A Filter Sock Thread

henward

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2008
1,260
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0
Auckland, New Zealand
water goes onto a tupperware container with holes on eac corner that feeds wtaer onto the socks.
i get 2 to 3 weeks at the start. the socks are 5to6 mnths old now, im getting 1.5 to 2 weeks. 100 micron

i just got 50 microns with double the length of sock, see how it goes in my drive to further reduce maintenance balance with spectacular clarity

to recycle old socks, i will double back and have some hols on sock to 'screen' water before hitting 50 micron socks
 

Dan F

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2007
3,889
24
68
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Oregon
Here's a couple of pics of my sump on the 1400L with socks;





They are suspended from aluminium pipes by cable ties, fairly easy to change and cheap to set up, but next time I would go to the trouble and expense of getting a thick piece of acrylic drilled so the socks sit inside it (and with overflow holes, of course!). The two other things I'd change next time are the number of socks and the height they're suspended at. A friend has set up a similar design on a similar size tank but running four socks nearly completely suspended out of the water and he gets close to two weeks out of them where as I have to change mine every 3 days (both using 100 micron 168x375mm socks). I'd certainly never go back to using filter wool on a large tank though!!
I used to suspend mine by the handles (those are plastic rim socks, aren't they?) but after a while the handles started breaking off. Now I use 6" PVC couplings - cut in half to save money) to suspend the socks. They fit a plastic rim 7" sock perfectly and are very heavy-duty.

ok guys you see these new 5 gallon bucket socks???

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-filter-bags/=g6eitz
I have, but they are a mesh type bag, which I don't believe will load up near as much as a felt bag before clogging. I would be interested in seeing someone's experience with them, however. :popcorn:

I made my own 5 gallon bucket sock haha
Do tell...

more socks = less cleaning
smaller micron = faster clogging
longer sock = less cleaning
longer sock with smaller micron = in theory awesome!!! (trialling now)

David was referring to me above, i will post a picture:D love socks!
^Yep.

water goes onto a tupperware container with holes on eac corner that feeds wtaer onto the socks.
i get 2 to 3 weeks at the start. the socks are 5to6 mnths old now, im getting 1.5 to 2 weeks. 100 micron

i just got 50 microns with double the length of sock, see how it goes in my drive to further reduce maintenance balance with spectacular clarity

to recycle old socks, i will double back and have some hols on sock to 'screen' water before hitting 50 micron socks
Very nice sump!
 

Gervahlt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2010
401
1
16
Asheville, NC
Thank you for this thread! Someone sticky this, please.

I was considering filter socks as my original plan got torpedoed by physics. This just showed me how and definitely made me look forward to it instead of cringing in anticipation. I think I'll try the dual 7" x 16 1/2" socks inside my 40 breeder sump. I'll think about how I want to mount them once they get here.
 

David R

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
5,031
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New Zealand
I used to suspend mine by the handles (those are plastic rim socks, aren't they?) but after a while the handles started breaking off. Now I use 6" PVC couplings - cut in half to save money) to suspend the socks. They fit a plastic rim 7" sock perfectly and are very heavy-duty.
Thanks. I actually cut the handles out and drill the rim to thread the cable tie through. Seems to work so far, had one cable tie break but the socks have been fine.
 

aclockworkorange

Dovii
MFK Member
Jun 24, 2010
9,585
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105
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Rose City
Well, my 225 is run on socks and I love them so far. I change them once a week, I run two 7" socks, one 200 microns and one 100. I'm running a super dart on the tank so I would guess each sock gets 1500gph plus.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 

henward

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2008
1,260
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Auckland, New Zealand
Thanks:D
in designing the sump, i actually made a mistake, the flow isnt enough! so i could not achieve FULL optimal flow, but went aorund this by changing the media configuartion, i got the 'high flow' media in the first 3 comparments, and the last, i filled with floating bio balls - and turned the last chamber into a 'moving media filter chamber' which is working very well! the media is constantly bouncing off one another.
long term i am going to remove partition 1 and 2, and make that entire area a massive moving media filter, then create a secondary sump tower externally wtih a pump that trickles and feeds the water back through gravity... hard to explain but it will work well:D

anyways, i do like the look, looks beefy:D
 

Gervahlt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2010
401
1
16
Asheville, NC
Again, this thread needs to become a sticky. I got my four 7" 100 micron socks today from McMaster. Now I can begin construction on the sump to make sure I do it to the correct measurements. I'm liking this concept so far. I'm curious about how you all turn them inside out to clean them though. Mine came with a plastic ring and two pretty stiff loops of plastic inside the ring (like the picture below). I can see myself creating a mount where the plastic ring sits on top of something, then taking it out when it begins to clog, but do I remove the loops? If I don't, I can't see being able to turn this thing inside out while it's full of junk.

FilterSock.jpg

FilterSock.jpg
 

Gervahlt

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2010
401
1
16
Asheville, NC
Cool, thanks!
 

MTBjake

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 12, 2011
1,513
5
36
Menifee, Ca
Again, this thread needs to become a sticky. I got my four 7" 100 micron socks today from McMaster. Now I can begin construction on the sump to make sure I do it to the correct measurements. I'm liking this concept so far. I'm curious about how you all turn them inside out to clean them though. Mine came with a plastic ring and two pretty stiff loops of plastic inside the ring (like the picture below). I can see myself creating a mount where the plastic ring sits on top of something, then taking it out when it begins to clog, but do I remove the loops? If I don't, I can't see being able to turn this thing inside out while it's full of junk.

View attachment 753581
I just got these exact socks for a sump I'm getting setup for my 135. I took a spare piece of 3/8" Lexan and cut a 6 1/2" hole in it for the sock to hang from. Now just curious about how to fill the surrounding area...
Should I just pack that area with bio-balls?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
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