Washing your socks!

Beau is hosting the January Meeting this coming Saturday the 14th at 6PM.  It will be BYOB as well as a snack to share and raffle items are always welcome.  It has been requested that there be “NO SHOES” on the carpet due to it being a whitish color.

He doesn’t have a tank to view but we will have plenty to discuss in hopes that it will get the NEW YEAR off to a good start.  The annual membership fees are due, so now would be a good time to get them in to our Treasurer Stacey Hahn.   Fees are $20 per individual or $25 per family

Attendance was low at the election meeting in November and no votes were taken at December’s meeting so we have decided to take votes for anyone that didn’t get the opportunity in November and will be attending this meeting.  
We will add the votes to November’s ballots and the announcement will be made during the meeting so we can go forward.
NOMINATIONS:
President:  Jim & Nacho
V. President: Ed, Bo & Daniel Leigey
Treasurer: Stacey
Secretary: Carmen & Angie

Let’s hope the New Year brings new members, returning members and new ideas.  The club is always willing to take suggestions to get the most out of the hobby we all enjoy.

Please PM Nate C. by clicking here for directions if you are not a club member.  

Club members can click here to go to the club member only forum to get directions.

Hope to see you all there!

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[angelscrx]

I bought two 200 micron filter socks for the sump and boy do they work.  I placed one on the drain tube in the sump and you could definitely tell the difference in the clarity of the water in the tank.  I bought two so I could switch out when one gets dirty and so now I am washing the other in the washing machine with no detergent as Les suggested once.  I would recommend these things to anyone because they work great.

[Les]

Ya, I like them too.

[angelscrx]

Les, where do you think I got the idea?

[VickiG]

We use 100 micron socks on the drain-to-sump outlets and yes, the certainly do get dirtly.  We don't wash them in the washing machine though - our machine is a front loader and there is always a little water retained in the drum, so I'd be afraid they'd get some detergent/softener/bleach - something toxic - so Darrel washes them out by hand.  We used to tie them around the pvc drains, but got rid of the ties and bought a bunch of cable wraps(tie-wraps) so now we just thread one through the hemmed top of the sock and tighten around the pvc with a tie-wrap gun - then cut it off when we replace the socks.  Much easier than dealing with the ties.  

Our biggest problem right now is finding a good way to suction out detritus from the bottom of the tank.  A piece of rigid tubing tie-wrapped to some clear tubing seems to be the only thing that works well and getting the suction started on that is the only problem.  An "X" made of toothpicks stuck through the bottom of the rigid tubing keeps snails out of the tube while allowing the rest of the junk to flow through.  But it isn't ideal and we are open to suggestions.  Remember we have a bare bottom tank, so cleaning the detritus is a constant chore it seems.

[Les]

Vicki,
You could run the empty washer in rinse first and you should be fine. As to hanging the socks, I have made some holders that work well, and in fact am installing them on all the latest sumps I build. They are for the socks with a ring in them though.

[dakota's dad]

where can you get these socks from?

[Ed]

If it were me I would use them when I do a water change.    You will find most of your pods get caught in these.   My oppinion is You will also find your corals react better without them.

[VickiG]

Vicki,
You could run the empty washer in rinse first and you should be fine. As to hanging the socks, I have made some holders that work well, and in fact am installing them on all the latest sumps I build. They are for the socks with a ring in them though.

Yeah, I think I'd like to see that set up because I do think the socks held open by the rings are probably better.  You'll have to show that to Darrel next time we are out there, unless you can bring it to the next club meeting to show as an example how you'd retrofit our sump to use them.  I think the topic of the meeting should be "let's look at the Glasfords' tank and see everything they've done wrong and how to fix it"!

[angelscrx]

I turned my sock inside out over a sink to check for pods.  My pods population is starting to come back now so i don't get hardly any in the sock.  No biggie if I do i just pick them out and put them back  

[The Apprentice]

Hi guys i fought with this one as well I wanted more filtration to help pull gunk out but what I found in MY tanks are,is the overflows are the rearing spots for all my copods and Ampipods so with the socks filtering all my return water all that food was being caught & killed in them i tried with just doing it durn water changes and I finnaly pulled them. I am not trying to say don't run sock just that in MY tank were I wanted a extreme hi natural food count for my Wrasses, copperband and Manderian I had to pull them.
Just jeff's 2 cents

If it were me I would use them when I do a water change.    You will find most of your pods get caught in these.   My oppinion is You will also find your corals react better without them.

[angelscrx]

That is why refugiums are either hang on back or after the sump.  So pods don't get caught in filters and such.  I have a sump refugium set up so if I get some caught in the sock it's no big deal.  This is a good discussion for those considering the socks.

You can buy them online almost anywhere.  I bought mine on ebay :-)

[The Apprentice]

For Fuges I agree Angel but I think you missed my point on the Tanks is the overflows are the rearing spots for all my copods and Ampipods so with the socks filtering all my return water all that food was being caught & killed in them i tried with just doing it durn water changes and I finally pulled them. I am not trying to say don't run sock just that in MY tank were I wanted a extreme hi natural food count for my Wrasses, Angel,Anthias,copperband and Manderian I had to pull them.
 I guess Angel If you are trying to raise & Keep Anthias, Wrasses and other fish that will Benifit very greatly from this natural food sorurce You just have to go thru the plusses and Minuses with these socks If you are raising a perfect sps tank and little to no fish go with the socks Buy if your trying to disperse live foods these are live food killers that turn that live~no dead  food into small amounts on NH3 then NH4 granted this is small scale but it does happen. again just from what i have learned in my short careeer as a salt-aholic
Just jeff's 2 cents

That is why refugiums are either hang on back or after the sump.  So pods don't get caught in filters and such.  I have a sump refugium set up so if I get some caught in the sock it's no big deal.  This is a good discussion for those considering the socks.

You can buy them online almost anywhere.  I bought mine on ebay :-)

[Rico]

I agree that socks or something to filter the water helps.  Problem is that I'm lazy and don't want to deal with washing socks.  I set my sump up with a plastic grid that I lay down a piece of quilt batting from the fabric store.  And every few days I pull out the dirty pad, toss it in the trash and lay down and fresh clean pad.  Takes about 30 seconds to replace the pad.

Rick

[angelscrx]

Jeff, I understood your point.  It has very valid and considerable things to think about for folks wondering if they should use filter socks or not.  I was merely pointing out my perspective and why I like using them.  Like I said this is a very good discussion to have on here.