Comparing filter rollers- your reviews wanted!

aecombie · Dec 2, 2019

This is a great thread. I have Theiling compact roller mat, but it's hard to get the replacement fleece out where I live. Does anyone know if the 4" replacement fleece from other brands, such as clarisea or Klir, fit the Theiling compact? I'm wondering if they're all interchangeable since they're all the same width.

gobble · Dec 5, 2019

Update, the Ebay seller (preconfilter) sent me 3 samples to try. Two are a different material that are closer in texture and weave to what Clairsea sells. I have the first sample installed and so far so good, but it's not yet to the point where the float switch has needed to advance the roll. I like what I'm seeing though and am hopeful this will work. They have been very good with working through alternatives to provide us with a product that will work, so I would highly recommend this company once we decide on the best fleece. I'll update this thread soon with the results.

Kpdiver · Dec 5, 2019

gobble said:
Update, the Ebay seller (preconfilter) sent me 3 samples to try. Two are a different material that are closer in texture and weave to what Clairsea sells. I have the first sample installed and so far so good, but it's not yet to the point where the float switch has needed to advance the roll. I like what I'm seeing though and am hopeful this will work. They have been very good with working through alternatives to provide us with a product that will work, so I would highly recommend this company once we decide on the best fleece. I'll update this thread soon with the results.

Thank you for doing the leg work. It's much appreciated.

Maacc · Dec 5, 2019

I have been using his stuff for almost a year. I would be interested in something thicker more like the clarisea felt though.

KenO · Dec 7, 2019

Following

jamey1010 · Dec 8, 2019

I've been using the Aquamaxx version from Marine Depot for at least 6 weeks and it's worked perfect.

I previously had the 4-inch Klir and that one was a lot of work to get working correctly and paper went quick.

This one was easy to plumb with the big drain fitting using 1 1/2 pvc and filter paper is lasting a long time, not even close to changing my first roll.

gobble said:
Has anyone tried the Aquamaxx **-1 that Marine Depot recently released?

Potatohead · Dec 8, 2019

I've had my bubble magus for a year now. Rolls last about 9-10 weeks for me, very happy I got one of these rollers, they're great. So much better than socks.

gobble · Dec 8, 2019

Here's my test of the first sample. It worked perfectly as far as stretching. I didn't have it in long enough to test how long the roll will last. It does look a little whiter than the Clarisea fleece.

slammin · Dec 20, 2019

gobble said:
Wider is probably better. We’re having a problem with the eBay rolls right now where they stretch when being pulled up into the collector roll and become narrower than the holes, causing water to flow through and the roll to not advance. We’re working with the eBay seller to come up with a solution which may be cutting the roll a little wider than the Clarissa version. DO NOT get the larger micron version it’s even worse.

Thanks Gobble, how goes the test filter paper? i'm going to need to restock soon, only setup my clarisea 2 - 3000, 2 weeks ago and have already gone through my first roll. (my tank has been running for 3 years with no mechanical filtration, so i feel its acceptable for the first roll to be burnt through, hoping seconds lasts longer).

gobble · Dec 20, 2019

I moved onto the second sample and had an issue where the roll didn't turn properly because the hole in the middle was too large. I left a bunch of slack for it to work for a while and it ended up wicking water onto my floor. When cleaning up the mess I swapped back in a Clarisea roll because I'm having to move all my fish into QT and run my tank fallow because of ich on my achilles tang. So that set me back a little bit with testing because I have other issues I'm dealing with. I have 6 tanks in my basement now running TTM so when that's done in about 5 days I plan to take this up again.

gobble · Dec 22, 2019

Things calmed down in my tank a bit so I put the second sample back in today. I'll report back soon.

gobble · Dec 23, 2019

Sample #2 was a failure. It did a great job of collecting tank crap and turned really green, but it's too think and won't pull through the Clarisea. Even by hand it's difficult to pull through when dirty.

