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Scott B 
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 Topic: Filter sock, or no filter sock?
Posted: November 23 2013 at 10:49am |
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I'm sure this has been discussed before, but i am curious to what everyone else does. I like the idea of removing particulate from the tank, but am wondering if i am trapping essential things such as copepods, amphipods... I was wondering why you use filter socks, or why you don't use filter socks. Pros and cons. Thanks
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28g jbj led nano, 150 g mixed reef, skimz skimmer, AI blue sol's, Reef Angel controller, wp40's, aquamedic reef doser
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bmac2
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 11:14am |
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I run them and I think the benefit of pulling solids out of the water and cleaning the water greatly outweigh the downs. Anything you can do to make the water cleaner I am for.
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aceofspadeskb
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 11:21am |
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I use filter socks. I also have had a mandarin in my tank for about 4 months and he's perfectly healthy so I don't think it's hurting my copepod population too bad.
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Softplan
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 11:30am |
 bmac2 wrote:
I run them and I think the benefit of pulling solids out of the water and cleaning the water greatly outweigh the downs. Anything you can do to make the water cleaner I am for.
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+1
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love2skiutah
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 11:30am |
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Filter socks!!
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Scott B
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 12:04pm |
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Sweet... sounds like im keeping mine on then, lol
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28g jbj led nano, 150 g mixed reef, skimz skimmer, AI blue sol's, Reef Angel controller, wp40's, aquamedic reef doser
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Mike Savage
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 12:41pm |
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Filter socks here too.
Edited by Mike Savage - November 23 2013 at 12:42pm
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 12:59pm |
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 1:34pm |
Aloha, Here I am being the dissenting vote again.  I'm also the oddball hobbyist that is so vocal about Skimmers not being a necessity. In some of my tanks/systems, particulates are never filtered and in others they are only filtered some of the time. Historically, I have not
used filter socks. The sole time I used filter socks consistently was for a predator
reef tank and the main reason I started using a filter sock was a way to stop bubbles at the
drain in the Refugium. In my way of looking at it, it's all about balance and personal preference. When a skimmer and/or mechanical particulate filter is absent, the "waste" they would remove is absorbed into the ecosystem as food, allowing for a larger population of the organisms that like that food. It is interesting to note that this concept of leaving waste in the tank, creates an environment similar to that when hobbyists add carbon in the form of sugar, Vinegar, Vodka, or biopellets, in an effort to grow more bacteria for the purpose of maintaining low Nitrogen levels. This technique works for me because I love Algae and encourage the growth of useful and decorative algae in my systems. Mahalo, Mark  808-345-1049 call/text/visit anytime 
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Scott B
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Posted: November 23 2013 at 1:45pm |
Mark, that is the biggest concern i had, is that they would also remove some helpful "waste". I think I am going to continue to use them and evaluate after a month or so. Thanks for the input
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28g jbj led nano, 150 g mixed reef, skimz skimmer, AI blue sol's, Reef Angel controller, wp40's, aquamedic reef doser
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Will Spencer
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 9:56am |
Filter sock, yes, but change it frequently to prevent breakdown of the collected particles in the aquarium thus providing a different kind of pollution. Now if I could just follow my own advice. 
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BobC63
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 12:32pm |
+1 on socks Like Will said, just change them frequently (every 2 -3 days is a good idea) The benefits of crystal clear water IMO far outweigh any good stuff you might be pulling out And the idea that you will be removing any significant amount of things like copepods is way overblown (again IMO) I've 'inspected' dirty filters socks and never found more than 2 - 3 pods in there Plenty of detritus in them, though...
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Dion Richins
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 3:11pm |
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I run 3 socks at all times. However I do have a by pass on one of my drains so
I get a small amount of by pass water to feed the fuge. I also run a a big skimmer as well as ozone and uv.
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ReefdUp
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 3:31pm |
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I run them...but I'm bad about changing them as often as I should (again, change them every 2-3 days or they'll become nitrate factories).
I'm a weirdo, and I actually pick out every little amphipod, baby brittle starfish, baby snail, etc. I can't stand the thought of just killing them out of sheer laziness.
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love2skiutah
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 4:19pm |
Dion Richins wrote:
I run 3 socks at all times. However I do have a by pass on one of my drains so
I get a small amount of by pass water to feed the fuge. I also run a a big skimmer as well as ozone and uv. |
That's funny you mentioned that cause I literally lifted up one of my socks this morning so that about 10% of the water bypasses the socks.
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tileman
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 4:23pm |
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I always run them and change them out two times a week. I also vacuum out parts of my sump once a month .
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Scott B
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Posted: November 24 2013 at 5:13pm |
Great advice, thx guys
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JohnnyHeavens
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Posted: November 27 2013 at 7:41am |
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I don't always run filter socks. But when I do, I change them often.
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ReefdUp
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Posted: November 27 2013 at 7:44am |
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Ok Most Interesting Man in the World...
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 27 2013 at 8:38am |
BobC63 wrote:
The benefits of crystal clear water IMO far outweigh any good stuff you might be pulling out.And the idea that you will be removing any significant amount of things like copepods is way overblown (again IMO) I've 'inspected' dirty filters socks and never found more than 2 - 3 pods in there. |
My experience has been the opposite. I have replaced socks in some tanks that were overloaded with hundreds of Grammerus. I actually turned the socks inside out and shook them out over the Refugium to return the Amphipods to the system. There was one tank in particular where every month the sock had literally hundreds of small brittle stars. Most of the Stars were impossible to remove and I didn't have the time.  Regarding crystal clear water, I also appreciate it, but years ago I came to an "Aha" moment in the hobby. Watching a show about the ocean I saw where divers took video of other divers taking video at night in an area where they had taken video during the day. The same water which had been fairly clear in the day, was now horribly cloudy.  What was it  It was billions of live animals, organisms that had come out at night to spawn and eat - live zooplankton. The video showed that the camera lights were swarmed by "bugs" and spawn. There were some larger animals swimming through the water feasting on the zooplanton. (Cardinalfish do this ) Since that moment of revelation years ago, I have had other confirming experiences with nocturnal zooplanktan. It's these "bugs" that I like to encourage in the way I set up and maintain my systems. Mahalo, Mark
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