ReefMat fleece roll consumption

[mackdave]

I have a ReefMat 1200 that is using 200cm a day. I am sending around 700gpm through it. My tank is a Redsea XXL750. Any thoughts on how to reduce the daily usage? I have tried other auto lengths.

 

[blaxsun]

Is your tank heavily stocked? ~6 feet seems like a lot, though (most users seem to indicate around ~2 feet daily).

 

[mackdave]

Maybe a little. Should I reduce the flow? I have a Cor15 pump at 30% and a Sicce SDC6 at 35%.

 

[takitaj]

If you just installed it then you're going to see higher usage until all the gunk gets cleaned out. So it should settle down eventually. I wouldn't change your flow for that reason. Whenever I stir things up it uses a bunch also. I am running the Clarisea SK500 however they all will see a similar trait. The more it's filtering out the faster it will use up the fleece. The same would go for socks. It's just the nature of the beast.

 

[TheBear78]

One of my concerns with any roller is how a high flow rate could essentially indicate a restriction earlier than a slower flow and trigger the roll advance. Short of an increased roll area or a higher sensor the only option would be to slow the flow rate but why should you have to?
If it's your first roller/roll then it will use a lot of media until most of the smaller particles have cleared.

Edit: Takitaj beat me to it!

 

[takitaj]

Ya know, you're right on the flow. It's ok as long as it's enough below the max rating of the RS. The higher the flow the higher the water level will be inside. Is it rated at 1200GPH or LPH? Your 700GPH seems fine as long as the rating isn't in LPH. You can get more out of the fleece by raising the roller mat higher in the sump. It's hard to give fine tuning advice without seeing your setup and knowing more about the RS.

 

[Smokey the reefer]

I have the exact same issue.ive had to turn my return pump way down to counter this.
I swapped it out for from my clarisea in which a roll would last 6 weeks my forest red sea reefmat 500 roll has lasted 1 week!!I can't see it's going to pull out way more gunk than the clarisea...I guess I'll see what roll number 2 does

 

[mackdave]

I have the exact same issue.ive had to turn my return pump way down to counter this.
I swapped it out for from my clarisea in which a roll would last 6 weeks my forest red sea reefmat 500 roll has lasted 1 week!!I can't see it's going to pull out way more gunk than the clarisea...I guess I'll see what roll number 2 does

That’s good to hear. I wonder if I had it advance more when triggered if it would make a difference. I’m scared to experiment to much, I only have one roll left. And my local store is out.

 

[nycfishy]

I have the exact same issue.ive had to turn my return pump way down to counter this.
I swapped it out for from my clarisea in which a roll would last 6 weeks my forest red sea reefmat 500 roll has lasted 1 week!!I can't see it's going to pull out way more gunk than the clarisea...I guess I'll see what roll number 2 does

why did you go from clarisea to reefmat?

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Not mentioned was the color of the used fleece. Not specific to reefmat but all roller mats. If you’re going through a lot of fleece and it’s still relatively clean either the flow is too high or it’s too low into the water. So you could lower the flow, raise the unit out of the water, or both. If you’re going through a lot of fleece and it’s totally dirty, we’ll…it’s doing its job and you have a lot of gunk to remove. It will eventually slow down once it gets all the heavy out. I think, no proof, that almost everyone that switches from socks to a roller, or starts fresh with a roller, goes through a roll or two pretty fast in the beginning as they do such a good job of removing stuff. Almost too good if you ask me. Also, some units (Clarisea) have an adjustable bypass gate so you can allow zero, to quite a bit to bypass the fleece. I’m not familiar with the reef mat but I would think it has a way to do this as well.

 

[Natural_Reefer]

Great tips! I installed the Bubble Magus Medium sized roller at the beginning of May. The 1st roll lasted less than 13 days. I was a bit concern with the consumption; raised the unit up about 3 inches and it has about 1/5 of a roll left to go after 20 days. Definitely noticed better water clarity, less smelly tank and sump and less (not as dark skimmate)

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Great tips! I installed the Bubble Magus Medium sized roller at the beginning of May. The 1st roll lasted less than 13 days. I was a bit concern with the consumption; raised the unit up about 3 inches and it has about 1/5 of a roll left to go after 20 days. Definitely noticed better water clarity, less smelly tank and sump and less (not as dark skimmate)

I will tell you that I used to brew perfect coffee with my skimmer, before the Rollermat. Now, it’s just a jumbo airstone with hardly any skimmate. Also, I have to dose nitrate and phosphate now. Like I said, they work too well. I can let water bypass the fleece, but I just don’t have the heart to do that.

 

[mackdave]

why did you go from clarisea to reefmat?

The ease of changing the filter roll.

 

[amoore311]

I use Aquamaxx Largest Filter Roller, with the largest size Clarisea Fleece.

My last roll lasted less than a month. I have dual drains on my 220, so I adjusted more water to go to the unfiltered drain, we will see how long I can get the roll to last.

Ideally, I'd like to get 45-60 days from a large roll otherwise the juice isn't worth the squeeze from a cost perspective.

 

[Natural_Reefer]

Yes, my skimmate was super dark with a nice crusty build-up on the skimmer neck prior to using Fleece Roller.
Based on recommendations of some reefer here, I ordered custom 50 microns and 80 microns rolls from https://preconfilter.com/products. Hopefully they will wormk better and a cheaper alternative to BM roll (at $20/roll and only last 2-3 weeks).

 

[amoore311]

Yes, my skimmate was super dark with a nice crusty build-up on the skimmer neck prior to using Fleece Roller.
Based on recommendations of some reefer here, I ordered custom 50 microns and 80 microns rolls from https://preconfilter.com/products. Hopefully they will wormk better and a cheaper alternative to BM roll (at $20/roll and only last 2-3 weeks).

thank you for sharing that link!

 

[Natural_Reefer]

thank you for sharing that link!

You're welcome! Contact them via their website; very responsive and knowledgeable. Great prices as well.

 

[mackdave]

Yes, my skimmate was super dark with a nice crusty build-up on the skimmer neck prior to using Fleece Roller.
Based on recommendations of some reefer here, I ordered custom 50 microns and 80 microns rolls from https://preconfilter.com/products. Hopefully they will wormk better and a cheaper alternative to BM roll (at $20/roll and only last 2-3 weeks).

Do they cut it to the proper width?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Do they cut it to the proper width?

You can ask Steve @ precision what he has available. I known they do 4" and 6" rolls, but its a 2" core (I roll it down to a smaller 1 1/2" core). I've been using precision over a year now. Its kind of a diy setup, but its a viable and great alternative to high cost rolls from the mfg.

Im a earlyish adopter of the Bubble Magus roller, which worked great, until it didn't (mfg. changed roller media). I've used EVERYTHING out there, cooling paper from precision was the closest thing to the real thing. I've posted up my experiences with various media in a few other threads.

 

[mackdave]

The redsea is:

• Width: 6.7"