.0 in a reactor changed out every three weeks. Never had or have a dirty water problem.
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