I was given a bunch of aquarium equipment from a 250g that had been broken down for a cross-country move several years ago. In the interim, the owner lost his passion for the hobby and that's how I wound up with his gear.
I have my little 24g Aquatop AIO and have no intention of going bigger at this time. I also am reluctant to purchase a skimmer, as I have heard lots of negative feedback regarding the smaller skimmers made for nanos.
Well, I have all these felt filter socks and was wondering what I could do with them. As they come with a sewn-in ring to fit the previous owners sump, there was no way they would fit my little cube.
I decided to modify some of them by removing the holding ring. I did this by using a razor on the inside of the ring. This preserved the hems on the filter socks.
Now the sock will fit in the first chamber of the AIO, but there was nothing to hold it in place. So I added a couple of cylinder sponges to the inside of the sock to hold its shape and position in the chamber.
Now the sock is held firmly in place below the weir overflow. I, like everyone else who uses socks, change them about every 2-3 days. Fortunately, I have many of these and the switch out is not complicated. I remove the dirty sock and rinse the sponges in RO water. I place the sponges in a new clean sock and insert it into the chamber. The dirty sock goes into a 10 gallon tank I'm keeping cycled for use as a quarantine or hospital tank. When enough of the dirty socks accumulate, I'll turn them inside out, toss them into a hot water wash with a touch of bleach, double rinse them and let them dry.
Appreciate any comments or pitfalls I may have overlooked.
I have my little 24g Aquatop AIO and have no intention of going bigger at this time. I also am reluctant to purchase a skimmer, as I have heard lots of negative feedback regarding the smaller skimmers made for nanos.
Well, I have all these felt filter socks and was wondering what I could do with them. As they come with a sewn-in ring to fit the previous owners sump, there was no way they would fit my little cube.
I decided to modify some of them by removing the holding ring. I did this by using a razor on the inside of the ring. This preserved the hems on the filter socks.
Now the sock will fit in the first chamber of the AIO, but there was nothing to hold it in place. So I added a couple of cylinder sponges to the inside of the sock to hold its shape and position in the chamber.
Now the sock is held firmly in place below the weir overflow. I, like everyone else who uses socks, change them about every 2-3 days. Fortunately, I have many of these and the switch out is not complicated. I remove the dirty sock and rinse the sponges in RO water. I place the sponges in a new clean sock and insert it into the chamber. The dirty sock goes into a 10 gallon tank I'm keeping cycled for use as a quarantine or hospital tank. When enough of the dirty socks accumulate, I'll turn them inside out, toss them into a hot water wash with a touch of bleach, double rinse them and let them dry.
Appreciate any comments or pitfalls I may have overlooked.
