sump questions????

you will find people with either love or hate filter socks, so I think its more personal preference, as for your refuge light, I've used from t-5's to the new CFL lights and all have worked. Your "Shrooms" need more light like t5's, and really I'm not sure why you have them in your refuge in the first place, but you didn't post why.

You need to take what others say with a grain of salt, if this hobby has anything, its got opinions.

Just cause your not seeing growth in your macro algae doesn't mean its not doing good. It feeds off excess nutrients in the water, i.e. Nitrates and Phosphates. If its not rapidly growing. Could just be a sign that you dont have excess nutrients floating around. As for the light. I have always used T5's but, a standard house hold bulb with the 6,500k range spectrum will also do just fine. as mentioned above, seems most shrooms do need more light. some seem to light the shaded areas.

I'm using a regular twist CF bulb 6500K in a metal dome reflector. I had a 6500K flood light CF bulb but it didn't work as well.

I think the filter sock also depends on what, and how much you're feeding. I recently had pellets that seemed like more ended up down the overflow than made it into the tank. They also seemed to take their sweet time breaking down. So in that instance, the filter sock was beneficial. There was kind of a lot of waste, and I could change the filter socks frequently enough to combat the issue.

Now, I've switched to flake. I swish it in the water so it can start to sink. I have significantly less getting sucked in the overflow. Now, I'm thinking of discontinuing use of the sock. Going au' naturale'.

I dont use a sock and probably never will. The only time I would consider using one is when I occasionally take a turkey baster and stir up any settle organics and fine particles in the tank by blowing in all the holes and crevices I can get to.

Crow said:

You need to take what others say with a grain of salt, if this hobby has anything, its got opinions.

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LOL Crow you know you love our "opinions"

Dave3420 said:

Do you recommend a filter sock?

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A lot of guys say they helped reduce their nitrates but you do need to clean it weekly also it will help keep your sump cleaner.

Dave3420 said:

I am using a full spectrum 60w bulb in a normal dome lamp

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I think a 23w compact florescent bulb would be a better choice make sure you pick "daylight" those are the blue/whiter ones vs the more common yellow you see, although that one will be good for macro I'm not sure it will grow mushrooms you made need a more robust lighting system in there for that like a couple t5 bulbs for instance.

put me down for sock. I recently tried going sockless and didn't care for the faster evaporation rates and salt creep on all my equipment. Sock for me keeps my sump nice and clean. They are easy enough to swap out every couple of days.