Sponge or filter floss?

[Darby]

I've been pondering changing my filtration somewhat. At the moment, I have a sponge in my overflow to prevent bigger stuff going down teh drain to the sump, and a filter sock at the output. There is then another sponge between the "refugium' and the return pump.

Should one, or some, of these be discarded? Is filter floss better than filter socks or sponges? ( I don' thtink you can clean filter floss like you can sponges and socks, correct?)

 

[WoodDragon]

@Darby wrote:

I run no filters of any type anywhere in the system and never will,
unless you change them every couple of days they will do more
harm then good. Google mechanical filtration and make up your
own mind, you will find those that do and those that will not.
And you will find nice tanks both ways, a good tank has very little
to do with a sponge.

Maybe if I had to many fish in the reef I'd think about
something but then the real problem would be to many
fish.

Just a skimmer for me.

WoodDragon

 

[SumThinhWong]

i agree sponges can hold a lot of left over food and other detritus and that tends to bring up phosphates and cause other problems. i know some people use filter socks but that needs to be cleaned often also. I ended up taking all my sponges off of my old tank and running a DSB refugium with cheato it helped keep the phospates down.

 

[WoodDragon]

@SaltNewbie wrote:

A refugium as far as I'm concerned is a must, I have two on
my system one upder the stand and one on a stand next
to the tank to look at.

WoodDragon

 

[FranktheTank]

I wouldn't run a tank/sump with out a sponge or two. I run a filter sock on the drain - and you should see the crap it catches in a matter of a few days.

People are funny - they say "Don't run a sponge or filter floss because it will get dirty and need to be cleaned - and causes nitrates and phosphates."

I mean, does the stuff that gets caught in the sock just magically disappear if you don't run a sock? Ha! Duh!! It's still in your tank. Sometimes common sense gets left behind by many. If you run a sponge or sock - you can remove it and clean it thus removing all that "stuff" it trapped from your entire system.

I just have a few extras - so while I'm cleaning one and letting it dry, I pop a new one in.

 

[WoodDragon]

@FranktheTank wrote:

Not directed at you just a though on the term.

Common sense is a funny thing most think they have it
and do not have the common sense to know they do
not.

WoodDragon

 

[Darby]

Well, I rotate 3 filter socks, changing them out when the water begins to oveflow them, then wash them in pairs (with bleech!). I ahve a sponge at the drain entrance to keep snails from getting in and clogging the drainline, but it does indeed trap a whole lot that I can't always get out.

I for sure will keep the socks, but I think that perhaps I can lose one of the sponges and replace it with filterfloss to keep cheato from getting into the rreturn pump.

 

[FranktheTank]

@WoodDragon wrote:

Not directed at you just a though on the term.

Common sense is a funny thing most think they have it
and do not have the common sense to know they do
not.

WoodDragon"]
I'm sure no one walks around thinking "I'm dumb as a rock - and have no common sense."

But seriously, the stuff sponges and socks catch is in the water column - just because there's not sponge or sock to catch it doesn't mean it suddenly disappears. I understand a DSB can help break this down - but really, using a sponge to catch some particles and remove them from the tank is a very good idea. If not, you'll need to siphon it out of your sump - and in some cases have to anyways a little.

 

[aentrop]

I dont run any sponges, filter floss, or anything on either of my tanks.

I used to, but have since stopped. Skimmer and bacteria should remove everything if your tank is up to standards (and also old enough)...

Next time you take out that sock or sponge, look at how many bugs, pods, and other living things are in it! If there aren't any, well, you've sponged them all out. If I ever temporarily run a sock or blue pad on my tank, after a day I can count hundreds of little shrimps and bugs that it trapped, and I don't want the remove these, as they are food for my reef.

I had limited pod populations when I used sponges, now 1 year without the stuff, and my populations are huge

 

[SumThinhWong]

thats the same reason i don't run sock or sponges i have a good population of pods

 

[mermaiddreams]

I use the cut-to-fit filter floss in between the baffles in my sump. It really traps a lot of debris and I change it out every other day. My live rock seems to shed a lot of stuff and my water was never very clear until I started using the floss.