Bubble magus filter rollers gen 1 vs gen 2

[exnisstech]

I've been kicking around the idea of adding a filter roller to my reefer 300 G2. I really don't like all the tech on the reefmats along with problems that I keep reading about so am considering a bubble magus medium. I'm seeing gen 1 models being reduced to $170 while the gen 2 are $250. I don't not know the improvements made but am curious if those of you that have the gen 1 have regrets? For reference I can get a medium gen 1 for $170 and the gen 2 is $250. Money isn't the deciding factor but I also don't want to spend more than needed if the improvements aren't worth it. TIA

 

[C_AWOL]

I own a gen1 LG roller, clarrisea g3 5000 and 3 reefmat 1200s

Reefmat is vastly superior to the other two by an incomparable margin and frankly the only downside to the reefmats would be the fact that the original rolls arent as fine as the competition (a pro to some) and that the rolls cost more than everyone elses.

For the price to performance comparison between the 3 I would pick the reefmat >>>>> gen1/2 bubble magus > clarrisea from personal experience.

 

[Coolcasino]

I would get the g2 as they have made is sleeker and improved the motor and easier to change the fleece. With that being said I would get the Reefmat again all day. Only problem I have heard of is that the 1200 has the 500 motor in it and it would not be able to roll once the dirty paper started stacking up. I believe they have changed that. I own the 500 and have not had a single problem. The only tech that it has are all good. Notifies you when the roll is jammed or about to run out. Also have a log of how much has been dispensed. I actually only looked at this maybe the first month... now I change the roll and don't even look at the logs.

 

[disaster999]

I own a gen1 LG roller, clarrisea g3 5000 and 3 reefmat 1200s

Reefmat is vastly superior to the other two by an incomparable margin and frankly the only downside to the reefmats would be the fact that the original rolls arent as fine as the competition (a pro to some) and that the rolls cost more than everyone elses.

For the price to performance comparison between the 3 I would pick the reefmat >>>>> gen1/2 bubble magus > clarrisea from personal experience.

care to elaborate why the reefmat is superior in anyway by an incomparable margine?

 

[C_AWOL]

care to elaborate why the reefmat is superior in anyway by an incomparable margine?

Significantly easier to change the roll compared to a bubble magus or clarrisea and easier to run 2 drains(if desired) into it with a single 1" union on the opposite end. Just unlock it and pull out 3 things and unscrew one end of the roll. Repeat in opposite order and you're done in ~10mins tops.

For the g1 bubble magus I need to use staples to connect a new roll to the old one prior to removing the old roll so I don't need to haul the entire unit out. As far as changing the dirty roll after I use it to "thread" in a new roll, it needs to be unrolled manually or cut apart with a knife to get the roll core out for me to attach the now installed clean roll on. The dirty roll rivals the smell of a skimmer so have fun with that.

With the clarrisea, I also use staples to put in a new roll like the bubble magus because it's a pain to disconnect to put a new roll in. The only upside from the bubble magus is the ease of removing the old roll core (via tool) but at that premium of a price, compared to the bubble magus/red sea easily wins.

 

[disaster999]

Significantly easier to change the roll compared to a bubble magus or clarrisea and easier to run 2 drains(if desired) into it with a single 1" union on the opposite end. Just unlock it and pull out 3 things and unscrew one end of the roll. Repeat in opposite order and you're done in ~10mins tops.

For the g1 bubble magus I need to use staples to connect a new roll to the old one prior to removing the old roll so I don't need to haul the entire unit out. As far as changing the dirty roll after I use it to "thread" in a new roll, it needs to be unrolled manually or cut apart with a knife to get the roll core out for me to attach the now installed clean roll on. The dirty roll rivals the smell of a skimmer so have fun with that.

With the clarrisea, I also use staples to put in a new roll like the bubble magus because it's a pain to disconnect to put a new roll in. The only upside from the bubble magus is the ease of removing the old roll core (via tool) but at that premium of a price, compared to the bubble magus/red sea easily wins.

so mostly just quality of life things? Other than easier to change rolls, im guessing the filtration of the BM or Clarisea is similar to the reefmat?

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

I have a gen2 small, roll change is easy even if you have staple new to old, and the bubble magus filters come WITH the roll core.

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

I've been kicking around the idea of adding a filter roller to my reefer 300 G2. I really don't like all the tech on the reefmats along with problems that I keep reading about so am considering a bubble magus medium. I'm seeing gen 1 models being reduced to $170 while the gen 2 are $250. I don't not know the improvements made but am curious if those of you that have the gen 1 have regrets? For reference I can get a medium gen 1 for $170 and the gen 2 is $250. Money isn't the deciding factor but I also don't want to spend more than needed if the improvements aren't worth it. TIA

The gen2 have a smaller form factor with the motor, Get the Gen2 if you go with Bubble Magus

 

[C_AWOL]

so mostly just quality of life things? Other than easier to change rolls, im guessing the filtration of the BM or Clarisea is similar to the reefmat?

Technically the filtering capabilities of the clarrisea and bubble magus are "better" since their rolls are finer (~50 micron?) vs ~200 micron from the reef mat. Better being subjective since not everyone wants to remove every last bit of everything (plus the finer rolls exhaust much faster = way more maintenance)

If you have a low bioload reef then you possibly won't notice much of a difference in roll usage but if you have a high bioload fowlr/reef then the 200 micron rolls are a life saver for maintenance and cost (non scientific + low effort math points to 4X roll consumption at 50 micron vs 200 micron rolls)

The clarrisea and reefmat are comparable price wise (iirc clarrisea cost more actually) so theres 0 reason to get that over a reefmat. If you really want to save ~200 then sure go for a bubble magus cause it does work but legitimately based on my experience with a gen 1 bubble magus (no experience with gen 2) I would be more than happy to even pay 400 usd more in comparison for those quality of life improvements.

