To Sock or Not to Sock, that is the question

[lefkonj]

So my tank has been up and running for a year now. I use two felt socks and have been the entire time. I have not really tried the mesh socks but was wondering what people's experiences are with the to types or none at all.

The challenge i have right now is I am going away for a week and the socks won't last and my wife really isn't up to changing them out.

 

[jose7878]

IMO you will b okay to be sock free for a week. As long as your skimming

 

[downbeach]

I have used both, and now just use the mesh type. The felt type clogged more quickly, and were harder to clean, but they did do a better job. So, it's a little bit of a trade off.

 

[trivan]

i switched from felt to mesh. Mesh is so much easier to clean. agree 1 week away sockless is fine.

 

[kevin]

I use felt. Mine haven't overflown, but they do get dirty pretty quickly. I have about 12 or so of them. I throw them in the wash with a bit of bleach, double rinse & they come out like new. (let them sit and air out after wash)

 

[redfishbluefish]

I’m a mesh sock user. So easy to clean. Run under the sink while rubbing fabric to fabric, and it’s clean. The only reason I run a sock is to keep hard things out of my skimmer pump. I change it out about every seven to ten days. Note I use seven inch diameter socks at either 150 or 200 mesh, so I’ve got a lot of surface area with relatively large holes.

I have two pipes coming down from the DT. Only the one going to the skimmer is socked. The one going to the refugium is not. You shouldn’t have any problem going sockless.

 

[Hawkeye]

I agree with the sock-free but my other thought is - why not just leave the sock and then it gets cruddy...it will overflow. Won't the overflow just go into the sump...basically sock-free? Is there some negative to keeping a sock in there? (I'm asking because I get lazy with cleaning out my socks).

 

[Chrisgarrick]

I'm with the leave it. Change b4 u leave. Let it overflow (if it does) and change when u get back. You are running a skimmer?

 

[lefkonj]

Skimmer runs all the time so that isn't the issue. I don't like when the socks get backed up because it does restrict water flow slightly. I may go with the mesh anyway because it just becoming too often to change the socks.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I started with felt socks and then switched to mesh just because they're so much easier to clean.

I also agree with Jim that felt does seem to catch more debris, but unless you just throw them in the washer, they're much harder to clean by hand.

Personally, since I have a good skimmer, bio pellet reactor, and 2 kinds of macro algae in my sump... I don't miss the better performance of the felt sock. The mesh ones catch all the bigger particles (excess food, waste, etc.) and that's all I need them to do. The smaller stuff gets taken care of by all the other stuff.

As for your question, I'd vote for just changing it right before you leave and again when you get back. I only change mine once per week to begin with, so I don't see any issues for you doing that. It really shouldn't restrict the flow any. If the sock gets clogged, the flow should just roll over the top.