Reef nutrition

Do you guys use a filter sock or roller mat?

Vincerama2

Vincerama2

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My overflows just dump straight into the sump. I'm wondering if using filter socks might actually help me out. It would require some reconfiguration of the plumbing, but I'm willing to do that if there is value to the filter socks.

As background, after all my fish died, I went and removed the rocks from my sump and found several inches of ... muck. Clearly decayed food from my daughter's zealous feeding of the fish.

I'm trying to get the tank ready for fish and corals again, but I'm fighting algae at the moment. One thing I'm doing is pulling it by hand which leaves a lot of floating algae bits which I'm sure is just going into the sump to rebuild a new muck bed.

Thoughts on filter socks or a roller mat?

Thanks!

V
 
i got rid of socks and mechanical filtering in my tanks and they are happier for it (except for a few AIOs...). I only use the 200 micron mesh on occasion when I am making a mess.

for algae, you could just hit the tank with a few rounds of fluconazole and call it done.
 
I don’t use either. I only use filter socks when I’m actively cleaning.

You should periodically clean detritus out of your sump. It would take years of never cleaning to get inches of muck.

If you use socks or rollermat you’ll have to perform routine maintenance on those anyway (socks >> mat). Why not just spend the same amount of time vacuuming out the sump periodically?
 
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I periodically use socks, but the mesh ones not the felt. Mesh ones are super easy to clean just rinse them out in a sink and hang them up for a day to dry. It won't polish your water like the felt ones do, but being easier to clean means they get changed more frequently and still provide a benefit of detritus export.
 
JVU said:
I don’t use either. I only use filter socks when I’m actively cleaning.

You should periodically clean detritus out of your sump. It would takes years of never cleaning to get inches of muck.

If you use socks or rollermat you’ll have to perform routine maintenance on those anyway (socks >> mat). Why not just spend the same amount of time vacuuming out the sump periodically?
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I agree. I hit the sump up for cleaning every few months or when I notice a significant amount of detritus I want to remove.
 
I have a 25 gal all in one and I use filter floss and replace as needed, usually once a week after a water change.

Initially I had only rock in the return chamber thinking it would be a good place for pods and bacteria to populate, but I kept having a similar issue with muck/detritus build up. I decided to take the rock out and have been siphoning out any muck that settles in their during my water changes. I think the muck pile is too unruly in a small tank like mine, and after enough build up it seems it was unruly in a tank your size
 
Squist said:
I don’t use socks. And I have detritus that I find to be a pain to remove. Curious how those w/o socks get detritus out of sump.
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Shop vac. I used the Home Depot bucket head for the rsr170 I had. It attaches to a standard bucket and then has a float switch to shut off.

Now that I’m using an AIO I have been able to get a siphon going and clean it that way. I’ve seen some setups where people put a small AC powerhead to keep the detritus suspended in the water instead of settling.
 
Neither for me.
I have a somewhat purposeful zone where detritus accumulates, and simply siphon it out to a bucket.
If you point drains and skimmer toward two sides / corner, detritus usually accumulates in opposite corner.

My sump is raised a few feet, so easy to siphon. Obviously impossible if sump is under display tank.
 
max_nano said:
Shop vac. I used the Home Depot bucket head for the rsr170 I had. It attaches to a standard bucket and then has a float switch to shut off.

Now that I’m using an AIO I have been able to get a siphon going and clean it that way. I’ve seen some setups where people put a small AC powerhead to keep the detritus suspended in the water instead of settling.
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I had considered using my bucket head (NOTE: Every one of us should have a bucket head!) I tried to siphon it out into a bucket that is outside and down the steps with my daughters help. It mostly worked, but in the end, I actually used a turkey baster to suck out the detritus and squirt it into a bucket. I've since bought an eheim batter powered vaccun thing that I've not tried yet.
V
 
OK thanks guys, that's some stuff to think about, especially the increased maintenance.

And I ahve three bottles of "Reef Flux" to attack the algae, but have been trying to see if manually picking it out and not feeding the tank would work...but of course as long as any scrap of that algae exists, it can still come back. I think I'll start my fluco treatment tonight then.

V
 
Vincerama2 said:
I had considered using my bucket head (NOTE: Every one of us should have a bucket head!) I tried to siphon it out into a bucket that is outside and down the steps with my daughters help. It mostly worked, but in the end, I actually used a turkey baster to suck out the detritus and squirt it into a bucket. I've since bought an eheim batter powered vaccun thing that I've not tried yet.
V
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If you are talking about this:
1611361961025.jpeg

I bought it for that use, and was very disappointed after first use. It doesn’t work well and lets the fine particles go back through the coarse filter into the water column.
 
Vincerama2 said:
OK thanks guys, that's some stuff to think about, especially the increased maintenance.

And I ahve three bottles of "Reef Flux" to attack the algae, but have been trying to see if manually picking it out and not feeding the tank would work...but of course as long as any scrap of that algae exists, it can still come back. I think I'll start my fluco treatment tonight then.

V
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I prefer the powder sold by BlueRx... Reeflux while the same ingredient doesn't feel as effective to me...
 
Vincerama2 said:
I had considered using my bucket head (NOTE: Every one of us should have a bucket head!) I tried to siphon it out into a bucket that is outside and down the steps with my daughters help. It mostly worked, but in the end, I actually used a turkey baster to suck out the detritus and squirt it into a bucket. I've since bought an eheim batter powered vaccun thing that I've not tried yet.
V
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I bought a bucket head a couple years ago because everyone said they were so great for cleaning sumps. But in my experience it fills the 5g bucket WAY too fast, like several seconds. Also since it sucks so fast none of the critters I’d rather keep have time to flee the area. Now I just use a manual hand-pump siphon made for car maintenance and it works fine but kind of tedious. Got me thinking though, what if I 3D-printed an attachment for the end of the bucket head tube to narrow the end and reduce the flow rate and make it more maneuverable, like a vacuum attachment...
 
I’m currently using filter floss. I went with no mechanical filtration for over a year prior to going to the floss and I see no difference in the corals. I change the filter floss every 3 days. This takes 5 minutes, and is way better than spending a few hours every couple months to suck up all the crap in the sump. Now, if I had a fish room and an elevated sump...I’d 100% go with no mechanical filtration.
 
Rostato said:
I’m currently using filter floss. I went with no mechanical filtration for over a year prior to going to the floss and I see no difference in the corals. I change the filter floss every 3 days. This takes 5 minutes, and is way better than spending a few hours every couple months to suck up all the crap in the sump. Now, if I had a fish room and an elevated sump...I’d 100% go with no mechanical filtration.
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It’s pretty easy to siphon out a sump even if it’s on the ground. Only take me like 2 min each time a do a water change. As long as Water level in sump higher than level in bucket it will work.
 
I have no mechanical filtration and have run many years like that.

for sump cleaning I use a pump and vacuum out the stuff in the various sections, mostly the return every time I do a WC every other week.

vivid creative aquatics has a nice pump attachment for the vacuuming.
 
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