melev

I hate cleaning filter socks, and I've made that point known for many years. I own four 7" filter socks, and it's my annual task to clean them - and even then I hate it. It's rare that I even install a sock in my sump because it will get dirty, I'll have to take it out to clean and invariably it will sit in a dark corner covered in leaves waiting for #2, #3, and finally #4 to join it. When they are all dirty, I'll still put off their cleaning for weeks... it is literally the last thing I want to do.

I've blogged about these rare occasions in the past, including pictures, descriptions and my general reticence to the entire ordeal. I've soaked them in a container of bleach water, inverted them, rinsed them out, soaked them in Prime to remove any chlorine, left them to air out for 24 hours before they finally get put into a box for that day when I need one - or do I? I've run them through my washing machine as others have suggested, only to have them SNAP OFF three of the four impeller blades (in a single session!) leaving my washer to anemically launder clothing until I get a new replacement part.

For those of you that run socks, my hat is off to you. You change them out every three days, you wash them ten at a time and pride yourselves on spotlessly clean sump zones and/or the lack of microbubbles flowing into your display tanks. You seem to think they are a necessary evil, while I think they are just plain evil.

If I'm really going to clean my tank, and I mean go at it like my life depends on it, then maybe I'll install one in the sump for a few days to polish the water. None of my reefs have ever had microbubble issues, and whatever detritus settles out in the sump is siphoned out about every three months. People comment at the clarity of the water often, so good sump design and strategic plumbing seem to be my super power. If a few bits of stuff blow about in the water, odds are something will eat it. Or the skimmer will get it. Or it will settle out in the sump for manual extraction later.

So here are my clean socks for 2014. Maybe #4 is still clean? Odds are you won't see this topic again for about a year - longer if I can manage it.

They were soaked in a bucket of water and bleach for an hour, then blasted with a garden hose while the weather outside is still nice. Figured I might as well do this before it's miserably cold outside this winter.