Are fleece rollers worth it?

[Vivid Creative Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

I have always had filter socks, but have been curious about owning a fleece roller. Are they worth the cost? Would you buy one again?

Worth the cost? Ddepending on your needs and goals for your tank, yeah, I think they can be worth the costs. But the initial cost and sometime even the ongoing costs can be a barrier.

Fleece rollers are convenient when it comes to lower maintenance times and can be very effective. In some cases, can be too effective, as many have already stated.

Other factors to consider are flow rates – some fleece rollers require lower flow-through rates than you may want to push through your return line. However, @Ryan - Serious Reefs has address that above, which I think is an interesting solution.

We have an alternative that sort of meets in middle of the convenience of a Fleece roller and the laborious task of washing filter socks.

The NOSOK allows you to utilize filter floss to get filter sock-like performance but you’ll never have to wash filter socks. You can also customize the filtration to some extent with the NOSOK. You can run it with or without filter floss, and with or without the built in 255-miceon filter screen.

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

i’m certainly not knocking them but what do they do differently that my skimmer doesn’t do?

Functionally, one removes fish waste and uneaten food in real time. The other waits for it to partially decay before removing it.

In terms of performance, either can maintain stable nitrate and phosphate in a moderately stocked tank. In a heavily stocked tank that is fed frequently, however, the skimmer does not even come close.

One note on filtration. We are all hard-coded to think of nitrate and phosphate as the final products of food breaking down. That simply isn’t the case. They are just the parts we can easily test for. Foods also contain binders, preservatives, minerals, vitamins, organic carbon, and many other compounds.

Mechanical filtration like felt socks or fleece rollers differ from skimmers because they capture waste before it breaks down and release these things. Particularly useful in a low water change environment.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, skimmers do take out many particulates as well as dissolved organics. Not saying that it takes out the same ones (skimmer can take out smaller ones, but also misses some) or as many (don't know), but it’s clear from many sorts of information that solids can be skimmed.

These are some sorts of clear evidence of particulate removal:

This person saw his skimmate turn red/brown from dusty GFO:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-intro-to-gfo-by-pgravis.100025/post-1242683

This person saw it turning black from GAC:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i-think-i-may-have-gone-too-far.34461/#post-374272

Diatom shells (likely whole diatoms) are in skimmate:

https://reefs.com/magazine/elementa...-skimmer-actually-remove-from-aquarium-water/

 

[rtparty]

i’m certainly not knocking them but what do they do differently that my skimmer doesn’t do?

Filter roller removes FAR more than a skimmer ever can but I find that to be a major negative for most systems

 

[TONYLONG]

They’re nice options but sometimes it takes time to get them properly tuned up to every system .
Once you achieve it it’s just sit and enjoy .
Mostly monthly fleece roll needs to be replaced

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

The difference between a skimmer and a fleece roller is the same as the difference between a skimmer and a filter sock.

Skimmer pulls out dissolved organics, sock/fleece pulls out solids

understood- but how is the end result different? The goal is to control nutrients. My skimmer pulls out everything that could become food or extra tds that the tank doesn’t need.

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

Filter roller removes FAR more than a skimmer ever can but I find that to be a major negative for most systems

Like most things in reefing, it is all about the application. There are very few universally good or bad answers. However, the quality of the answer is often tied directly to the quality of the question.

The OP started by asking, “Are they worth it?” That is a common question, but it usually sparks a generic debate.

Consider how much more effective these questions are:

“Is a roller worth it if my nitrate and phosphate are already under control?”

“I need to feed heavily to keep XYZ healthy, but my nitrate and phosphate are out of control. Would a roller help, and would it be a worthwhile investment?”

“I am considering switching from filter socks to a roller because I hate changing them all the time. Is it worth it? Anything I should look out for?”

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Functionally, one removes fish waste and uneaten food in real time. The other waits for it to partially decay before removing it.

In terms of performance, either can maintain stable nitrate and phosphate in a moderately stocked tank. In a heavily stocked tank that is fed frequently, however, the skimmer does not even come close.

One note on filtration. We are all hard-coded to think of nitrate and phosphate as the final products of food breaking down. That simply isn’t the case. They are just the parts we can easily test for. Foods also contain binders, preservatives, minerals, vitamins, organic carbon, and many other compounds.

Mechanical filtration like felt socks or fleece rollers differ from skimmers because they capture waste before it breaks down and release these things. Particularly useful in a low water change environment.

skimmers also pull out waste that has not yet broken down into nitrate.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

for the record, i’ve had my skimmer pull out solids as well as material you cannot see.

Again- maybe i’m just lucky but my nutrients have stayed low and stable with just a skimmer.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This thread had me thinking of trying one, but I'm leaning not.

I have several large sections of my sump that are perfect for settling of solids. That seems to fit a lot of the benefit of a fleece roller, except if nutrients become too high from leaving the solids in the system, which has not happened so far.

 

[commod0re]

understood- but how is the end result different? The goal is to control nutrients. My skimmer pulls out everything that could become food or extra tds that the tank doesn’t need.

the difference is your skimmer pulls out stuff that has dissolved into the water, and a sock or fleece roller doesn’t filter out anything that has dissolved, only solid stuff like clumps of algae, silt, bits of uneaten solid food, detritus, etc. that’s why it’s fairly common to run them in tandem: they filter out completely different things

One difference with a fleece roller can be that solid waste and algae has less time in the water to break down and add to the amount of dissolved organics in the water column. This in turn can mean that given the same level of detritus caught by filtration, less would actually reach the state where the skimmer can actually filter it out. But the better you are at keeping the filter socks clean, the less likely that difference would actually be noticeable for you.

