Sump/Fuge Combo w/ Filtration

[07FocusST]

Hey all,

I was just wondering.... Am I shooting myself in the foot by running both my Overflow Drains into a large sock filter on the first chamber of my Sump/Fuge Combo?

My 33G acrylic sump is setup as follows:

Chamber 1: Smaller Beckett Skimmer that barely fits. Takes inlet water from last chamber and outlet is in first chamber with skimmer. Have a small powerhead feeding my Phosban reactor which returns water to the last chamber.

Chamber 2: Big ball of cheato. couple hermits and snails. Some LR rubble, and a UV Sterilizer. Have some old coral skeletons in there too along with some empty shells from snails & hermits

Chamber 3: EcoPlus 1056 Pump for Beckett Supply. Return water from Phosban Reactor. Bulkhead on sump end to Gen-X PCX-40 Return Pump.


Now, I have noticed at night (since I work grave shift) that I catch those little "bugs" around my DT. I also hve found them in my sock filter when I take it out to clean the sock filter.

My question is: Since I am running a Sump/Fuge Combo that feeds my Mandarins and provides my little "bugs", should I take out the sock filter permanently? Is it doing more harm than good? Possibly becoming a Nitrate Factory (even though I change it out about once a week or so). I m just worried that I am killing all my happy little helper bugs and possibly not doing my Copepods and Cheato any justice.

 

[DTECH07]

Do you have Photo's??

 

[07FocusST]

 

[Krish]

I kinda like the idea of not running a filter sock in your case. Seems like it will work against you a bit if you did. I never used anything on in-coming water ever and was able to keep un-detectable nitrates etc so it is do-able. You won't have to worry about having to stay on top of keeping the filter sock clean and also, won't have to worry about loosing any of your "bugs" to it either

 

[07FocusST]

thats what i was thinking and hoping.

 

[the6goat6man6]

I agree with Krish, I would remove that sock. Not only will it catch and kill your pods, but they are nitrate factories unless you clean them every couple days.

It's not a bad idea to run after cleaning or water changes to catch stray particles.

 

[thatguy559]

i have to politely disagree i have ran a filter sock on my tank for 6 years and i have zero issues. however if left untouched it becomes a nitrate factory. i have all four drains on my 120g all tied together into a 2" drain and that drain has a 7" filter sock that is changed every few days. the filter sock is in the same chamber as the skimmer and i get a ton of skimmate!!!!! this is my old skimmer. now i have a mrc 200 skimmer

 

[the6goat6man6]

i have to politely disagree i have ran a filter sock on my tank for 6 years and i have zero issues. however if left untouched it becomes a nitrate factory. i have all four drains on my 120g all tied together into a 2" drain and that drain has a 7" filter sock that is changed every few days. the filter sock is in the same chamber as the skimmer and i get a ton of skimmate!!!!! this is my old skimmer. now i have a mrc 200 skimmer

That is what I was saying, they have to be changed/cleaned every couple days. I know alot of people use them, I personally don't use them or feel the need unless the water has particles floating around. I don't think they are "bad", just not something I want to have to change every couple days. Others don't mind.

 

[07FocusST]

I dont have a problem with them. I just hate knowing that the filter does clog up eventually and may start a small pool in my stand.

 

[thatguy559]

That is what I was saying, they have to be changed/cleaned every couple days. I know alot of people use them, I personally don't use them or feel the need unless the water has particles floating around. I don't think they are "bad", just not something I want to have to change every couple days. Others don't mind.

i i was disagreeing with krish

 

[DTECH07]

Is you "Bug" Population lowered or effected by having a sock??

 

[Krish]

i i was disagreeing with krish

You actually kinda agreed with me.

however if left untouched it becomes a nitrate factory

I've always mentioned here that if a filter sock, sponge etc are left for more than a few days without being cleaned or changed, it can cause nitrate issues which is what I meant when I said...

You won't have to worry about having to stay on top of keeping the filter sock clean

Also, one of the concerns were pods that were being trapped in the sock. No sock, they can't be trapped so in this case it will be working against him like I mentiooned. I agree, people can keep un-detectable nitrates using a filter sock as well as not using one. It has been proven time and time again. It's more of a case of what works best for you and how you go about doing things. You use a sock and neglect to clean it, then you will have issues. I like the approach of not using one so I don't have to stay on top of keeping it clean. Heck, I don't even use any sponges on any of my pumps LOL! I run them raw because those same little sponges that sit in prefilters or on the intake/suction of pumps like magdrives, can become little bio-filters/ aka nitrate factories themselves if left to long to accumiliate waste. Every little bit counts with me ! Nonetheless, in this case, if pods are a concern of being lost/ killed using a filter sock, then not using one will fix that problem as well as you won't have to worry about staying on top of keeping it clean which will work against you if you didn't.

 

[07FocusST]

So far so good without sock filter

 

[thatguy559]

I kinda like the idea of not running a filter sock in your case. Seems like it will work against you a bit if you did. also, won't have to worry about loosing any of your "bugs" to it either

this is what i was disagreeing to i dont see how it would work against him his refugium is clearly after the filter sock.

 

[Krish]

this is what i was disagreeing to i dont see how it would work against him his refugium is clearly after the filter sock.

Maybe we are reading things two different ways here LOL! I'm gathering from the first post that Derrik is concerned that the "bugs" that are transferred to the sump from the tank never make it into the fuge because the filter sock catches them. Water from tank enters sump through filter sock catching whatever enters it before the skimmer or fuge sees it. Pods from the tank that are trapped there will either die or just accumilate there not benefiting anything. With the filter sock not there, they can make there way into the fuge to reproduce and multiply or be transferred back into the tank via the reurn pump. So I'm thinking this is what his concern is or what I am gathering from his post. It looks like you are looking at things from the other angle which is the fact that there is no filter sock after the fuge to trap anything so therefore it is possible for the "bugs" to be transferred back to the tank (although I've never seen a filter sock after a fuge). Is that what you are reffering to or am I still confused??

 

[thatguy559]

yes thats what i was talking about ....the refugium is a safe haven for pods to multiply and grow there not to be only populated by the main display tank. every few days when i clean my socks out there are no pods in my socks so i guess that is just my tank. my refugium has no socks on it and feeds back into my sump and i have a billion pods in my display and in my fuge

 

[Krish]

yes thats what i was talking about every few days when i clean my socks out there are no pods in my socks so i guess that is just my tank. my refugium has no socks on it and feeds back into my sump and i have a billion pods in my display and in my fuge

Go count them again to be sure :lol:. I figured that was the angle you were probably referring to. I know when I ran a filter sock (probably for only a week or so a long time ago before I tossed it) it caught everything...Pods and all. Not sure if it was the micron size I used or that I had some really good size pods, but it caught everything so nothing ever made it's way back to the tank that I was aware of. Flow will play an important role here too. If your flow doesn't lift everything into suspension and keep it in the water column where it can make it's way to the overflow, then pods will never find it's way into the sump unless they are swimming around or something (not sure if they swim as I've only ever seen them crawl). So some tanks may have more pods making their way to the sump than in others which partly can be determined by flow pattern and placement in relation to the overflow.

Just a few thoughts.