Do you sock it or skim it?

I use a sock before the skimmer. Then back to the tank the water goes. I change it out once a week I have a total of five of them. When the fifth one goes in the other flu hit the washing machine with Reg water and a little bleach then they air dry and ready for reuse. I rarely have to vac out the sump. it usually stays very clean. I need a smaller sock to catch the outlet water from the skimmer.

 

I don't see the need for everyday mechanical filtration. Pointless in my opinion. Never ran it on my tanks and my water was still clear. I have them around for when I stir up the tank working on it, that's it.

 

Yes i've seen those in books, but i prefer to let my 75G refugium catch that with a diversity of macro-algae that also gives me a biotope for other creatures i like; like seahorses and anglers. So i've made my display refugium part of my filtration system and i leave my sump empty and clear of rocks, i only have my equipment in it.

 

Coralline had it pretty much spot on, but the "reducing unwanted algae growth in the display" is only a plus of having an ATS. The MAIN reason I run an ATS is to KEEP nitrate and phosphate to undetectable measures, which it does very well, and I feed alot. You have to build it correctly to begin with though. If you dont have the right flow over the screen, or the right screen size, or the right type and amount of light on the screen it will not perform very well.

ATS's get a very bad rep from people not having success with them because they either didnt let the screen mature, or didnt build it correctly, or they had other types of filtration that hindered the screen growth (such as a GFO reactor or refugium). It's a shame really. Once people come to my house and see my tank and find out that it's the only form of filtration I run, they ask me to build them one. lol

 

Oh i have no doubt it works , i was just saying i rather grow macro-algae in my refugium , to use them for a biotope with other creature than making a ATS . Like i said i've seen it in books and on YouTube and i have no doubt at all that it works. And i found that it was a very cool way to use up the excess nutrients that way. Its also why i got the idea to use a bigger refugium for that same purpose .

 

I use the aqueon proflex sump in my 55g setup. The sump is made to hold 2 socks and I have it exactly scheduled to 7 days that I need to swap them out. The dirty ones I just soak overnight in a bucket with about a cup of bleach to 2 gallons of water. In the morning I just rinse them off with tap water and shake the excess off and then air dry. When the following sunday comes up I repeat the process. I use the app Aquarimate and it's great to schedule everything. Another thing that I don't do is use RO/DI water to rinse them. I personally don't see a reason to do this and the chlorine will dry off either way and any impurities that somehow stay on the filter sock will get soaked up by the carbon in the tank. Haven't had issues yet. An ATS system on the other hand does look great, only thing is that I don't have the patience to start a tear down to start one up.

 

, I am semi with you buddy I use skimmer and ATS on my system no socks no GFO. I created a semi larger system then Vinny is using right now and I have Been very surprised of the results.

 

Yeah i love refugiums for several reasons. Very low maint too.

 

Thats mainely because we have an almost full ecosystem running in there.

 

I wouldn't have a sock or filter and all the maintenance involved in any of my systems. Keep it simple.