The main other difference between fleece and socks is ultimately the maintenance interval. Socks optimally should be cleaned pretty frequently, but a roller might not need to be touched for weeks or months. The ongoing price you pay for that convenience though is an additional consumable

 

[commod0re]

This thread had me thinking of trying one, but I'm leaning not.

I have several large sections of my sump that are perfect for settling of solids. That seems to fit a lot of the benefit of a fleece roller, except if nutrients become too high from leaving the solids in the system, which has not happened so far.

Yes one drawback of fleece rollers is that if you don’t accumulate solid waste fast enough for the nutrient levels to actually be problematic is that it does make bottoming out nutrients a lot easier. That can be counteracted in a few ways though such as:
1. The simplest and least expensive way is to use a manual crank roller. No motors or sensors involved; you just hand crank the knob whenever it’s time to change out the active section of fleece
2. Some motorized rollers advance on a timer, in that case you can just make the time longer
3. models that use a water level sensor to advance can be slowed by using a timer outlet or smart outlet
4. The one @Ryan - Serious Reefs mentioned which is quite clever imo: plumb the roller externally and control the filtration rate by controlling the flow into the roller

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes one drawback of fleece rollers is that if you don’t accumulate solid waste fast enough for the nutrient levels to actually be problematic is that it does make bottoming out nutrients a lot easier. That can be counteracted in a few ways though such as:
1. The simplest and least expensive way is to use a manual crank roller. No motors or sensors involved; you just hand crank the knob whenever it’s time to change out the active section of fleece
2. Some motorized rollers advance on a timer, in that case you can just make the time longer
3. models that use a water level sensor to advance can be slowed by using a timer outlet or smart outlet
4. The one @Ryan - Serious Reefs mentioned which is quite clever imo: plumb the roller externally and control the filtration rate by controlling the flow into the roller

Thanks. I would use it on a different pump to avoid having to replumb the flow from my tank to the sump. :)

 

[strich]

Worth the cost? Ddepending on your needs and goals for your tank, yeah, I think they can be worth the costs. But the initial cost and sometime even the ongoing costs can be a barrier.

Fleece rollers are convenient when it comes to lower maintenance times and can be very effective. In some cases, can be too effective, as many have already stated.

Other factors to consider are flow rates – some fleece rollers require lower flow-through rates than you may want to push through your return line. However, @Ryan - Serious Reefs has address that above, which I think is an interesting solution.

We have an alternative that sort of meets in middle of the convenience of a Fleece roller and the laborious task of washing filter socks.

The NOSOK allows you to utilize filter floss to get filter sock-like performance but you’ll never have to wash filter socks. You can also customize the filtration to some extent with the NOSOK. You can run it with or without filter floss, and with or without the built in 255-miceon filter screen.

I've seen your product pop up from time to time. My sump doesn't have a sock tray at all. Can these things be directly attached to my down pipe? The one area I've always considered trying in terms of mechanical filtration has been an external canister. But this could be a far more compact and simpler alternative.

 

[RobR]

Eh, bought a couple sets of different types filter socks to fit my needs and have been using them for the past 4 years. Maybe $35 total. They do not look ragged, wash them with a hose and set out in the sun. From time to time I’ll give them a chlorine bath. Until we can buy rolls of fleece like Sam’s family pack of TP and for a decent non laughable price, I stick with socks. I would rather save the extra money and spend it elsewhere. But to each there own!

 

[RobR]

Eh, bought a couple sets of different types filter socks to fit my needs and have been using them for the past 4 years. Maybe $35 total. They do not look ragged, wash them with a hose and set out in the sun. From time to time I’ll give them a chlorine bath. Until we can buy rolls of fleece like Sam’s family pack of TP and for a decent non laughable price, I stick with socks. I would rather save the extra money and spend it elsewhere. But to each there own.

 

[MizzouMark]

I originally had multiple filter socks and filtered 100% of the water returned to the sump. I had to clean them often, which I found to be a pain. I got rid of the socks and now have a fleece roller in the middle chamber of my sump. I have to change the roll every 2 - 3 months. The first time I did a change was a learning experience. Now I can do it quite quickly. Unlike the filter socks I can easily modify the flow to the fleece roller higher if I want to pull out more particulates (like when I'm cleaning in the tank) or lower if the tank looks good and I don't see a particulate issue. Now that I have used the fleece roller I would never go back to filter socks.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

I've seen your product pop up from time to time. My sump doesn't have a sock tray at all. Can these things be directly attached to my down pipe? The one area I've always considered trying in terms of mechanical filtration has been an external canister. But this could be a far more compact and simpler alternative.

Unfortunately, not at this time - the NOSOK does require some sort of mounting point like a sock hole/hold or bracket.

But we are developing new mounting hardware, and we do have something like what you are looking for on our list.

 

[Marc G-L]

I'm not upset by hand cleaning my filter socks. I bought a round head nylon bristle brush at the dollar store to clean them. I invert the socks, and then while under the laundry room sink's sprayer brush off the debris. It's very useful to see what's collected. You can judge your feeding success rates or failures, see some amphipods once in a while, and if you brush off GHA and other stuff from your rock work, you get a satisfaction of how well you've pulled nitrogen and phosphorus out of the system. I agree about not using the washing machine. So, if there is a remaining odor, just leave them outside for a few days in the purifying sunshine.

BTW, the mesh v.s. fleece sock collect more and are much easier/ faster to rinse off.

 

[caddnima]

Yes. For me it is worth it.
I made a DIY fleece roller using the reefer mat 1200 (6 in). And instead of a schedule motor run, I am using a water level inside the chamber to turn on and off the motor. I installed Oct 2025, finished the roll June 2026. So I believe it is worth it.