Roller mat barely advancing .. am I too clean?

[peterhos]

nope, would not make that correlation at all. do an icp test to see where you are at. I've recently add an hourly "purge mode" to my tank where all the pumps ramp up to 100 percent for a minute.....that might be helping to stir the tank up.....not sure if thats related but its the only thing i can think of as different. I used to eat thru a roll a month.

I am about to take the plunge and send off an ICP test. Will be interesting one way or another. Good idea about a daily/nightly purge. Will get onto it this afternoon.

 

[Bathbob]

I'm experiencing something similar. Here's my "roll history":

Roll 1 - 22 days
Roll 2 - 20 days
Roll 3 - 45 days
Roll 4 - 48 days
Roll 5 - 117 days

I'm not monitoring my flow, but it could be that it's going down?

Or there's a mechanical issue with the roll taking me from 48 days to 117 days. There are no errors though.

I just cleaned the retention system and have fresh roll on and I'm hoping it returns to more like 50-60 days with this one

 

[peterhos]

I'm experiencing something similar. Here's my "roll history":

Roll 1 - 22 days
Roll 2 - 20 days
Roll 3 - 45 days
Roll 4 - 48 days
Roll 5 - 117 days

I'm not monitoring my flow, but it could be that it's going down?

Or there's a mechanical issue with the roll taking me from 48 days to 117 days. There are no errors though.

I just cleaned the retention system and have fresh roll on and I'm hoping it returns to more like 50-60 days with this one

Thank you. Interesting. At my present rate of progress this roll will last 540 days!! Or more. Yes the roll does move 3/4 times a day and does collect gunk on the used section. I had the flow turned up to maximum which maybe means the solids were filtered out completely. I have now turned the return pump down from maximum speed of 20 to 6. I have also turned the Reef Wave down from 100% to 60% and the fish and inverts all seem happier. Coral frags still not growing much. Maybe the new lower flow rates will ‘liven up’ the roller mat and feed the corals more. Time will tell.

 

[dmsc2fs]

I had a similar results. I soon discovered that I put the lower cage in wrong and it was preventing the mat from advancing. It didn't throw an error but the mat would only advance a tiny amount each time. Once I put the rollermat together the correct way it started eating through the roll much quicker.

 

[peterhos]

I had a similar results. I soon discovered that I put the lower cage in wrong and it was preventing the mat from advancing. It didn't throw an error but the mat would only advance a tiny amount each time. Once I put the rollermat together the correct way it started eating through the roll much quicker.

Thank you. Will take out the mat now and have a look. I have set the mat advance to 1.0 - 1.5 cm. But it only creeps forward by 0.3 - 0.4 cm. What do you make of that?

 

[Jbell370]

My 1200 advances 60" a day, so enjoy it while it lasts! lol

Mine too

 

[dmsc2fs]

Thank you. Will take out the mat now and have a look. I have set the mat advance to 1.0 - 1.5 cm. But it only creeps forward by 0.3 - 0.4 cm. What do you make of that?

I'm not sure, but when I put mine together I thought the basket in the bottom went on top of the mat. I.E. you put the mat in place and take that internal basket and push it down in place with the mat going under it. In reality the two red rollers come off the internal basket and the mat goes under those and over the black bottom piece.

 

[peterhos]

I'm not sure, but when I put mine together I thought the basket in the bottom went on top of the mat. I.E. you put the mat in place and take that internal basket and push it down in place with the mat going under it. In reality the two red rollers come off the internal basket and the mat goes under those and over the black bottom piece.

Hi There Thanks for answering. Cannot quite visualise that …and bedtime now here .. so I will check it out tomorrow.

 

[peterhos]

Eureka! You have it!! I also had that basket pushed down on the mat and forgot when I changed a roll that the fleece goes under the two rollers of the bottom basket …

off to fix it now. Thank you.

 

[peterhos]

Ah … good questions. Thank you. Yes flow is steady and so goes down through the mat. Will check the emergency drain.

Have just spotted my mistake. When fitting a new roll I removed the internal basket and fed the fleece underneath the basket, instead between the rollers of that bottom basket. No wonder my roll was about to last for years! Thanks again all.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

It has varied for me. Water flow and quality seem to make a difference for me. I have the 500 on my 90 and the 1200 on my 240. I am averaging about 36.4 inches per day. I have been much higher and lower. I think as long as the ReefMat is installed correctly you should just let it do what it does and not worry about it. If you see detritus on the back roll that it is pulling out of your tank, it is doing its job. I do not think there is any defined amount of daily use that you should target for. Every tank is different and I have found that evey day is different too.

Agreed depending on the flow. I have a reefer 250 with the 500. once I put the correct size return pump on my numbers went down. I had to large of a return. I get about 10 inches a day what size return pump are you using?

 

[dschuffert]

Agreed depending on the flow. I have a reefer 250 with the 500. once I put the correct size return pump on my numbers went down. I had to large of a return. I get about 10 inches a day what size return pump are you using?