 

[disaster999]

Technically the filtering capabilities of the clarrisea and bubble magus are "better" since their rolls are finer (~50 micron?) vs ~200 micron from the reef mat. Better being subjective since not everyone wants to remove every last bit of everything (plus the finer rolls exhaust much faster = way more maintenance)

If you have a low bioload reef then you possibly won't notice much of a difference in roll usage but if you have a high bioload fowlr/reef then the 200 micron rolls are a life saver for maintenance and cost (non scientific + low effort math points to 4X roll consumption at 50 micron vs 200 micron rolls)

The clarrisea and reefmat are comparable price wise (iirc clarrisea cost more actually) so theres 0 reason to get that over a reefmat. If you really want to save ~200 then sure go for a bubble magus cause it does work but legitimately based on my experience with a gen 1 bubble magus (no experience with gen 2) I would be more than happy to even pay 400 usd more in comparison for those quality of life improvements.

Yeah its mostly for the cost. I dont need the fancy app connectivity or whatever useless features red sea offers if thats where the price difference comes from. I just want something other than the annoying filter socks to filter my water.

The 50 vs 200 microns is something to consider tho.

 

[disaster999]

The gen2 have a smaller form factor with the motor, Get the Gen2 if you go with Bubble Magus

Yeah Ill be getting the G2 if im going to go with BM. The price difference is pretty minimal between the 2 here.

 

[Zeeter]

so mostly just quality of life things? Other than easier to change rolls, im guessing the filtration of the BM or Clarisea is similar to the reefmat?

I thought the same thing until I went to actually change the roll. It's a major headache. You have to cut through the new receiver roll to fit it around the roller - by design. Just a major headache.

Another factor is that the receiver roll will expand horizontally and push the entire unit apart slightly. It then becomes too wide for the feed roller which falls into your sump making a mess of things.

Basically, it's cheap. Mine currently has a flashing green light and I have no idea why and have given up trying to figure it out.

 

[C_AWOL]

I thought the same thing until I went to actually change the roll. It's a major headache. You have to cut through the new receiver roll to fit it around the roller - by design. Just a major headache.

Another factor is that the receiver roll will expand horizontally and push the entire unit apart slightly. It then becomes too wide for the feed roller which falls into your sump making a mess of things.

Basically, it's cheap. Mine currently has a flashing green light and I have no idea why and have given up trying to figure it out.

Flashing green light means that the roller has run too long (water levels too high or too much flow/detritus at once) and you need to unplug and replug it back in to reset the unit. Will work like normal after

 

[disaster999]

I just found out that even the smallest BM roller mat probably wont fit in my sump without removing a baffle. which Im hesitant about. Still sitting on if I want a mechanical filter in my system or not.

 

[Zeeter]

Flashing green light means that the roller has run too long (water levels too high or too much flow/detritus at once) and you need to unplug and replug it back in to reset the unit. Will work like normal after

I had already power-cycled it. Didn't help. Eventually the light went back to the normal flashing every three seconds.

 

[ShoreReefer]

The G2 model is much easier to remove the spent fleece. With the G1 I had to cut the roll off or unwrap it, but with the G2 the roller comes apart making it easier to remove. Also the G2 has screw slots instead of holes that mounts the motor to the body so now you don't have to take the screws completely out to change the fleece. The motor slipped when I was changing the roll in my G1 and fell in the water and killed it which is why I was forced to upgrade, now I don't have to worry about that happening as the motor remains mounted during the swap. Luckily it was on sale so it didn't hurt too bad.

 

[C_AWOL]

Ironically a benefit of a reefmat over the others that I never realized until today (since it happened) is notifications for loss of internet connection.
If you're away from home and don't have a controller that does the same then you can have someone check on the tank to make sure everything is okay (incase it's a power outage and not a service outage)

 

[disaster999]

At the end I went with the Bubble Magus G2 roller mat, I was able to buy it from China for less than $100usd shipped so it wasnt too hard of a choice for me. I bought the M model and was way bigger than I imagined, but I managed to set it up and get it going.

I know the filter mat used is of a higher micron than others (50 microns?) but I wasnt expecting it being that restrictive. I had the roller mat setup for about an hour and a half, came back to check up on things and it already made a full revolution on the waste spool. The matt didnt even look like it was that dirty or caught anything. I ended up raising the roller mat an inch higher than the recommended water level and that seem to force more water through the mat. I guess we'll see how that goes. Wonder if there are any other mats out there with a higher micron that would work for the BM system.

 

[Zeeter]

I have the BM Gen 1 large and it is garbage.

First, the replacement process is amateurish. The old roll is impossible to remove without taking a saw to the thing to cut away the old fleece. Then you have to literally cut through the new roll to fit it around the roller.

I have never completed a roll of fleece. Once it gets to about an inch left the retrieve roll gets so large and heavy that the motor cant turn it. Not only that, but the used fleece expands outward forcing the plastic on the housing to push apart horizontally. This makes it too wide for the feed roller, which then falls out and dumps your feed roll into the sump. It also means that the return roller constantly needs to be re-set, which is difficult to do with so much media on it.

I'm considering the Gen2 at this point due to the price, but also am wary of using BM products moving forward. Currently I have one more replacement roll available, so the decision can be put off for a while.