Bubble Magus Filter Roll Review + Mod!

[vtecintegra]

folks who are using BM:
I see a lot leakage, ie if I feed flakes my sump has a tonne of them floating around... any idea if others are having a leak as well?

Yes. I've temporarily taken mine out until I correct it. It looks like most of the bypass is getting through the outside row of holes.

 

[Futuretotm]

Yes. I've temporarily taken mine out until I correct it. It looks like most of the bypass is getting through the outside row of holes.

Any idea on how to correct?

 

[Chris Nias]

I have two 1” drains and it fits the medium unit. The bulkhead they use is lightly off so they give you the black flexible tube to make the connection. I than had a bulkhead 3D printed for my second drain on other side of unit where the removable cover is located. They should have come standard with two imo. You will love them if you havent used before.

How big your return pump? Is the medium bubble magus able to accommodate water overflow from the two 1 "pipes?

 

[Chris Nias]

2000gph per google
7570.82lph per online calculator

If my return pump is larger (12000 lph), which is better, am I reducing the power of my return pump so the water entering the tank is reduced or do I have to use two units of medium/large bubble magus?

 

[moreef]

How big your return pump? Is the medium bubble magus able to accommodate water overflow from the two 1 "pipes?

I have a cor15 but only turned up about 65%. The full siphon drain takes most of flow and just a trickle on other. It is totally quiet and no issues at all. You will love the ease of maintenance and cleaner sump.

 

[Chris Nias]

I have a cor15 but only turned up about 65%. The full siphon drain takes most of flow and just a trickle on other. It is totally quiet and no issues at all. You will love the ease of maintenance and cleaner sump.

Do you think 65% is more than 1000gph? Is that the maximum of the flow that can be accommodated
by your ARF-M?

Because maybe I need around 2500-3000 gph and I don't want to use more than one.

 

[moreef]

Do you think 65% is more than 1000gph? Is that the maximum of the flow that can be accommodated
by your ARF-M?

Because maybe I need around 2500-3000 gph and I don't want to use more than one.

Im not sure to be honest. I prefer slower flow through the sump for more contact time and also quieter. The arf-m is totally quiet and feel it probably could handle a lot more flow.

anyone run high flow through the medium?

 

[R-balljunkie]

I run hi flow, no issues at least from a sound standpoint. have a Wye that has two overflows going into the filter. I'm noticing that the replacement roller went fast fast fast verses the one that shipped with the filter. I might try a mod, drill holes into the replacement roller to see if i can get some bypass verses 100% filtration. Maybe 1/8" diameter. i really think they changed the material type on the replacement roller.

Exotic marine 20" overflow with dual 1" drainlines. Coral Box DCA12,000 (3,200gph) pump.

return pump is full open.

 

[vtecintegra]

i really think they changed the material type on the replacement roller.

I asked this in another thread. I was running what I would consider high flow with no problems. Replacement roll is only allowing about 50% flow.

Anyone using an alternate roll? If I remember right, I tried an Aquamaxx roll a long time ago and it was a little too wide.

 

[R-balljunkie]

I asked this in another thread. I was running what I would consider high flow with no problems. Replacement roll is only allowing about 50% flow.

Anyone using an alternate roll? If I remember right, I tried an Aquamaxx roll a long time ago and it was a little too wide.

im on the hunt as well. i got about a month out of the replacement roll. no bueno. thats like a cable bill, lol. my thoughts, dont need complete pass thru on the filtration, why not drill some relief holes....im going to experiment with a roll, maybe only drill 1/2 inch into the roll to see what happens. here's the wye i bought...easy fit, no mods, just put it on.


Thrifco-Plumbing-8113944-Inch-Slip

 

[Futuretotm]

I’ve been using the small version of this filter on my 40 breeder for a year now. Took a little bit of fiddling to get set properly into my sump, but nothing too difficult or involved. Just some thinking and planning on how to use one of these, (never used one before), and some minor adjustments in the sump in order to get best performance out of it.
I’m happy with it, it does what it’s supposed to. I’ve ordered filter roller media from Steve at https://preconfilter.com/
I sent him a sample/swath of the Bubble magus media and he found a similar replacement media at a much better price.
All in all, I like this thing and havent had any issues with it.

Anyone else do this
He has specific rolls on his site only

 

[BoneDoc]

I picked up a large one on Black Friday and I’m happy with the performance so far. Beats having to change filter socks, lol. I feed heavy multiple times a day (5-7 when including the auto feeder) so my roll is lasting just past a month.

 

[cj22009]

I purchased the Bubble Magus Filter Roll a few months back for about $200 from premium aquatics. It is a nice budget version of the filter roll. I love the concept and hate changing filter pads / socks. It comes fully assembled and is super easy to put together. However the standard connection is I believe metric PVC size so they include a flexible tube that can install over US PVC. I didn't like this a whole lot so I 3D printed a part for US connections. The performance has been great and it filters like a champ. Im running a Jebao DCT12000 up about 5 feet of head pressure running ~ 70% and this about the max flow rate for the filter roll. Its rated for 500 gph but I'm running more though it I believe.

