Seattle / Tacoma local source for filter socks?

[nsamouroux]

I'm looking for a local place to buy mesh filter socks (or even the felt type if that's all that is available) to clear up the milkshake effect in my new tank after adding 340 lbs of aragonite sand. Anyone here know of a place that carries at least 100 micron filter socks, or even lower (10-50 micron)? I checked with Barrier Reef yesterday and they have 200 micron bags, but that won't catch the very light / small particle aragonite silt. I was going to look into some sort of hepa filter for vaccums and whatnot but I'm not sure if it will work in a water environment. Home Depot carries a filter sock material meant for buried perforated drainage pipe (to prevent groundwater from carrying silt into the pipe and clogging it) but I don't know the micron rating of this stuff... It comes in 10' or 100' cylindrical lengths and would probably work, but I want to see if there's any better options

 

[returnofsid]

Tom619 on PSAS...his Mom is a retired seamstress and makes some very nice filter socks. I'm not sure if Tom is here, on RF or not. Here's a link.
http://thepsas.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=303

 

[nsamouroux]

Thanks, looks like a good option if I decide to buy something and have it shipped. I'm trying to get something before the weekend and would prefer a local source for when I need to re-stock. Price isn't a huge issue with these since they aren't all that expensive anyways, but I need to find a mesh-type 50 micron or so bag to get rid of all this silt / sediment from the sand. I am sure it'll settle down eventually, but the sooner I can clear it up the sooner I can transfer the contents of my smaller tank over to the big one

I found out that Home Depot carries mesh filter bags intended for use on shop vacs to trap drywall dust. These are rated at about 20 micron and would work perfectly to clear up the dust storm (inert material, no additives, should be reef safe and easy to clean). Once I take care of the cloudiness I'll order up some regular 200 micron bags just to use as a water polisher from that point forward since the sand will grow the usual bacterial coating within a couple weeks after I transfer everything over.

 

[dhnguyen]

If it isn't too late, Sherman sells it and he's in Poulsbo.

Drop him a line (sherm71tank)

 

[nsamouroux]

Thanks I ended up going to the fabric store and picking up a yard and a half of 100% polyester felt (same stuff most non-mesh filter socks are made from) and making a bunch of them. I've got them running now, but have to double them up to be able to catch the majority of this silt. I've got my ETSS skimmer skimming wet to try and catch more of it, and have a Magnum canister filter full of packed down felt to act as a water polisher. Should clear it up (I'm cleaning the socks / pads every hour! :lol, it'll just take a couple days. I think after one solid day / night of running things like this it's cleared up enough that I can see my powerheads... I think...