Roller mat nutrients constantly low..

[Reefin' Alaska]

Just curious, how do people keep their nutrients up with roller mats?

I went from changing filter socks twice a week, to a ClariSea in my RS reefer. I've since watched my nitrate and phosphate dwindle to near undetectable. (Nyos/RS nitrate both barely yellow and RS remains almost clear. Phosphate is .00 on Hanna LR and no color with a RS kit.)

What do people dose to keep these up with roller mats? I feed twice a day by hand (Liquid Mysis and usually frozen, sometime flakes) and then auto feed pellets in the AM and about an hour before lights out. Just feed more?

I have some NeoPhos and NeoNitro here. They came in a pack from my LFS of Brightwell products. I've never used either one. I can see in the colors of my LPS that they were not doing well, I decided to test and discovered they were barely existent.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Feeding more or dosing are both fine options when both N and P are undesirably low.

 

[SeeFu]

clarisea has a flap that you can open up to let some unfiltered water through

 

[PanhandleReef]

clarisea has a flap that you can open up to let some unfiltered water through

The flap on mine is about 3/4 of the way open and I feed 6 times a day.

 

[blaxsun]

This seems to be a common comment with fleece rollers, ie: that they're possibly too good at extracting stuff. One reason I'm still on the fence with them...

 

[Crabby48]

More fish! The roller filter you have is it possible to have some water bypass roller

 

[James Emory Verified Sponsor]

This seems to be a common comment with fleece rollers, ie: that they're possibly too good at extracting stuff. One reason I'm still on the fence with them...

If a tank is well stocked and you feed twice a day, I doubt you will have no nutrients at all. I does the Red Sea parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 and that seems to be beneficial to the coral.

 

[blaxsun]

If a tank is well stocked and you feed twice a day, I doubt you will have no nutrients at all. I does the Red Sea parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 and that seems to be beneficial to the coral.

I did decide to pull the trigger - my ReefMat 500 arrived a few days ago and I'm just in the process of installing it (taking time to document detailed installation instructions).

 

[James Emory Verified Sponsor]

I did decide to pull the trigger - my ReefMat 500 arrived a few days ago and I'm just in the process of installing it (taking time to document detailed installation instructions).

Mine came two days ago and now have to plan a day to pull out the sump and do the necessary modifications to my sump. Appears to be a well thought out design but installing a new roll is not as easy as it looks on the videos. The level sensor gets in the way of removing the assembly from the bottom of the filter. You need to rotate it slightly to pull it out.

 

[blaxsun]

Mine came two days ago and now have to plan a day to pull out the sump and do the necessary modifications to my sump. Appears to be a well thought out design but installing a new roll is not as easy as it looks on the videos. The level sensor gets in the way of removing the assembly from the bottom of the filter. You need to rotate it slightly to pull it out.

Yes, I noticed that you can't just pull the lower assembly straight out as well. My ReefMat is up and running - the water has never looked better!

 

[ScubaFish802]

How have you all been doing?

I have resorted to using NeoNitro/Phos as of this week to get detectable nutrients. After 1st dose yesterday I am starting to see a hint of color finally. Curious if there is any way to adjust other than reducing the advance to the lowest amount possible

I have been trying -really- heavy feeding for the last couple weeks in general but it has made no difference at all in testing - fish don't mind though..

 

[Natural_Reefer]

How have you all been doing?

I have resulted to using NeoNitro/Phos as of this week to get detectable nutrients. After 1st dose yesterday I am starting to see a hint of color finally. Curious if there is any way to adjust other than reducing the advance to the lowest amount possible

I have been trying -really- heavy feeding for the last couple weeks in general but it has made no difference at all in testing - fish don't mind though..

How long have you been running the filter roller?
I been running my since May and still struggling with high Nutrients. It appeared to help quite a bit since Nitrate was above 50 and Phospate was around 0.2 before the roller. I guess I have to thoroughly clean out the sandbed?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

This seems to be a common comment with fleece rollers, ie: that they're possibly too good at extracting stuff. One reason I'm still on the fence with them...

Meh, its fine if your heavily stocked, or feed heavy.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

How long have you been running the filter roller?
I been running my since May and still struggling with high Nutrients. It appeared to help quite a bit since Nitrate was above 50 and Phospate was around 0.2 before the roller. I guess I have to thoroughly clean out the sandbed?

Frankly those arent bad, imho. I aim for that n&p. The nitrate I aim for 20 usually.

 

[Natural_Reefer]

Frankly those arent bad, imho. I aim for that n&p. The nitrate I aim for 20 usually.

Yes, I think I am almost there. Probably just another 25% reductions.
BTW, I am happy with the Roller, it is not only pulling out detritus but also finer "yellowish" pigments.

 

[blaxsun]

Meh, its fine if your heavily stocked, or feed heavy.

I did "get off the fence" just over a month ago and have been running one of the new Red Sea ReefMat 500 fleece rollers (would've adopted it earlier but it took forever for these to become available up here in Canada). As it turns out, I needn't have worried - I have a heavily-stocked/fed tank and nutrients more or less remained constant.

 

[Crustaceon]

A roller mat can also reduce nitrates and phosphates to extremely low levels by preventing the decomposition of uneaten food and general removal of nutrient creating particulates. As with ANY nutrient control method, including using an ATS or carbon dosing, get into a habit of periodically testing nutrient levels, note the trend and make small adjustments before things get out of hand. Pretty much nothing in this hobby is plug-n-play without potential downsides and it's best to do your due diligence. That said, I WANT that Red Sea Reefmat.

 

[arking_mark]

Nutrient control is completely dependent on your setup. Each tool is like a control knob that needs to be in tune with the other controls.

I'm a heavy in/out reefer.

My in tools:
2-3 frozen cubes a day
3 x dry feeding a day
Fish waste

My out tools:
Live rock
Deep Sand Bed
Refugium
Roller Matt
Carbon dosing
Skimmer
Coral
1% daily water change

Over time, I've balanced frozen (lower PO4) with dry (higher Po4) feedings to maintain my target nutrient levels with well fed happy fish.

Carbon dosing makes these nutrients more available to coral and my skimmer through bacteria support.

Roller mat removes detritus before it can break down while my refugium soaks up much of the excess nutrients.

I did almost daily nutrient testing unlit I hit a goid balance with heavy in/out.

Now I do weekly testing and adjust as follows:

Low NO3/PO4 - reduce carbon dosing and/or increase feedings

Low NO3, increase frozen feeding

Low PO4, increase dry feeding

High NO3/PO4, increase carbon dosing and/or reduce feedings

High NO3, reduce frozen

High PO4, reduce dry

Since my tank is fully automated even for feedings it's very quick to make adjustments.

 

[PeterEde]

Just installed a bubble magus roller mat.
Hoping it helps get my NO3 under control.
Last test before install Nitrate was 43.1

 

[TastyScrants]

I personally recently removed my reefmat 500 from my tank and have gone bareback with my mechanical filtration.

My corals seem a lot more colourful and have more polyp extension.

I don’t know if this is a long term solution but I do feel like my roller filter was starving my tank despite my nutrient levels being in a 100:1 ratio.

Instead of the roller filter I now have a chaeto refugium and I add PNS bacteria weekly and dose phytoplankton.

I used to love my roller filter but I honestly feel it was removing too much. I hear the clarisea has a gate to allow some out, but why spend all that money to only filter some of the water? Surely you’re back to the same net gain as a filter sock at that point?