Messy Filter Socks...

[tidal_waters]

Originally Posted by Milad

Why hasn't anyone suggested filter floss material? Since i switched to the filter floss, I find it better than the filter socks (water seems clearer)
I think i spent 6 bucks a couple months ago on the filter floss and still have tons left. I dont reuse, i just throw them away

Same here, a filter sock wasn't an option and wasn't really thought about during my build. So a drain guard follow by a trip to Micheals to grab that knitting stuff, fill it in with floss and voila! So far so good, I change it out every few days and toss it!

[staceyd72]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

They arrived about a week ago but I waited a few days to rotate them in since I had just put on clean felt socks the day before they came.

They are 200 micron (actually it looks like BRS doesn't sell anything BUT 200 micron) so they definitely last longer. The material feels like a sort of stiff nylon.

I have a bit of a cyano thing going on so they got clogged once already but I all I needed was to rinse them off and they were fully clean so I just put them back in instead of rotating in different ones.

Definitely getting longer between cleans, the felts I was using are 100 micron and I'd only get 2-3 days before the water was overflowing from the top.

I have sock holders in the sump so I got the ones with the plastic ring.

Thanks Tony,

I used the 100 micron felts also, but I noticed that I really had to change them at day two, the water would overflow them, whereas the 200 felts don't really need to be replaced sooner(I just do it to reduce the likelihood of NO3 buildup).

I have also found that the plastic ring breaks off from the felt over time, and the seams split, I think this may be a result of using too much bleach during the wash which is making the materials weaker; I'll have to reduce the quantity of bleach on the new ones.

Good luck with the cyano battle.

[es355lucille]

I only use a filter sock when I am cleaning my tank. I find that when I am dirtying things up during the cleaning, then I throw a sock on for a day. Same thing I clean my socks in the washing machine. I was told not to.....but I could not get it clean at all by rinsing it off.

[Stones]

How much bleach are you guys using when washing the filter socks in a washing machine? I've always just washed in hot water but all my filter socks are now a pleasant shade of gray and it is difficult to tell when they are dirty or clean unless the water is already overflowing out the top of the sock.

[Coleus]

I used the mesh sock and don't have to replace in months but then it is not doing a good job of trapping particles so i have to switch back to felt sock

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Stones

How much bleach are you guys using when washing the filter socks in a washing machine? I've always just washed in hot water but all my filter socks are now a pleasant shade of gray and it is difficult to tell when they are dirty or clean unless the water is already overflowing out the top of the sock.

I just use a "generous splash" of bleach (ie., I pour for about a second or so). In my old washing machine I'd run the cycle twice, once with bleach, once with nothing just to make sure it would rinse all out. My new washing machine is a front-loader and just has a setting for "whitest whites" and I set it to that and I have a section where you add detergent that's just for bleach, I just put the bleach in there and call it done. No detergent, just a bit of bleach and that's good enough.

[mws]

Originally Posted by Milad

Why hasn't anyone suggested filter floss material? Since i switched to the filter floss, I find it better than the filter socks (water seems clearer)
I think i spent 6 bucks a couple months ago on the filter floss and still have tons left. I dont reuse, i just throw them away

I will try this. Do you buy it from the fish store?
Big Al's sell it for 15$ a big bag in Calgary.

[Stones]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I just use a "generous splash" of bleach (ie., I pour for about a second or so). In my old washing machine I'd run the cycle twice, once with bleach, once with nothing just to make sure it would rinse all out. My new washing machine is a front-loader and just has a setting for "whitest whites" and I set it to that and I have a section where you add detergent that's just for bleach, I just put the bleach in there and call it done. No detergent, just a bit of bleach and that's good enough.

Thanks Tony, I'll give bleach a shot the next time my filter socks are up for cleaning.

[DiverDude]

Originally Posted by jon.smolders

I heard that washing filter socks in the washing machine can be a source of phosphates? Even if you don't use soap, it could pick up soap residue from inside the machine. Anybody have issues with this?

My skimmer would go nuts every time I put in a clean sock (even though I run no soap, no bleach and do a second rinse cycle). Now, I rinse each sock thoroughly with tap water and then RO before it goes back in the sump.

No problems now.

[staceyd72]

For anyone interested in the mesh socks, I found some on the BWI website, same price as BRS; I just ordered a couple myself, hopefully they're more durable than the felt ones.