[sgarron]

How are you supposed to clean these things? I rinse and rinse but they are still brown.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Get more than ona and throw them in the washing machine and make sure they are rinsed well.

[sgarron]

Washing machine? soap or no soap?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Use soap......but rinse it well before drying

[jimw369]

Turn socks inside out.
Wash with bleach
Turn socks rightside out
Wash again with nothing (no soap or bleach)
Hang in sun to dry for a couple hours


I have 7-8 socks I keep on a rotation so Im not washing filter socks all the time.

[sgarron]

thanks, that's what i'll do

[e_baer]

how much do they go for?

[jimw369]

I get the ones from Premiun aquatics. I think they are under $6 a peice. 4" mouth at the top and 13-14" long. 100 micron

[e_baer]

ok, so let me get this straight.

A filter sock fits onto the pvc pipe outlet? then it basically captures most of the lose debris and then you can pull it off and add another one.


is this all correct?

[jimw369]

Thats pretty much it. If you bounce around the equipment stores online looking at sumps you will probably see some pics how they work.

[e_baer]

do they justr clip on to the pvc pip? I have 1", do i need anything special?

[Dustin1300]

Most prefer to not use it because it is the same idea as in a powerfilter...your running your clean water through the debri that is staying in the sock all the time...

[sgarron]

Dustin, what you suggest for mechanical filtration then?

[pogodzib]

What's a filter sock?


J/K - I don't use them either. My filtration system consists of tons of LR/LS, a protein skimmer, and an ozonizer.

[sgarron]

Aquarium Filter Sock

[pogodzib]

I know what a filter sock is. That's what there is a J/K in my post. But no, I don't use them. I didn't like having to clean them or swap them out all of the time.

[sgarron]

oops, didn't see the second part there..

[Dustin1300]

pogodzib had the answer I would have said...It just seems simple when you think about it, you do not want all your clean water running through a dirty sock full of matter you don't want in your tank...

[pogodzib]

There are many people that use filter socks and I think there are some uses for them in reef tanks. The main type of setup that I think they are useful in are the bare bottom tanks since those tanks generally have very high flows so nothing settles on the bottom and they need to be vacuumed to keep detrius from accumulating. The filter sock in those type of tank will filter out some of the detrius from accumulating so quickly. In a tank with lesser flow and a sand bed, very little of the detrius in the tank is free floating because it settles amongst rocks, into the sand, etc... and gets broken down by your inverts. Higher flow rates in this type of tank usually doesn't work as good because you need high flow near the bottom of the tank to help keep the detrius afloat and that usually causes problems with blowing sand around. IMO, in these type of tanks, a filter sock causes more harm than good because the clean water keeps getting forced through a sock filled with waste.