Filter sock or no filter sock?

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I use them in one tank but primarily for microbubble control.

I find it a huge pain to remove them and wash them. They are pretty disgusting after a week.
Not sure whether to vote "yes" or "no" since it's only 1 tank I use them on. I don't really notice a difference in overall water quality. However the tanks I don't use them on, one of them I hose out every few months (it's a 20g tank so easy enough to empty and clean), and the other is a huge brown goo accumulation device and probably *should* be hosed out every few months - been a more yearly occurence in that one - and it's gruesome when it comes time to do it.

So pros and cons for sure.

"And I hate that everytime I take it out, I'm killing about a billion copepods, brittle stars, bristleworms, etc. etc. etc. so I spend a ridiculous amount of time picking those off and tossing them back into tank, all the while cursing myself for caring too dang much

Great to hear that I am not the only one.

[Atomikk]

Originally Posted by naesco

"And I hate that everytime I take it out, I'm killing about a billion copepods, brittle stars, bristleworms, etc. etc. etc. so I spend a ridiculous amount of time picking those off and tossing them back into tank, all the while cursing myself for caring too dang much

Great to hear that I am not the only one.

This is why I don't use filter socks. They are high maintenance tool for waste removal from your sump.. and nothing else. If you employ one or two powerheads in the sump, you won't allow the detritus to settle and will be expelled from the sump. Also, you can get hermit crabs to eat the detritius.

[Patrick1]

Originally Posted by Atomikk

This is why I don't use filter socks. They are high maintenance tool for waste removal from your sump.. and nothing else. If you employ one or two powerheads in the sump, you won't allow the detritus to settle and will be expelled from the sump. Also, you can get hermit crabs to eat the detritius.

Huh? I am pretty sure mine removes the waste from my tank before it hits the sump. I am not too keen on swirling waste around to be pumped back in to my tank. Really I am sure the 15 seconds every other day I spend to change mine over isn't that time consuming. Anyways to each there own, but don't hack socks they do a good job if used correctly.

[Doug]

If I expelled my detritus from the sump, it would go back into the tank, where I have mucho current to expell it into the sump. Not sure of the senario here.

Over the years, I have tried having the skimmer remove detritus from the sump. Yea, that works well and I have run some large skimmers. So I guess let it build in the sump with designed baffles to contain it for cleaning or use socks. One way or the other, one has to manually remove the detritus.

So I,m now trying socks, for the first time in 35 yrs. Cleaning them is a pain but no worse than trying to get that crap from one,s sump. For those that use bleach in a washer, {my wife,s going to love that one}. I wonder about using bleach to clean something going back into my tank. However I see some here and many on RC doing such.