If you buy direct from Steve you can save 10%. That’s why I go directly to him. He’s easy to work with and will send you a PP invoice. If you order early enough in the day he will ship the same day. He has on both of my orders.
Comparing filter rollers- **your reviews wanted!**
- Thread starter TheHarold
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Potatohead
Valuable Member
Bubble Magus recently came out with a larger and a smaller version of their rollers, and now offer three respective paper roll sizes.
I think they may have changed the paper or something because the old rolls I would get 6-7 weeks and now I am only getting 3.5 - 4. The used paper is much less visibly brown as well, I think it has to be a smaller micron rating. I am highly considering buying bulk paper on Ebay and making my own rolls.
I think they may have changed the paper or something because the old rolls I would get 6-7 weeks and now I am only getting 3.5 - 4. The used paper is much less visibly brown as well, I think it has to be a smaller micron rating. I am highly considering buying bulk paper on Ebay and making my own rolls.
Potatohead
Valuable Member
Just emailed him. Thanks for the tip about the Ebay listings being the wrong paper otherwise I probably would have bought the wrong one. The BM medium sized roller needs 6" wide, 2" core and they are 4.25" OD which is about 30 yards long. I would prefer 80 micron. We'll see what he can do.
this thread totally ignores the trigger platinum sumps. 10" wide and >3000gph. no brainer. i just put mine in and am burnung thru it quick but my 2yo build has never had and mechanical filtration at all and has been run on triton method since setup.
Oh man! I just ordered the 4” rayon/polyester on 2” cores for my thieling compact, as that’s what Steve suggested. He said his Theiling compact customers seem to be happy with it. I hope it works!
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Potatohead
Valuable Member
I actually spoke to him today. He said the rayon only seems to be a problem for the Clarisea. He is sending me a couple samples to determine the best one.
That diamond pattern makes me want to grill a steakthis thread totally ignores the trigger platinum sumps. 10" wide and >3000gph. no brainer. i just put mine in and am burnung thru it quick but my 2yo build has never had and mechanical filtration at all and has been run on triton method since setup.
great to hear. I’ll post my experience with them when I receive them. I’m currently going through a whole roll every two weeks, and am hoping these will last longer.
Shirak
Valuable Member
I am sure he knows what's working best for each type of filter and how much pull is required to advance the filter material.
Potatohead
Valuable Member
So I got the samples today, 35 micron poly, 50 and 80 micron rayon. The stock Bubble Magus paper is definitely poly, it looks exactly the same.
I really don't see why the rayon wouldn't work. It also seems thinner, meaning you should be able to get more length on the same outside diameter roll. I guess my only concern is I recall some people saying before some type of paper caused their skimmer to go nuts when first put in the water (like a new filter sock does that hasn't been pre-soaked) so I don't know if that would be a problem or not. Cross that bridge if it happens I guess.
I guess the next step is finding out how much these are and how many I need to commit to. I wouldn't mind buying six or eight at a time but I need to know how they work first. Will update when I know more.
Edit - I just noticed the Aquamaxx rolls are dimensionally identical to the medium sized Bubble Magus rolls. Steve mentioned he already sold some to Aquamaxx users, so that would be convenient.
I really don't see why the rayon wouldn't work. It also seems thinner, meaning you should be able to get more length on the same outside diameter roll. I guess my only concern is I recall some people saying before some type of paper caused their skimmer to go nuts when first put in the water (like a new filter sock does that hasn't been pre-soaked) so I don't know if that would be a problem or not. Cross that bridge if it happens I guess.
I guess the next step is finding out how much these are and how many I need to commit to. I wouldn't mind buying six or eight at a time but I need to know how they work first. Will update when I know more.
Edit - I just noticed the Aquamaxx rolls are dimensionally identical to the medium sized Bubble Magus rolls. Steve mentioned he already sold some to Aquamaxx users, so that would be convenient.
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Been using the Bubble Magus small filter roller for about a month. I have a low bioload, but this is a pretty cool little set up.
Getting the proper depth dialed in was a little bit of effort, but so far I like it.
Getting the proper depth dialed in was a little bit of effort, but so far I like it.
I just wanted to say thank you to the posters who experimented with the alternative rolls from Steve/preconfilter. Based on the feedback here I ordered four rolls, and have been very happy with the results.
