Copepods

[cscultho]

Does anybody else when you clean your filter socks pick all the live pods from the socks and put them back into the tank?

Didnt know if this was a strange cleaning ritual i do compared to other reefers...LOL

[journeyman]

I rinse them out of my chaeto back into my tank when I prune.

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[AlSimmons]

Does anybody else when you clean your filter socks pick all the live pods from the socks and put them back into the tank?

Didnt know if this was a strange cleaning ritual i do compared to other reefers...LOL

I'm pretty sure your not the only one who does this, although I've never really felt the need to run a filter sock on a regular basis. I prefer to let things float freely throughout the system until it's time to hinder the flow so to say.

[cscultho]

I'm pretty sure your not the only one who does this, although I've never really felt the need to run a filter sock on a regular basis. I prefer to let things float freely throughout the system until it's time to hinder the flow so to say.

If you do not use filter socks how do you filter the "bad" stuff from the system?

[karimwassef]

What bad stuff? I run without mechanical filtration too. No sponges or socks.

Anything big enough to be caught in a sock is probably good for the tank and needs to circulate back in. In your loop isn't effective and you end up with a lot of it settling in the sump, then you need to improve flow to recycle the particulates.

The real "bad" stuff in a tank is the invisible inorganics that can't be captured with socks or sponges. They're usually the result of socks and sponges where the unrecycled food decays (or dies and then decays) and then needs to be sequestered and exported.

So socks make the mess- they don't clean it up.

Just my 0.02

[cscultho]

What bad stuff? I run without mechanical filtration too. No sponges or socks.

Anything big enough to be caught in a sock is probably good for the tank and needs to circulate back in. In your loop isn't effective and you end up with a lot of it settling in the sump, then you need to improve flow to recycle the particulates.

The real "bad" stuff in a tank is the invisible inorganics that can't be captured with socks or sponges. They're usually the result of socks and sponges where the unrecycled food decays (or dies and then decays) and then needs to be sequestered and exported.

So socks make the mess- they don't clean it up.

Just my 0.02

Interesting. Ive always thought it was a must to have some sort of filter in-line in the system but now you've got me thinking about my setup and need for filter socks.

[karimwassef]

There was a time when every reef had to have a bioballs trickle filter and then a DSB with plenum and then ...

There are lots of things that can work, for a time.

But as far as what you MUST have, it's a small subset of things. I've had to reconsider my own beliefs...

For example - I've always been an advocate of monster skimmers. I build a massive 12' = 144" monster with dual penductor injection... and got caught in a logical gap. Skimmers remove protein and oil particulates... but I reject mechanical filtration because they remove those things... to reconcile, I've removed my skimmer... but replaced it with an air injector instead.

So, we keep things because we "think" we know what they do, when in fact they have other functions... myths

Filter socks keep water clean for inhabitants - myth
Filter socks create waste for inhabitants but make the water look clearer for us - truth

Protein skimmers remove waste - myth
Protein skimmers remove food but their true value is in air injection - truth

These are my opinions on myth and truth, anyway.

[Alfrareef]

Sorry to break in, but for me as a must, only good flow and that's because I've got sps. As per the rest I've seen it all.

[Bma1972]

I like this post. I ran a 90 gallon mostly softies with few SPS with an empty canister filter 3 power heads and 150 pounds of rock and medium sand bed. My core fish are all over 8 years old. Then I moved to me house and went to a 220. Running pretty much same theory, but lost a few. Here's the old tank.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170721/9f9b81f1e08de38ece0120d4e8df6963.jpg

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[cscultho]

I like this post. I ran a 90 gallon mostly softies with few SPS with an empty canister filter 3 power heads and 150 pounds of rock and medium sand bed. My core fish are all over 8 years old. Then I moved to me house and went to a 220. Running pretty much same theory, but lost a few. Here's the old tank.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170721/9f9b81f1e08de38ece0120d4e8df6963.jpg

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Looks amazing!

[Barro777]

Scientific mumbo jumbo aside, yes I pick pods from socks and put them back into the tank :)

[cscultho]

:dscientific mumbo jumbo aside, yes i pick pods from socks and put them back into the tank :)
:d

[dartier]

I also run no mechanical filtration. Mainly because I worry what it will remove, and more so that "I will not remove it (for cleaning) on a regular basis".

I had an algae scrubber for awhile. Again too much work to maintain, and yes I spent altogether too much time trying to rescue pods before I disposed of the GHA.

Ditto with chaeto. As a nutrient export for me I was always too concerned with not throwing the baby (pods) out with the bathwater.

I am trying a new approach with the build I am doing now. No skimmer, and will be relying on a DIY dymico style filter. I plan on building the food chain from the ground up.

Dennis

[karimwassef]

I just feed my turf back to my tank.. I recycle everything. no export, no skimmer.

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[cincyjim]

Yes, I collect them and put them in the fuge section of the sump. Nothing like free food for the fish.

[aiber]

I just feed my turf back to my tank.. I recycle everything. no export, no skimmer.

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Interesting but are you not concerned that you will get nuisance algae in you DT? One of the things I love about my ATS is zero nuisance algae in my DT.

[karimwassef]

I have no algae in my DT... Even though I actively put it back in.

An ATS doesn't work because there's no algae in the DT. Algae is everywhere - but it creates a favorable zone (ATS) for algae to grow and a very unfavorable zone (display tank). I can export all my algae into my DT and it will disappear.

My DT has algae-eating fish, crabs and snails... my ATS is safe refuge.
My DT has 18 hours of 1200W metal halide over a large area... my ATS has 23 hours of 600W LED on a small focused area
My DT is deep and has high turbulent flow... my ATS has very high directed flow and significant surface agitation (air/water interface)...

That's why ATSs work - corals grow best when they have so much food that the algae in the ATS is constantly overflowing with life and growth. Very high FOOD and almost no Nitates and Phosphates... like real reefs

If you snorkel, you'd see nature's algae scrubbers up from the reefs. It's the warmer, shallower high surface flow zones that are slimy and slippery... and those are essential for the health of the reef a few hundred feet further from the shore.