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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Apr 10, 2014 9:44:05 GMT -5
I have been using filter socks for ten years in my sump, I don't use them for my refugium. My sump has never been cleaned since day one and it is very clean with all sorts of feather dusters, sponges, bivalves etc living in it. My Refugium as had no filter socks used and it is a swamp. I have to completely rebuild the refugium every year. The key is to use the correct micron filter sock. You want something coarse enough to let small particles through but keep the large pieces of food and crud out. I would also recommend not using the cloth style filter socks. I did a poll over on R/C last week and 41 people use filter socks and 15 do not. Some people use them just when they clean the tank. It surprises me your refugium would be such a swamp that you'd have to redo it every year. Seems like that defeats the purpose of having a refugium to me. I've got my entire 75 gallon tank volume passing through my refugium via a 2600 gallon per hour pump and I've never had to redo mine. I think the issue many people encounter with sumps and refugiums is not having enough flow to keep detritus from building up in low flow areas. If a filter sock solved the problem of excess crud in your sump than great. I would have looked for the cause of all the detritus buildup first though. Like I said it's a matter of the individual tank and maintenance your willing to put in. What works for one tank and hobbyist may not be beneficial for another. I go for the high flow, huge skimmer approach and even though I have a huge boiload and feed heavy at times. I don't have enough detritus in my sump and refugium to warrant using any other form of filtration. |
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Apr 10, 2014 9:50:31 GMT -5
hydrogen sulfide is what you get left after all organic sulfur is gone. basically "old tank syndrome" what would have saved my tank would have been better cleaning of waste so it wouldnt have made it to that point. I have a decent skimmer, good amount of sand, decent sump and refugm, I dont overfeed..... seems to me a couple socks would have removed at least 1/4 of the waste that was eventually converted to hydrogen sulfide and IMO- that would have made a big difference in the course of events my tank has gone threw I've been trying to battle the same thing slowly in the 220 gallon tank that I take care of. Weekly sand siphoning is the only thing that's kept this tank from crashing many times. The cause in that tank is low flow, huge boiload and under rated skimmer. Cleaning the sand bed weekly has at least turned the tank from a huge cyano covered nitrate bomb into a moderately clean reef again. |
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Post by gotareef on Apr 10, 2014 9:55:14 GMT -5
I am a fan of low flow in the sump. plus not really a refugm if it has high flow... also low flow makes it possible for manual removal of the sediment that will otherwise make its way back to the tank
im going to downsize my return pump when i redo the tank
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Apr 10, 2014 10:02:10 GMT -5
Prime examples of why this is such a diverse hobby. So many ways to achieve the same goal.
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Post by Pokahpolice on Apr 10, 2014 10:14:22 GMT -5
Prime examples of why this is such a diverse hobby. So many ways to achieve the same goal. Couldn't agree more. There are several ways to be successful. Personally I don't use filter socks because I feel like they are not necessary. |
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Post by BriMc on Apr 10, 2014 10:16:00 GMT -5
Prime examples of why this is such a diverse hobby. So many ways to achieve the same goal. Ryan I couldn't have said it better. On the flow in my refugium there is plenty of flow just the refugium is fed from water directly out of the tank allowing all sorts of food to build up. But again I think in a refugium to quote someone here slow is pro.  |
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stephen
Full Member
"Slow is Pro"
Posts: 292
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Post by stephen on Apr 10, 2014 15:01:16 GMT -5
Yes the longer the water is in the filter area the cleaner it will be.
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stephen
Full Member
"Slow is Pro"
Posts: 292
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Post by stephen on Apr 10, 2014 15:06:36 GMT -5
I think also that it is hard to over filter aquariums in general. I the most common form of a drama in an aquarium is poor maintenance and/or inadequate filtration. So if u can do something to upgrade ur system and u can afford it u should.
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Post by Lance on Apr 10, 2014 15:31:25 GMT -5
Good conversation. Too much of most forum talk is about WHAT you do, not WHY you do it...and the WHY bit is extremely important. I run filter socks because:
- I have an exceptionally heavy load of fish in my system which has to be fed heavily, generating a lot of detritus
- I feel that water clarity is exceptionally important for high light SPS corals. This is not true or an issue for all types of tanks/corals
- Aesthetically I love a crystal clear tank and this is an easy way to achieve that
- At any point I can blow detritus off of the coral and rock work or I can stir the (shallow) sand bed knowing that the tank will clear up in minutes and all that crap will be waiting for me to pull out in the basement
- They protect my pump from particulate damage
One thing that might be interesting to note is that my display tank drains first into my "dirty water" frag tank without going through any socks. This frag tank is where I grow out Zoas, Palys, Mushrooms, Soft Corals, and other corals that are either tolerant of or actually prefer a little dirtier water. Since I made this change I'm having much better luck with these types of critters.
Once again, goes to show you that there is no one right way to grow thousands of critters from millions of habitats.
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