Filter roller and solid waste

eric-atl · Jul 6, 2023

I heard a lot of people raving about filter rollers, and I got sick of the socks, so I decided to take the plunge. However, now that I've had time to think about it, I don't see how they could really be that effective. In the sock, any solid waste like uneaten food, algae, etc will get removed every time I swap the sock. In the roller, there's a constant body of water inside the thing. Imagine I just dumped a bunch of mysis shrimp in my overflow box. It seems to me that they would have to completely break down in the water before it would be small enough particles for the roller to extract it.

Honestly, I've been pretty disappointed in it anyway. My socks would regularly get grungy, but this (Aquamaxx AF-1) has barely moved, suggesting that it's not really filtering particulates all that well either. Anyone have thoughts?

blaxsun · Jul 6, 2023

My ReefMat is constantly advancing the fleece every time it triggers the water level sensor. Unlike filter socks, the fleece doesn't remain in the water for days at a time to break down into the sump.

eric-atl · Jul 6, 2023

I understand how it works, but what I mean is that the advancing fleece will only really remove detritus that's small enough to get lodged in there. The big stuff will just sit there, "bouncing off" of the fleece as it moves. It would have to rot and dissolve before it will lodge in the fleece.

That aside, mine isn't advancing very well either. In 3 weeks, it has only pulled like 4 inches of fleece out of the water, so at this rate, it will take 6 weeks or more from when the fleece enters the water to when it's removed.

drtechno · Jul 6, 2023

eric-atl said:
I understand how it works, but what I mean is that the advancing fleece will only really remove detritus that's small enough to get lodged in there. The big stuff will just sit there, "bouncing off" of the fleece as it moves. It would have to rot and dissolve before it will lodge in the fleece.

That aside, mine isn't advancing very well either. In 3 weeks, it has only pulled like 4 inches of fleece out of the water, so at this rate, it will take 6 weeks or more from when the fleece enters the water to when it's removed.

I wondered this exact same point when watching my roller. All the “big stuff” just sits on the bottom of the roller pad and doesn’t really get pulled out as it doesn’t get caught in the fleece. As the fleece gets rolled it just bobs along, bouncing off the fleece. Very little of the big stuff gets sucked up as it rolls. Seems it has to decompose first? In any case, there’s no way I would ever use anything else, as I love fleece rollers, but just curious.

blaxsun · Jul 6, 2023

eric-atl said:
I understand how it works, but what I mean is that the advancing fleece will only really remove detritus that's small enough to get lodged in there. The big stuff will just sit there, "bouncing off" of the fleece as it moves. It would have to rot and dissolve before it will lodge in the fleece.

That aside, mine isn't advancing very well either. In 3 weeks, it has only pulled like 4 inches of fleece out of the water, so at this rate, it will take 6 weeks or more from when the fleece enters the water to when it's removed.

Doesn't seem to be a problem with even the big stuff on mine. Maybe it's the particular fleece roller you have?

Mr. Papita Frita · Jul 6, 2023

Interesting definitely following along

eric-atl · Jul 11, 2023

Sorry, didn't follow up, but drtechno sums it up pretty well. Basically, just imagine throwing a raw shrimp in the filter. It would sink to the bottom, but the fleece wouldn't be able to remove it. It would have to dissolve first, releasing all sorts of nasty stuff into the water the whole time.

But I'm giving up on this thing anyway. Clearly the filter media sucks for this one, because it's still not advancing. The water level rises some, then falls again, which means everything is working its way through. I guess I'm going to try floss or something like "Reef Diaper" disposables.

Gedxin · Aug 31, 2023

Found this thread, sorry for reviving. I think I'm dealing with almost exactly what you're talking about - just with bubble algae (and not mysis shrimp, heh.)