On the 90-gallon with the RM500 I am running a Neptune COR20. On the 240-gallon with RM1200 I am running two Red Sea ReefRun 9000 pumps.

 

[OfficeReefer]

Imo my reefmat is entirely dependent on my pump flow rate. When I first set up my pump, I was burning thru a roll. Literally a whole roll, 90 ft, in maybe a week. Lowered my pump flow... my roll lasts about a month. It's a weird balance between flow and the reefmat.

@Digitalfirex This information is good to know. I am in the process of adding a COR15 from a Sicce SDC 3.0 I had before. I was running around 180GPH but I think this new plumbing and return will get more. Any thoughts on how this would impact those with UV?

 

[Digitalfirex]

@Digitalfirex This information is good to know. I am in the process of adding a COR15 from a Sicce SDC 3.0 I had before. I was running around 180GPH but I think this new plumbing and return will get more. Any thoughts on how this would impact those with UV?

Honestly not sure... I have a UV and seems to be working fine. I do have it plumbed into my return line, manifold for biopellet and carbon reactors. I've read slower flow rates are better for contact time on UV so I'd imagine it would be better overall.... but that's just my opinion.

 

[Digitalfirex]

I think i have a 25watt lifegard uv plumbed behind the sump. It's a 50g lowboy frag tank and w.e. the sump holds. (Sapphire 44)

 

[Bertian84]

I was having the same issue with my 1200. I bought our 1200 at RAP Orlando 2023 and it still currently has the same roll. I just noticed it was allowing water to bypass through the holes as the fleece was tracking to one side of the used roll. Once I figured that out and fixed it (getting all the holes to be covered by fleece) it has started to churn through the roll.

As it's going now it seems like I have to keep checking on it daily and fix the slight sideways movement the fleece has before it uncovers the holes again. I removed the mat retainer up and out the bottom and checked that and tried to readjust the fleece down their but it is still slowly trying to track to the one side. Anyone else have this issue before?

 

[exnisstech]

I was having the same issue with my 1200. I bought our 1200 at RAP Orlando 2023 and it still currently has the same roll. I just noticed it was allowing water to bypass through the holes as the fleece was tracking to one side of the used roll. Once I figured that out and fixed it (getting all the holes to be covered by fleece) it has started to churn through the roll.

As it's going now it seems like I have to keep checking on it daily and fix the slight sideways movement the fleece has before it uncovers the holes again. I removed the mat retainer up and out the bottom and checked that and tried to readjust the fleece down their but it is still slowly trying to track to the one side. Anyone else have this issue before?

I do not have this problem. But just having set up a rollermat 500 I have a theory. When you start the roll on the receiving end if it is not perfectly even with starting roll as far as how It is wound it will roll crooked and cause what you are describing as it will wind tighter on one side causing it to walk toward that side.

 

[Bertian84]

I do not have this problem. But just having set up a rollermat 500 I have a theory. When you start the roll on the receiving end if it is not perfectly even with starting roll as far as how It is wound it will roll crooked and cause what you are describing as it will wind tighter on one side causing it to walk toward that side.

Ok thanks for the insight. I will have to pay attention to this when I fix it next. (Cut used mat and re wind again.

 

[Webbles]

Ah … good questions. Thank you. Yes flow is steady and so goes down through the mat. Will check the emergency drain.

Hi Peterhos,

I have your answer to your problem. I too have been suffering from 1.4cm dispensing on my reefmat 500.

I bought it second hand with a roll already on it but once it was used up, I changed to a brand new roll. Ever since then it only mov3d 1.4cm a day. 3am, 6am, 12pm 6pm and midnight I believe. 0.3cm or so a time.

I rechecked my installation after a month of putting up with it and scratching my head. Basically I missed putting the new fleece under the first red roller. From there I went down to the bottom and put it under the whole plate. Not under the 2 red rollers!

So I corrected this and voila.


I have only just done this so time will tell and I'll confirm once it's changed 4.5-5cm of roll.

I hope this helps


To edit this post. I've just read page 2 of this thread.lol.

The irony if I'd read on.....

 

[peterhos]

Hi Peterhos,

I have your answer to your problem. I too have been suffering from 1.4cm dispensing on my reefmat 500.

I bought it second hand with a roll already on it but once it was used up, I changed to a brand new roll. Ever since then it only mov3d 1.4cm a day. 3am, 6am, 12pm 6pm and midnight I believe. 0.3cm or so a time.

I rechecked my installation after a month of putting up with it and scratching my head. Basically I missed putting the new fleece under the first red roller. From there I went down to the bottom and put it under the whole plate. Not under the 2 red rollers!

So I corrected this and voila.


I have only just done this so time will tell and I'll confirm once it's changed 4.5-5cm of roll.

I hope this helps


To edit this post. I've just read page 2 of this thread.lol.

The irony if I'd read on.....

lol Glad I am not the only person to install the new fleece wrongly. Roller mat working well now since the fleece was fed through properly…