Sorry shoulda mentioned the socks I use are felt and the tank is a custom designed all-in-one (Theiling roller mat won't fit). I've tried the mesh socks but they last 2 days max, or less if I clean the glass. Anyone need any mesh socks? I have 2 used used once each you can have them for free
The issue with just leaving the sock in is that when it overflows over the emergency it causes the ATO to fill a big void in the return section and ends up overfilling the back chamber, salinity drops a from 1.026 to 1.024, ATO alarm goes off and that's all I know, this is when I take the sock out put a new one in and have to wait a couple days for the water level to go back down so I can turn the ATO back on...
I could remove the sock pretend to go on vacation, see what happens... Maybe throw some filter floss down the hole to catch the bigger debris. My biggest concern with going sock-less is how the tank was designed. The filter sock section is separated from the skimmer section with a wall, that wall has a hole in it, which leads directly into the skimmer intake. With no sock, either the crap falls to the bottom of the sock section OR it makes a roger and goes right into a filter on my skimmer intake, 2 1/2 weeks of this would most likely completely clog the skimmer intake. I'll try and find a picture if that doesn't make sense...