I used to use socks but get really tired of the extra maintenance of cleaning them. Plus, doing a load of laundry for 6 filter socks just seemed wrong to me. I suppose I could have bought more and stretched out the cleaning interval but then I'd have dirty filter socks laying around probably molding. Anyway, now a days I only put on a sock if I've done some aggressive cleaning in the tank like sand stirring or rock scrubbing that kicks up major particulates. Otherwise I run sockless and my tank hasn't crashed yet.