The Clarisea rolls were always bunching up in the center, which eventually that caused them to narrow near the waste roll and let water pass by, essentially bypassing the filter and causing the unit to stop working.
These rolls work way better! I am nearly finished my first one, and it hasn’t bunched up at all. I am finally happy with my SK-5000 after months of frustration.
It seems that these rolls last about twice as long, so I suspect the micron rating isn’t the same. But my water is clear, detritus is getting removed, and the tank looks great, so who cares!
Thanks again to this awesome community.
psumms
Active Member
Hi mikedb, i've not scanned through the entire thread so apologies if someone has already mentioned this but I had the same bunching issue with my Clarisea. Spoke to the manufacturer, they're aware of it and have a fix. They sent me a plastic 'spreader' that instantly fixed the problem.
Shirak
Valuable Member
My understanding is the Clarisea roll is 20 microns and the ones from Preconfilter are 35micron. I bought 6 from Steve but have a few of the other left. I think I will be happier with the 35micron and had been wanting something larger than 20 to allow more fine particles through since I like to feed phyto and fine powder for the sps.
Shirak
Valuable Member
Interesting! I will have to contact them. I haven't had too much issue with it. I have noticed it happening and when I see it starting I grab both sides below the motor and pull it in opposite directions to spread it. I have also in the past cut the dirty side before the end of the roll and restarted it on the motor. Makes it easier than trying to remove the whole roll at the end which can get pretty tight and hard to get off.
psumms
Active Member
Give them a call. The fix was super quick and very easy.
Potatohead
Valuable Member
I tried to install one of the preconfilter rolls onto my BM roller tonight, ran into some snags.
First off my last BM roll lasted eight weeks. I last changed it May 17th, so I'm not sure what was up with the one I got two weeks from.
So I went to change it tonight and either I got shipped the wrong core size, or I ordered the wrong size, I can't remember. The BM cores are 1.5" and the ones I got from preconfilter are 2". So I spent like ten minutes re-rolling it onto the old cores. Then of course it wasn't rolled as tightly so the diameter was too large and it hit the wire going to the float switch. So I just pulled it off and installed a BM roll and will try again later.
The one thing I did notice which I was afraid of is the new paper does in fact make my skimmer go nuts. It only lasted 10-15 minutes but still a bit annoying.
So I'm not going to say this is a failure at this point but a little disappointed. If I can continue to get 6+ weeks out of the BM rolls that is good enough for me.
First off my last BM roll lasted eight weeks. I last changed it May 17th, so I'm not sure what was up with the one I got two weeks from.
So I went to change it tonight and either I got shipped the wrong core size, or I ordered the wrong size, I can't remember. The BM cores are 1.5" and the ones I got from preconfilter are 2". So I spent like ten minutes re-rolling it onto the old cores. Then of course it wasn't rolled as tightly so the diameter was too large and it hit the wire going to the float switch. So I just pulled it off and installed a BM roll and will try again later.
The one thing I did notice which I was afraid of is the new paper does in fact make my skimmer go nuts. It only lasted 10-15 minutes but still a bit annoying.
So I'm not going to say this is a failure at this point but a little disappointed. If I can continue to get 6+ weeks out of the BM rolls that is good enough for me.
@Potatohead
I have the small BM filter roller.
The first roll lasted almost 3 months with a light bioload, the second lasted 2 weeks. I will be contacting Steve and PreConn to order other rolls and hopefully save some money.
What micron rating did you end up going with, and was there an internal code that he used like the pp-15 for the Clarisea rollers, or not?
I have the small BM filter roller.
The first roll lasted almost 3 months with a light bioload, the second lasted 2 weeks. I will be contacting Steve and PreConn to order other rolls and hopefully save some money.
What micron rating did you end up going with, and was there an internal code that he used like the pp-15 for the Clarisea rollers, or not?
MightyMO
"The Algae made me do it!!!"
I just installed my trigger system cr44 sump, watching this thread because this is very Intresting to me... Wondering if one of these roller deals might be a good investment for me???
Potatohead
Valuable Member
I tried the 50 micron rayon. I still think they will work but I need to re-roll them onto smaller cores. The material also makes your skimmer go nuts for a while.
The BM ones look like they have switched to a tighter micron rating and I am now getting about 4-5 weeks out of them. When they come out they don't even look all that dirty, I do prefer the original ones.
