Filter socks

[theyangman]

What do your filter socks look like after a few days before you wash em?

Mine are completely brown.....  Almost a rust color and the material is just saturated with the color. There is no traces of any film or anything, but the material is like it has almost been dyed this brown color..... Is this normal?!?!?

I have filter socks in two locations.

1. On my drain into my sump.
2. My three reactors (pellets, GFO and carbon) all have their outlets aimed into a sock.

 

[pulpfiction1]

i toss them,i dont wash them

about 1 week

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

i never throw mine in the washer.      i just turn em inside out and use a water hose nozzle or shower massge  ad turn em back and do it again and wring em and use it agin  i get 2 months of use then toss em

 

[theyangman]

i toss them,i dont wash them

about 1 week

That seems pretty expensive.... The vertex socks are like 10 bucks each....

 

[reeffreak]

Ya I know people who toss then on a bucket of bleach and water after they have been rinsed and swap out for new ones. Replaced every week doing that process.

psitol has a good process for cleaning socks, maybe he will chime in

 

[theyangman]

I have to change mine out every 3 days. I have about 10 that I rotate to ease the burden of doing laundry so much.

 

[curiousphil]

I reuse mine until they start to fall apart.  Take them out and rinse every couple of days.  Do what Peter does, flip them inside out and blast water through them, does a pretty good job getting the gunk out.  Mine look similar to pulp's and the description you gave Tony.  Brown/rusty colour, mainly from food I imagine.  (The same colour as NLS pellets)

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

the water runs out the top of the sock when its time to clean it  i get about 5 days. then clean with water blast then reuse  once they get brown the first time. they say brown.  like stained

 

[curiousphil]

I use the tie-on socks and clean them more regularly to try and export detritus before it dissolves and turns into nitrates (it might be too late by that point but that's my intention anyways)

 

[Salty Cracker]

Yep, when they flow over the top, time to swap em.  I turn them inside out and wash them in the washinging machine.  They last ~3 weeks of normal use, and week of heaving feeding or messing around with substrate.    Plastic mesh inside the felt so that I don't have worms and goo embedded into the felt.  200 micron. 

I find the felt lasts probably 4 or 5 washes.  The old mesh ones lasted for 10+ washes, the new vertex ones last until just after you get them out of the box (the stitching is SHIT).  I use those plastic potato chip sealers on some of them to keep them sealed. 

 

[theyangman]

Yep, when they flow over the top, time to swap em.  I turn them inside out and wash them in the washinging machine.  They last ~3 weeks of normal use, and week of heaving feeding or messing around with substrate.    Plastic mesh inside the felt so that I don't have worms and goo embedded into the felt.  200 micron. 

I find the felt lasts probably 4 or 5 washes.  The old mesh ones lasted for 10+ washes, the new vertex ones last until just after you get them out of the box (the stitching is SHIT).  I use those plastic potato chip sealers on some of them to keep them sealed. 

The new vertex ones come with threads that aren't finished on the bottom. I just take a lighter to them and melt it slightly and seal em up that way. Works like a charm.

 

[harleymike]

Soak in water and bleach then washing machine. Until they can't be cleaned anymore.

 

[unibob]

[quote author=Salty Cracker link=topic=6852.msg68355#msg68355 date=1384543246]
Yep, when they flow over the top, time to swap em.  I turn them inside out and wash them in the washinging machine.  They last ~3 weeks of normal use, and week of heaving feeding or messing around with substrate.    Plastic mesh inside the felt so that I don't have worms and goo embedded into the felt.  200 micron. 

I find the felt lasts probably 4 or 5 washes.  The old mesh ones lasted for 10+ washes, the new vertex ones last until just after you get them out of the box (the stitching is SHIT).  I use those plastic potato chip sealers on some of them to keep them sealed. 

The new vertex ones come with threads that aren't finished on the bottom. I just take a lighter to them and melt it slightly and seal em up that way. Works like a charm.
[/quote]

:O your allowed to play with lighters?

 

[theyangman]

[quote author=theyangman link=topic=6852.msg68370#msg68370 date=1384546413]
[quote author=Salty Cracker link=topic=6852.msg68355#msg68355 date=1384543246]
Yep, when they flow over the top, time to swap em.  I turn them inside out and wash them in the washinging machine.  They last ~3 weeks of normal use, and week of heaving feeding or messing around with substrate.    Plastic mesh inside the felt so that I don't have worms and goo embedded into the felt.  200 micron. 

I find the felt lasts probably 4 or 5 washes.  The old mesh ones lasted for 10+ washes, the new vertex ones last until just after you get them out of the box (the stitching is SHIT).  I use those plastic potato chip sealers on some of them to keep them sealed. 

The new vertex ones come with threads that aren't finished on the bottom. I just take a lighter to them and melt it slightly and seal em up that way. Works like a charm.
[/quote]

:O your allowed to play with lighters?
[/quote]

yes.

 

[Pistol]

I get 2 days, soak them inside out in @ 1/2 cup of bleach and 4 litres of water for 2 or 3 days the a good rinse, i soak them in a 5 gal bucket with tap water and conditioner till i have @ 25 then i let them drip dry, i use them till worn out, i have @ 30 cycling.

 

[nexusnight]

wash mine in the machine with a cup o bleach come out pretty clean let dry for a week or two good to go

 

[dale]

i worked like crazy every 4 days or so flipping them inside out and smacking the hell out of them on the side of the laundry tub while rinsing them, till i finally gave up and havnt had them for about 6 mos now
ive recently aquired a couple 300 micron mesh socks, so im going to try them and hopefully they will be a little less labour intensive... we will see..