Bubble Magus Filter Rolls not lasting

i_am_mclovin · Jan 2, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
When I looked them at my LFS the medium has the same drain piping dimensions as the small. It's just a 6" roll instead of 4. Im at work, but can get a measurement on how far does the piping stick out, so you can figure out how much space you gain when you swap the pipe over.

That would be great!

Lbrdsoxfan · Jan 2, 2022

i_am_mclovin said:
That would be great!

Will check/post it tonite when I get home. I have a spare roller setup unused as backup, lol.

Lbrdsoxfan · Jan 3, 2022

i_am_mclovin said:
That would be great!

Here ya go! 2.89 inches.

i_am_mclovin · Jan 3, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
Here ya go! 2.89 inches.

Thanks so much!!

ilikebeef · Jan 3, 2022

I hooked up my Large BM on December 3 and had it sitting in the sump on a couple Bricks
just to get it started(had previously a Theiling roller mate that just ran through a whole roll
again and i had it). I was disappointment, I had to lower my pump (Coral Box DCA6000) from 100%
to 60% or the water would come out of the overflow holes of the BM. A few days later i had time and build a little stand out of PVC pipe the brought the inlet of the BM closer to the water surface of the sump, appropriately about an 1 1/2" below the water surface. Made all the diff rents in flow, back to 100% pump power, with full siphon and 1" drain
So it makes a huge difference how high or low you install you BM roller mat in you sump.
Hope this gives some help.

plankton · Jan 3, 2022

I too feel can’t prove that the new rolls have small micron size and clog faster. I’ve had mine for a year now. Happy with unit but had to dial down my return pump so less volume through unit to compensate.

vtecintegra · May 5, 2022

So after a year of being POed with his roller, after replacement rolls were overflowing, I got it back down from the attic. I got an original roll down that I had put away, and I still have a replacement roll that gave me problems. Comparing the two, the original is much more thin and flexible. BM are liars, that they did not change the material. I took a pair of close up photos with a piece of red pvc behind them. You can see the distinct pore structure of the "bad" roll. Although the precision holes look like they would flow a lot, the material is much thicker and does not. Then I took a pair of photos through the material with the TV behind. With the original roll, you can easily watch TV through it. Bad roll, you can not. Two different materials. I've ordered another replacement from China, so I'll find out if they went back to the original material or not. Side note, ~90 cents to ship a roll from China, $5.99 to ship from one of our US companies

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Lbrdsoxfan · May 6, 2022

Yup, the bm branded rolls are crap. I've been using coolant paper instead. Cheaper and last longer.

Natural_Reefer · May 6, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
Yup, the bm branded rolls are crap. I've been using coolant paper instead. Cheaper and last longer.

Could you share what size filter paper you are using? I am looking to get the 50 microns roll for the BM Medium size.

Lbrdsoxfan · May 6, 2022

Im buying paper from these guys at the link. Email and inquire if they make a 50 micron in the roll width you need.

Precision converting, llc

Custom rolled rayon filter paper, coolant filtration filter rolls, filter paper, fleece. Deep bed gravity filter filtration.

preconfilter.com

I have the small roller, and they stock 4" media. I've used the 50 micron and the 80 micron as well. 50 micron imho does better with the BM roller.

Natural_Reefer · May 6, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
Im buying paper from these guys at the link. Email and inquire if they make a 50 micron in the roll width you need.

Precision converting, llc

Custom rolled rayon filter paper, coolant filtration filter rolls, filter paper, fleece. Deep bed gravity filter filtration.

preconfilter.com

I have the small roller, and they stock 4" media. I've used the 50 micron and the 80 micron as well. 50 micron imho does better with the BM roller.

