Filter Bag

Reefkeeping, Coral, Fish and Invertebrates.

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I use a filter bag

Always
7
64%
Never
4
36%
 
Total votes: 11

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GermanShepherdGirl
Copepod
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Filter Bag

Post by GermanShepherdGirl »

Do you use a filter bag or do you just let the skimmer get everything? I typically change mine once or twice a week when it starts getting nasty. But I was wondering if I should just not use one at all and let the skimmer get everything. What do you do?
-Kristyn
sb1227
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Post by sb1227 »

I use one, simply as a kind of prefilter for the bigger stuff. But the main reason is it tends to catch the tiny snails and things that get thru the overflow and I can put them back in the tank.
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Buzz
Amoeba
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Location: Daphne, AL

Filter

Post by Buzz »

Great question to ask. I've been wondering what everyone else is doing also. I started out with a megaflow sump with the prefilter built in and later changed to a different type sump with filter socks. After cleaning the socks weekly and washing them before they went back, I took longer and longer to put them back until I finally just left them out completely. I have not been able to tell a difference in the tank and now I don't have to spend an hour picking copopods that got stuck in the filter.

Later,
Buzz
Endeavor to Persavere
(Hang in There)
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Amphiprion
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Post by Amphiprion »

I don't mind filter socks or their (proper) use. I was just too lazy to continually clean mine, so I removed them. If you have a skimmer, it is counterproductive to have the sock before the skimmer. This is simply because you are collecting the smaller solids that could potentially be removed by the skimmer and allowing them to break down. This, interestingly enough, decreases skimmer performance a good bit. However, having a filter sock after the skimmer, such as on the outlet of the skimmer itself, collects any particulates that weren't collected before. Cleaning it on a frequent and regular basis will help keep any breakdown to a minimum.
Andrew

25g planted nature aquarium
sb1227
Astrea snail
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Post by sb1227 »

Good point, Andrew. I quit using a sock on the 75, because I had so many algae issues and decided maybe leaving the sock (and being lax on cleaning it :)) in the sump may have been contributing to it. I am trying to keep the ones I use now clean and changed more often.
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GermanShepherdGirl
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Post by GermanShepherdGirl »

Up until a couple of days ago I had been using one all the time. The guy I bought my tank from gave me about 10 of them. As they get dirty I hang them over the center brace of my sump to dry them and then I stack them in the corner until they are ALL dirty and ready to be washed. So at the moment I don't have a filter bag at all....until I can get them all washed. And my skimmer actually is performing better since taking the filter bag off. I think I may try this next month without a filter bag to see how it does.

And when you wash the filter bags is it necessary to flip them inside out? That's a pain in the butt.
-Kristyn
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tbmoore
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Post by tbmoore »

I used a filter bag in all my tanks before the storm took me out....and will use one again when I retire in a year or so and set up another tank. What I did do is not filter everything thru the bag. I had two returns to the sump and only used the bag on one of them. This helps polish the water but also lets some return without the bag filter to help the good stuff like pods ect move around the tank. Even in our plant on our contactors we only polish about 20% flow. This also makes your filters go longer without having to change.
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yardboy
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Location: Grand Bay

Post by yardboy »

Guess I'm waking this thread back up again. I use a filter sock all the time because my beckett skimmer will get bits of shell or detritus hung up in the venturi decreasing performance. I'm not sure why it does that or where all the stuff it catches is coming from, but when I empty the sock there's always pods, brittle stars and stomatella's in it, which I dump back into the tank, or into a refugium that's on another tank.
Beware the advice of those with dollar signs in their eyes.
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