Filter sock effect Skimmer performance??

[rickh]

For several years I have used a filter sock and skimmer in my sump. The water is crystal clear, but I constantly have an algae problem. My skimmer never produces much "junk". The water parameters are fine by my test kits. I run a PO4 reactor, refugium and wash all the food in RO water before feeding

I have read several posts on this form and the LFS "expert" swears that running a sock with a skimmer make the skimmer work poorly.
I though the filter sock and the skimmer remove two different things. The skimmer removes dissolved organic compounds and the sock removes suspended particles.

Has anyone else notices the sock reduces the skimmer output?? Should I try going sock-less?? R

[camaroracer214]

if you add a new filter sock to your system (or clean an older one), it will cause the skimmer to act up and maybe even overflow for a short time.

have you tried running the skimmer without a sock yet? if you haven't, i certainly would suggest it.

and make sure to check for snails/debris caught in the pump itself. a small snail can go unnoticed, but can kill your skimmer's performance.

[mockery]

I'm also having a problem with this. The foam head in my skimmer (an octopus 110 recirc) drops when ever I change sock, new or old. Suggestions??

Thanks,
Mockery

[sharrison]

i don't know about your skimmer question but the only 2 things that i can think of why you have an algae problem are Pphosphates or too much C02 or both. i had a tank at one time that had good params and later cleared it up by expermienting with better co2 gas exchnge.

[Creetin]

I personally like running a sock. I have tried with and without both for long periods. I think the advantages are better with a sock than without. If youre skimmer is perfoming poorly i would suspect its the skimmer. IMO
In my experience i have better skimmer performance with a sock than without.

[Stanley-Reefer]

I run 100 micron socks on the exhaust of my skimmers as a bubble trap. My Euroreefs pull thick skimmate and my socks are brown and overflowing after 3 days when I change them out....

New felt will make your skimmer crazy. Prewashing them with a touch of bleach and an extra rinse cycle will prevent it.

[LouH]

+1 on what camaroracer said. I only run a sock intermittently and for short periods of time. I'll often do this while cleaning the sand bed and while doing water changes. Both activities kick up debris which remain suspended for a while.

I feed my tank every night with the Borneman recipie, so I don't want organic material getting caught in a filter sock and decomposing. I have no lissues with algae.

+1 again on getting a snail sucked into a pump impeller. My skimmer has a needle wheel impeller, and its performance is cut in half if a small snail gets in there and gets wedged. A filter sock on the drain would help this, but then we'd be in a catch 22 situation. My remedy for the snails is to take a 4" long piece of PVC pipe the same diameter as my standpipe elbow, cut slits into it on the table saw, cap the bottom, and install it on the standpipe suction elbow. It siphons just fine. No more snails in the sump with the exception of the really small ones. Those you just look for in your skimmer chamber and remove manually. I'll go three months without getting a snail in my skimmer pump.

Lou

[blennymower]

I definately saw the use of socks affecting the output of my skimmer. Skimmer would pull out gunk far faster and greener then when I was using a sock.

Socks are fine if you clean them very often, otherwise you get lazy and they accumalate nutrients, I think.

[rickh]

Thanks for the replies.

No snails.

PO4, etc is undetectable by my test kits. The kits are OK.

I have tried two different skimmers as the LFS guy said it was my old skimmer, but the new one is no different.

I turn off the return when I feed to keep the food in the tank, not the sock.

The sock turns brown, the color of skimate in a day or two, but it doesn't clog/overflow for a week. I changed it before it overflows.

The socks are commercially made and washed in bleach when dirty.

Thanks. R

[rickh]

I wonder if the GFO is staining the filter sock brown. I wash it in RO before using. I thought brown/green discoloration was from algae removed from the water column, but it might be GFO.

[Jared J]

This is interesting because I just added a filter sock today only because the floor of my sump was getting covered in gunk from the tank. I figured I'd add a sock to catch any detritus/food, etc and when I did my skimmer went flat and stopped foaming. Now it's just pumping water and no bubbles. Should I take out the filter sock? I thought about using it only for water changes like Lou suggested but I don't think that would keep the sump clean.

[kc350twin]

When I used to use them they would make my skimmer flat for a while. The next morning it would be fine. In my experience this would only happen on New socks.

[chilwil84]

as stated in an earlier post make sure you run an extra rinse cycle. the socks may be picking up some residual chemicals from your previous use of your washing machine. my skimmers go flat for a hour or so after a sock change, but that is it.

[Jared J]

its starting to p ick up now. It was a brand new sock...i didnt rinse it first