Roller mat

[fancy_fish101]

I have posted about this before but my roller mat( I have the bubble magus gen 1 small) is going through fleece so fast. Last roll lasted 2 and half weeks. First roll lasted a month and a week. So not sure how it is using so much more now. Any advice how to make it go longer? I directed more water down my second drain as I have a bean animal over flow. But any suggestions how to make it last longer will be great. If I can make it last around a month and half would be great. Cuz at $18 a roll gets a bit pricy.

 

[Joe31415]

The easiest thing to try would be switching to a different filter material that lets more water through. Also, if your roller is 'smart', you can change how far it advances each time.
Otherwise, the next option would be to raise it [the entire thing or just the float] up higher in the sump. The longer it takes the water to get to the float, the longer it should last. But you'll have to make sure everything else in your sump will be okay with that. You want to be sure all your sensors and tubes and wires and your skimmer etc will be okay with the water level in [the affected areas of] the sump getting higher.

Also, is there any reason, other than the roller, that your sump water level would fluctuate? Does your return pump change speeds during the course of the day? Do you often find your skimmer overflowing or shutting itself down because the cup is full? Powerheads in the sump? I ask because those types of things don't always play nice with filter rollers. For example, under the right circumstances, if my skimmer is shut down, it will sometimes allow the water level to raise enough to trip the filters float switch and advance it. If you're going through that much, it could be that something is causing it to advance really far, like a skimmer shutting down and pushing the water level up past the float. Assuming you don't have a smart model, it can sometimes take a good few seconds for the water to fall below the float's switch.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you're in the tank kicking up all kinds of sediment, that will do it as well.

Interestingly, I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I've had my setup for over a year and I'm still on my first roll.

One other thought, if you can do it without too much effort, maybe have your second drain empty into a filter sock (even if you just zip tie it in place). That should take some of the load off your filter roller while you figure this out.

 

[DanyL]

Make sure the new rolls are original, and came in a commercial package made by Bubble Magus.

They’re selling knock offs with higher density on aliexpress now and I assume they are also distributed elsewhere.


As for how to make it last longer - make the water height inside the roller mat lower.
This would put more pressure on the fleece, and make it last longer.

 

[fancy_fish101]

Make sure the new rolls are original, and came in a commercial package made by Bubble Magus.

They’re selling knock offs with higher density on aliexpress now and I assume they are also distributed elsewhere.


As for how to make it last longer - make the water height inside the roller mat lower.
This would put more pressure on the fleece, and make it last longer.

Yeh, I buy them from aqaucave.

 

[fancy_fish101]

The easiest thing to try would be switching to a different filter material that lets more water through. Also, if your roller is 'smart', you can change how far it advances each time.
Otherwise, the next option would be to raise it [the entire thing or just the float] up higher in the sump. The longer it takes the water to get to the float, the longer it should last. But you'll have to make sure everything else in your sump will be okay with that. You want to be sure all your sensors and tubes and wires and your skimmer etc will be okay with the water level in [the affected areas of] the sump getting higher.

Also, is there any reason, other than the roller, that your sump water level would fluctuate? Does your return pump change speeds during the course of the day? Do you often find your skimmer overflowing or shutting itself down because the cup is full? Powerheads in the sump? I ask because those types of things don't always play nice with filter rollers. For example, under the right circumstances, if my skimmer is shut down, it will sometimes allow the water level to raise enough to trip the filters float switch and advance it. If you're going through that much, it could be that something is causing it to advance really far, like a skimmer shutting down and pushing the water level up past the float. Assuming you don't have a smart model, it can sometimes take a good few seconds for the water to fall below the float's switch.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you're in the tank kicking up all kinds of sediment, that will do it as well.

Interestingly, I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I've had my setup for over a year and I'm still on my first roll.

One other thought, if you can do it without too much effort, maybe have your second drain empty into a filter sock (even if you just zip tie it in place). That should take some of the load off your filter roller while you figure this out.

interesting point. My skimmer does shut off when ph hits a certain point and that usually happens everyday. So maybe I can stop that. And do the filter sock. That could help to. Thank you, that helped.

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

There is a vid on you tube about the bubble magus gen 1, they raised the float level up, raised the filter roller to lower water level by about .5 to 1 inch. Also the water intake tube has a small hole drilled in opposite end that water comes in and on top. This vent air so water flow is less turbulent inside the filter roller. I have the gen 2 small but its not been put in service yet

 

[Joe31415]

My skimmer does shut off when ph hits a certain point

Next time you see the level in the filter getting close to tripping the float switch, shut off the skimmer and see what happens. Depending on your setup, it might not affect the level that much or it might run for 30 seconds while the water level is dropping back down.

If that's the culprit, you have some workarounds:
1)Raise the filter so the skimmer shutting off doesn't cause the problem.
2)Let your skimmer run all the time.
3)Raise the pH it needs before shutting off so it happens less often.
4)Have your filter roller shut off whenever the simmer is turned off.

Any of those should be pretty easy. If I were you, I'd let the skimmer run 24/7, at least until you figure out what the problem actually is or at least rule out the skimmer as the culprit.

Also, as I'm thinking about it, if the skimmer is the problem and if the pH controller shuts the skimmer and filter off, when they're powered back on, it'll take a few minutes for the water level to come back down in the sump. You'd have to have it delayed by a minute or two. BRS sells something that does exactly this for a very similar application. It's meant to delay your skimmer powering back up so the return pump can get the water out of the sump before the skimmer fires up. It would work just as well to delay the filter turning on. But at this point you're throwing money at a problem that could be fixed for free.

 

[fancy_fish101]

Awesomex

Next time you see the level in the filter getting close to tripping the float switch, shut off the skimmer and see what happens. Depending on your setup, it might not affect the level that much or it might run for 30 seconds while the water level is dropping back down.

If that's the culprit, you have some workarounds:
1)Raise the filter so the skimmer shutting off doesn't cause the problem.
2)Let your skimmer run all the time.
3)Raise the pH it needs before shutting off so it happens less often.
4)Have your filter roller shut off whenever the simmer is turned off.

Any of those should be pretty easy. If I were you, I'd let the skimmer run 24/7, at least until you figure out what the problem actually is or at least rule out the skimmer as the culprit.

Also, as I'm thinking about it, if the skimmer is the problem and if the pH controller shuts the skimmer and filter off, when they're powered back on, it'll take a few minutes for the water level to come back down in the sump. You'd have to have it delayed by a minute or two. BRS sells something that does exactly this for a very similar application. It's meant to delay your skimmer powering back up so the return pump can get the water out of the sump before the skimmer fires up. It would work just as well to delay the filter turning on. But at this point you're throwing money at a problem that could be fixed for free.j

awesome, idk. The water been staying and it feel like it rolls then like a min later it has to roll again cuz the changer fills up so fast. I also run hydros system so I can delay it when skimmer turns in and let water even out.