lastlight's 404

[Coleus]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I call my first acrylic creation Big Ugly. She holds 3 socks and stands on 4 legs. Excuse the crappy iPhone snap.

Not going to win me any craftsmen awards but not but bad considering I did all the cuts freehand with a skillsaw and drilled out the 3 openings with HUNDREDS of small holes. Sure is something to be said for having the right tools for the job but that can't be said about me! Can't wait to install her tomorrow!

Water feeds into that box in the front then heads down the raceway. Exits out the end should the 3 socks get dirty enough to not keep up.

This look very nice. Good job! now make me one lol. J/K

[lastlight]

Trust me you wouldn't pay for one! I slapped it together in 2 hours... used 8 brs containers of calcium and soda ash to half-ass press things in place but only for a few minutes and then moved onto the next seam. The seams are not works of art haha.

Still can't wait to finally put my microbubble/detritus issues in the sump to rest. I need to raise my skimmer up a little so I can feed the outlet into the raceway as well. Since the skimmer is gravity fed from the overflow... a lot of detritus that is not skimmed out finds its way into the sump via the outlet.

I only have 1 of the new vertex socks (very fine mesh) and will get 2 more asap. I have been cleaning it around 3 times a day (clogs fast given my return flow rate and the thoroughness of the filtration. I expect to pull the 3 socks for a rinse once a day now.

[mseepman]

okay...I have to be honest in saying that rinsing a sock even once per day is waaaaay too much for me, let alone three times! There must be a better way...maybe a coarser sock?

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by mseepman

okay...I have to be honest in saying that rinsing a sock even once per day is waaaaay too much for me, let alone three times! There must be a better way...maybe a coarser sock?

Ahhhh.... Now we understand why he was l/f acrylic ..... Looks pretty good for a first attempt mang.....

I'm with Mark on this one..... I used to have to change out my filter sock every two or three days when I used them.... Even that became tedious for me.... Hence me not using one anymore..... A coarser sock would definitely help lessen the maintenance ....

[gregzz4]

I'll be using 300s in mine. They'll get dirty and act like 200s soon enough before washing
Brett, if you haven't gone shopping yet, you might consider 2 sets for swapping and heavy washing

[lastlight]

Been doing it a month and honestly don't mind it. I don't want the stuff sitting in the socks for days anyways. This is a cheap way to eliminate nutrients too. These socks spray clean in less than 30 seconds.

[gregzz4]

Are yours the fiber or nylon ones?

[waynemah]

I tried the sock thing, wish there was a better way

[gregzz4]

Having the sock(s) after the skimmer makes a difference. Less chance of NO3 build up and such

[Coleus]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I have been cleaning it around 3 times a day (clogs fast given my return flow rate and the thoroughness of the filtration. I expect to pull the 3 socks for a rinse once a day now.

Now i know that time is the key factor for having success sps, my goal of having a nice sps tank is gone. I better stop spending money into it lol.