Thank You! Yes, that is the website I contacted and they recommended 50 microns. Also, BM filter rollers appear to be 50 microns as well. I will get some and try out as i just installed the BM Medium and it appears to roll quote often (about an inch or so every 6-7 minutes)

vtecintegra · May 30, 2022

vtecintegra said:
So after a year of being POed with his roller, after replacement rolls were overflowing, I got it back down from the attic. I got an original roll down that I had put away, and I still have a replacement roll that gave me problems. Comparing the two, the original is much more thin and flexible. BM are liars, that they did not change the material. I took a pair of close up photos with a piece of red pvc behind them. You can see the distinct pore structure of the "bad" roll. Although the precision holes look like they would flow a lot, the material is much thicker and does not. Then I took a pair of photos through the material with the TV behind. With the original roll, you can easily watch TV through it. Bad roll, you can not. Two different materials. I've ordered another replacement from China, so I'll find out if they went back to the original material or not. Side note, ~90 cents to ship a roll from China, $5.99 to ship from one of our US companies

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

I guess my saga comes to an end. Recap, over a year ago I ordered two rolls for my medium filter roller. Overflowed like crazy. Got mad and pulled it out for a year. Original roll, you can watch TV through it. Overflowing roll, much thicker. So this month I ordered a roll from China to try it again, and see if anything has changed. Success with it. You can't watch TV through it, but it feels much thinner than the rolls that overflowed. Out of curiosity, I ran samples under the faucet, and the bad roll reminds me of a duck, the way water runs off of it. Hydrophobic. Anyway, I guess the bad rolls are out of the system. Roller is back in and working.

On a side note, the roll material was being pushed through the two holes with the arrows. They were bypassing water. I siliconed them closed and that seems to have fixed the problem. It was only doing this on the non-motor side. The motor side seems to keep the material under higher tension where it does not happen.

Evolucion · Jun 2, 2022

i have the same issue with the replacement roll. It took a month to go through the roll that was supplied with the unit, but 3 days to go through the replacement i bought. any links to a good replacement i can buy in the UK or direct from china guys?

Really dissappointed with this replacement now......

vtecintegra · Jun 2, 2022

That sucks. I wasted $40 on two rolls a year ago. Anyway, I ordered a roll from aliexpress. Like I said above, its thicker than the original, but thinner than the non flowing roll, and is working ok for me.

14.98US $ 7% OFF|Bubble Magus Roller Filter Arf Series Replacement For Aquarium Fish Tank Auto Fleece Sump - Filters & Accessories - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Futuretotm · Jun 6, 2022

Sharing my experience as well, used it for 1.5 years.
First roll was amazing, then downhill.

Two issues improved it a tad bit:
I raised the water level in my sump this ate through a few rolls
The float switch wasn't tight and was slid down a bit, moved it up and angled it a little to raise it even more

Next thing Ill do is to get the coolant roll, thanks!

Natural_Reefer · Jun 6, 2022

@vtecintegra, thank you for the tip! I have similar issues with the bypass and will definitely seal those 2 spots up next time I get the roller out for cleaning.
@Futureti i ordered the 50 and 80 micron coolant rolls. Will possibly starting using them in the next couple days and will report the results/experiences with the rolls.

Natural_Reefer · Jun 18, 2022

So been running the 80 microns for about a week, I think the Coolant paper does much better job of absorbing the finer yellowish pigments than the Bubble Magus. It seems to advance less often as well (most likely because 80 microns vs 50 microns). I will check the water clarity when I change water next time to see if the coolant paper makes any difference.

Lbrdsoxfan · Jun 18, 2022

Natural_Reefer said:
So been running the 80 microns for about a week, I think the Coolant paper does much better job of absorbing the finer yellowish pigments than the Bubble Magus. It seems to advance less often as well (most likely because 80 microns vs 50 microns). I will check the water clarity when I change water next time to see if the coolant paper makes any difference.

What did you do with the large as heck 2" core. I ended up re rolling it on a smaller core. My experience was mixed with the 80 micron, worked on one tank and the other tended to poke out the lower holes but I love the 50 micron.

Tamberav · Jun 18, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
What did you do with the large as heck 2" core. I ended up re rolling it on a smaller core. My experience was mixed with the 80 micron, worked on one tank and the other tended to poke out the lower holes but I love the 50 micron.

just curious, are you using the original BM or the new 2.0?