I have a refugium in my sump and when some of the growth decays it pollutes the refigium so I installed a powerhead on a smart power bar to turn on every few hours to stir up detritus. While this was good to pump pods in the tank, I always had detritus flying around the display tank. So I plumbed the other side of the filter roll directly to the refugium output, so now the display tank and refugium both drain into the filter roll. Downside is no more pods, upside is clear tank water and better detritus removal. I have a full siphon drain and 2 emergency drains coming from refugium, if flow gets restricted, emergency drains will drip loudly into sump safely. Both drain inlets are 1" PVC

3D Model and Print is available from Thingiverse

Where did you get the nipples and what size are they?

 

[underthereef]

Is anyone else having problems with the replacement rolls running out in a week after the initial roll lasted like 6 months? How do I actually contact the maker of Bubble Magnus Fleece Roller about this? I can only find it for sale on 3rd party websites.

 

[Maxx]

I’m going through that as well. I originally went to preconfilter and got non BM filter rolls. The first roll was great. The subsequent rolls stretched and allowed water flow around the fleece.
I ordered additional rolls and I’m getting between 10-12 days per roll.
Looking around it turns out the filter roll material is 50 micron which is incredibly fine, so it clogs up very quickly.

I originally bought this roller because it was affordable and I could test whether or not this was viable tech and actually useful vs a product that is overhyped and under delivers. If it under delivered, I wouldnt be out too much money.
I’ve been using it for a year now, and it works. Really really well.
I have to dose nitrates because this removes uneaten food immediately. If I dont dose nitrates, it will bottom out.

I do have criticisms of it though.
The media is too fine and clogs too quickly. It needs to be coarser. I never ran 50 micron filter socks, I always ran 200 micron or larger.
It’s also a PITA to install a new roll of media.
Because this does work, but I dont like how rapidly it runs through rolls, I’ve ordered a Red Sea 500 roller.

I could live with the gyrations to refill the roller matt, but 10 days use per roll for a lightly stocked 40 breeder is ridiculous.

$17.95 per refill.
10 - 12 days per roll
365 divided by 12 = 30.4 (31 rolls) = $556.45
365 divided by 10 = 36.5 (37 rolls) = $664.15

Bubble Magus got its start making affordable products that work. The cost to replace the filter rolls for a year is more expensive than buying a new XR15 G6 Pro every year.

Bubble Magus needs to change the micron rating of their media and go larger up to 200 microns or even as high as 400. We're trying to remove waste, big particles, and uneaten food, not polish water.

 

[Natural_Reefer]

I been using preconfilter filter media on my Medium BM roller for about 8 months now.
I tried both 50 and 80 microns. The 50 microns last about 45 days and 80 microns surprisingly only last 56 days (per 50 yards roll).
Unfortunately the preconfilter are not plug&play!
There are issues with using them on BM, they appeared to stretch and allow water to by pass on the outter opening.
Here were how I got it to work for me:
- The rolls came in a bit loose. This cause to much fiction in the roller and causing the the material to stretch. I fixed this issue by re-rolled them.
- If, you don't want to re-roll, then just covet up the outter slots of the roller.
I did both and it works really well for me.
Can beat it at $10 per roll of 50 yards!

 

[Maxx]

Admittedly, I did not think about covering up the outer openings.
I have re-rolled them every time, which is annoying, but if that's the worst thing that I have to deal with all day, I'm doing okay.
What did you cover up the outer openings with? Can you post a picture of how yours is Modded?
I have had to re-roll all the Pre-Con Filters because the diameter of the cardboard tube it comes on is larger than my Gen 1 BM Small roller can handle.
Is there some other trick to how you're re-rolling them?

 

[Natural_Reefer]

I cut 4 pieces of Acrylic and glue them on.
I had the roller out for modification so I just used it to re-roll all the rolls I purchased. I also happened to have smaller cardboard core so I swapped them as well. It took me about 30 minutes to re-roll 10 rolls.
The picture of the 80 microns Pre-con media. It did a great job of removing stuffs

 

[bulkhead]

I cut 4 pieces of Acrylic and glue them on.
I had the roller out for modification so I just used it to re-roll all the rolls I purchased. I also happened to have smaller cardboard core so I swapped them as well. It took me about 30 minutes to re-roll 10 rolls.
The picture of the 80 microns Pre-con media. It did a great job of removing stuffs

Natural_Reefer​

How did this work for you?
Would you make any changes in hind site?

 

[Natural_Reefer]

Natural_Reefer​

How did this work for you?
Would you make any changes in hind site?

It actually works really well. Here is a picture I just took. As you can see, the media got pulled tight and shrunk a bit. The water would leak out on the outer openings.
I don't think I would change anything.