how do you clean your filter socks?

how do you clean & maintain em?

how often do you replace em?

 

So far I've just been rinsing them in a bucket real good. I'm going to get another set and then probably start tossing them in the washing machine

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I throw mine in the washing machine with some bleach and that get them back to new. Rinsing them only make a small improvement in comparison. I always turn the sock inside out when I remove it and try to save as many copepods or brittle stars, or whatever has taken up residence there. I have a 75 gal tank with about 800 or 1000 gph flowing down to the sump trough a 7 in diameter sock that's about 15 inches long. It takes about 2 weeks for that to start to want to clog and overflow. I have a few socks that I use so I can just wash them all together.

 

I don't use them any more, but when I did I would wash it in the sink with a little bleach ( some people throw it in the washing machine). I kept 2, one on the aquarium and the other drying out from being cleaned. I used them for about 6 months and never had to replaced them, just cleaned them weekly. Whew! I sure don't miss that maintance lol.

 

vankirk what do you do now?

 

i used to run them, washed them in the washing machine with bleach and always ran a second rinse. it was a pain in the but though, now i just use a little bit of filter floss in the baffle in my sump and thats it. skimmer and fuge do a pretty good job on the rest of it.

 

I was mostly using them to reduce splash in the sump and bubbles. I made a bubble defuser out of pvc piping. I think my tank is better without the sock. The water seems more natural looking, not as sterile.

 

i have run mine in the washer as well, but tonight I'm gonna try something new, after talking to the fella at the fish shop,after rinsing he soaks his over night in peroxide and ro water then rinse and let dry.before use.

 

Is this to try to get out anything left over from useing tap water?

 

He He... you should of seen the look on his face when i said about using bleach, he told me that would scare him to use bleach and suggested the method he uses. not sure why he dose it this way but he always has and his socks are all bright white.