When I moved my tank I too switched from filter socks (which I hated) to a roller mat. It has been both a blessing and a curse.
I started with KLIR Di-4 drop-in system in my existing sump. I thought it would be a great low-cost way to get away from filter socks without having to buy a new sump. Total nightmare. The unit was always jamming and it was a total pain the butt to change the fleece. CoralVue was helpful and sent me a new (bigger) motor to overcome the jamming problem - it helped, but never really solved it.
Klir Di-4 Filter Drop-In Fleece Filter System fits in most sumps with a 4" filter sock tray and will eliminate the need to replace filter socks. The 50-micron fleece roll will help eliminate free-floating particles and automatically advance when the fleece starts to clog, exposing new fleece...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
So I finally gave up and I purchased the Trigger Systems Platinum 39 for my 130 display. It has some really thoughtful features and I liked the idea of having a roller fleece that was integral to the sump as a way of reducing the number of things that could go wrong.
Trigger Systems has been testing its Platinum series for over a year and a half to make sure they have a solid, proven design. This series includes an automated, continuous mechanical filtration that replaces filter socks. Trigger has tested several different designs and found that having the...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
It too had a lot of growing pains. I think I was one of the early adopters of the unit, as Trigger Systems ended up reaching out to me and sending a technician to my house to help me trouble shoot. The ended up swapping out a number of parts over the course of three visits and two weeks. Eventually, after replacing the controller board, the motor, the fleece support brackets, and the float switches, the unit was much more reliable. Since then I've had it running for about 1 year without major problems. I can run the unit for a good 6 weeks between having to change fleece rolls.
I think I got lucky, as it turns out that Trigger Systems actually manufactures the units right here in the Dallas area, so it was easy for them to send an engineer to my house to sort me out (which they were really great about - even during the early days of the pandemic). Not sure what someone else's experience might be if they weren't nearby. Then again, I notice they now show the unit on their website as "V2" so perhaps they have worked the bugs out by now.
Having said all of the above, the unit still can be temperamental - "tuning" the unit to get the right working water level in the sump and the float switches set at just the right place is not as intuitive as one would hope. Also, in the event the unit does breakdown, you have no backup alternative ... it's not like you can easily go back to filter socks again until you can get spare parts.
If I were to do it again, I might think about one of the units from Royal Exclusiv - they are about 50% more expensive, but I think they are made with more robust materials. I also really like the "pull out" design they have for changing the fleece roll ... definitely better than the Trigger Systems Platinum approach which can be tedious.
Single Vlies (Fleece) Dreambox - filter USA
royalexclusiv.com
I also see that Deltec has since release the VF series of fleece filters. While these are not drop-in replacements for filter socks, they still need to be added to a standard sump so they give you a little more flexibility. They also look much more robust, although they are also quite expensive considering you still have to buy/build a sump around them.
Our VF series fleece filters are for fresh or saltwater. Come fully assembled and ready to use. Built in Germany. Offering two flow rates, either 1050 GPH or 1580 GPH.
deltecdirectusa.com
Nonetheless I think one of the above options would be the way to go for your 120-180.
For your large SPS tank, a drip tray may be worthwhile. A drip tray is one of the original "wet/dry" approaches we used back in the 90s when the "trickle filter" was the rage. The idea was to take the drain line from your overflow and route it into a shallow horizontal box (the width of the sump) that has a pattern of small holes through the bottom surface. The causes the water to "rain" down from this tray kind of like a shower head. Underneath that tray, you would have a second tray the same size with the same pattern of holes underneath, but this tray would be lined with a flat sheet of fleece. This would provide mechanical filtration before the water would then drip from that tray into the third tray would would be the same horizontal dimensions (length and width) but several times taller ... and this tray would be filled with bio balls or similar media. The thinking back then was that the rain-like pattern of water would flow chaotically over the bio balls and provide a very large air/water interface, which combined with the large surface area of the bio balls would provide ideal biological filtration. The water would then exit this last tray at the bottom of the sump and now flow horizontally into the next section which was the skimmer section or refugium.
Of course we now have much better sumps with much more effective biological media the operates fully submerged.
Nonetheless, the "drip tray" approach (i.e. the first two trays) are still a great way to provide a very large and very effective mechanical filter (you can layer different densities of fleece on top of each other in a gradient - say 100 micron on top of 50 micron on top of 20 micron - to give you maximum control/flexibility). But the biggest benefit of this design is that since you would buy fleece in flat sheets or rolls from any source available, it is incredibly cheap to run this filter and the maintenance is very low ... you simply slide/lift the tray out, pull out the fleece and throw it away, and drop in new fleece and you're done. Unlike filter socks, since the fleece is so cheap you don't have to bother trying to wash and recycle the fleece (although you can if you want).
The other big benefit from this design is you can build it yourself for next to nothing - so if you don't like it, you can throw it away and try something different without losing any sleep.
Here's a great DIY video that shows you how (this guy builds them for freshwater applications, but it's exactly the same ... but instead of using the bio balls under the drip tray you would used need submerged bio media such as ceramic plates or bricks)
Anyway ... it's good food for thought.
PS - in the video above, he quickly talks about "fluidized bed" filters. These are really cool too but I would not recommend them for a 300 gal tank as they still would need a more effective mechanical filter upstream of the tumbling media - but if you haven't seen one of them before it's very educational.
