Messy Filter Socks...
 

Does anyone have any suggestions on maybe an alternative to filter socks?

I used to use one, but it would get gunked up so fast with nasty crap, and it was a PAIN to clean it... and I cant justify throwing it in the washing machine...

???

Errr....why not ?

I have about a dozen socks. I change them out at least once a week and then dump them in a bucket full of water with a little bleach in it. When I'm down to a few clean socks, I pull the dirty ones from the bucket and run a load in the washing machine with nothing (no soap or bleach) and an extra rinse cycle.

Nice and clean.

I've been running no socks on my new tank, waters not as crystal clear as it used to be, but nitrates are near 0 which they wheren't with socks on. Also... not cleaning those things is GREAT!

...cuz I've got like... 2 :P

Then buy a couple more, store the dirty ones in a plastic bag and do them all at once when they are all dirty. That is what I do.

OK, well I'm not going to go out to buy a whack of filter socks just so that I can justify throwing them in the washing machine. I'm looking for a way to make life easier, not create more laundry :S

I guess the next logical question would be, is it even worth it to run filter socks? As Lampshade has suggested, these socks can tend to be bags of nitrates.

I stopped using my socks as well. Might be my imagination but my polyp extension seems to be better since removing them.

The downside is more particulate matter in the water column and throughout the sump. I imagine the skimmer gets more stuff to take out and there's less rotting in the sock. My nutrients may have gone down some I'm not sure but I do know the liverock compartment of my sump (where I do waterchanges from as well) has a lot more crap settling in it now. I can't easily access this area to suction it out so I may remove this rock from the system. Food for thought maybe...

I run my filter sock by itself in the washing machine. I get all a giddy if I can do 2 or 3 but for the most part it's an empty machine. You wouldn't really want anything else in with them.

It works amazingly well. Just a splash of bleach and away we go. I tried just rinsing them by hand really well between uses but that was no good, the smell even after rinsing was too much. Washing machine is the only way to go I think.

I went to 4" socks on my new tank and it's annoying as heck that I have to change them out every 3-4 days or so now though. I'm OK with once a week but more is too much. I am excited to try out some mesh socks as an alternative, just got them in from BRS yesterday. They are a nylon or something similar material, looks like they should just hose off clean and clog far less often. Might be something you want to look into if you're not comfortable with cleaning yours in the washing machine.

BRS sells them super cheap, I bought 10 and just rotate them out. When all 10 are dirty they go threw two wash cycles, a sani cycle and then an extra long hot wash.

These mesh ones don't filter to the same micron level tho do they?