I'm on to #3 which is a .25" wider version of the original fleece.

gobble · Dec 25, 2019

#3, which is the Ebay fleece cut 1/2" wider, was also a failure. When first installed it works just fine, but as it sits in water I think it weakens and stretches to become too narrow as it's pulled up the back side. Water just goes through the holes and the fleece never advances. I think the Clarisea is designed to pull a bit hard so the fleece stays tight and this material just isn't strong enough to keep its shape. It's too bad because I think it pulls a lot of junk from the water, probably more than #1.

I've reinstalled #1 (pictures above) and plan to let this one run for a while.

Kpdiver · Dec 25, 2019

gobble said:
#3, which is the Ebay fleece cut 1/2" wider, was also a failure. When first installed it works just fine, but as it sits in water I think it weakens and stretches to become too narrow as it's pulled up the back side. Water just goes through the holes and the fleece never advances. I think the Clarisea is designed to pull a bit hard so the fleece stays tight and this material just isn't strong enough to keep its shape. It's too bad because I think it pulls a lot of junk from the water, probably more than #1.

I've reinstalled #1 (pictures above) and plan to let this one run for a while.

Thank you for all the leg work on this. Have a Merry Christmas.

aecombie · Jan 10, 2020

aecombie said:
This is a great thread. I have Theiling compact roller mat, but it's hard to get the replacement fleece out where I live. Does anyone know if the 4" replacement fleece from other brands, such as clarisea or Klir, fit the Theiling compact? I'm wondering if they're all interchangeable since they're all the same width.

Well, I ordered some 4” clarisea fleece, and it’s way too small. It’s advertised as 4”, but it’s really only about 2 3/4” in width.

Shirak · Jan 20, 2020

aecombie said:
Well, I ordered some 4” clarisea fleece, and it’s way too small. It’s advertised as 4”, but it’s really only about 2 3/4” in width.

Did you get the clarisea roll for the sk3000? It is 4" in width. Does it have the clarisea label on it? I have the sk5000 and it is exactly 6" as advertised.

aecombie · Jan 21, 2020

My mistake, I ordered the 4” klir Fleece.

Shirak · Jan 21, 2020

aecombie said:
My mistake, I ordered the 4” klir Fleece.

Ah that explains it. Wondering if anyone has had any luck yet finding a coolant filter paper that will work as a replacement? I wouldn't mind trying something around 100 microns. I am mainly interested in getting the larger pieces of food that go over the overflow. The Clarisea has a little gate at the bottom which I have toyed around with and cracked open a hair and run it that way in the past.

Shelbytwp123 · Jan 23, 2020

I have Bubble Magus filter roll .. running it on RSR350 with 40 breeder sump and 20 gallon Petco frag tank all plumed thru same filter roll... started it on 8-31-2019 and I still have 1/2 the original roll left... backround... I am running 1 return pump for the whole system... maybe 120g total water.. running Jebao DCT 10000 at 50% bc I dont belive in huge turnover thru sump ... my sump does have some debris in it but nothing like before...does the filter work?... well its dirty as all hell I still have tiny bit of things flying around in DT but that could be due to fact that I run BB system.. not a heavy bioload..so... I mean it beats cleaning socks and changing floss.... for $200 I am happy... but it isn't perfect be all end all to filtration

Shelbytwp123 · Jan 23, 2020

Potatohead said:
I don't know if it will help your plumbing situation, but you can feed the drain to the BM from either side, and put the motor on either side as well. All the pictures show the motor on one side and drain on the other but if you put them both on the same side it makes it ~4-5" narrower.

Motor does fit both side however it will spin the wrong way if you switch sides on the motor... so not motor is not for eather side on Bubble Magus.. however the plumbing is...I even tried to reverse motor electrically and it did but it was spinning non stop couldn't get it to work as intended... than agai. Iam not electric geek nor am I to smart .. so if there is a way I would love to know how to do this