Bubble Magus Filter Rolls not lasting

HJ99

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Anyone else have one. I have the medium that takes a 6" roll. The original roll that came with it lasted two months. The replacement lasted two weeks !! I thought it looked different when I took it out of the package. I can't see any change in my system that would cause such a dramatic increase in the roll depletion.

I have been going back & forth with BM and they had me send the 3 unused ones I had back. Waiting on the verdict on that. Wanting to see if anyone else ran across this ? If I can't get a solution, I'll have to go to some other filtration. I know it's an expensive hobby but I can't justify $40 a month for rolls.
 

vtecintegra

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I posted about this not too long ago. I was dual feeding it with a Fluval SP4. I recently bought a new roll. Now, even at half the flow, the unit is overflowing out the top. The micron level on the latest rolls must have been drastically reduced. I had to pull it out and put a filter sock back. I haven't come up with a solution. I tried an Aquamaxx roll once, and it was a little to wide. I have been hoping someone would find an ebay solution. I believe someone sells rolls on there that might work.
 

Potatohead

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I noticed the same thing many months back, they definitely changed the rolls at some point. I went from 6-7 weeks to 3-4 and the used part wasn't even really brown anymore. Ultimately, I took it off my system.
 
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HJ99

HJ99

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At least I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I did get an Aquamax roll because someone had posted it would work. Comparing it to the BM, it has a larger weave. It is however slightly wider and doesn't come with the takeup spool.
 

shneerf

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I just swapped out the original one with a replacement and it's already half used and barely brown. It's only been about 3 weeks. Any alternatives would be awesome at this point.

I feel like I just bought a cheap printer only to be stuck with replacing cartridges every other print.
 
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HJ99

HJ99

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I just swapped out the original one with a replacement and it's already half used and barely brown. It's only been about 3 weeks. Any alternatives would be awesome at this point.

I feel like I just bought a cheap printer only to be stuck with replacing cartridges every other print.
Perfect analogy. I was thinking the same. Sell the machine cheap ( I paid $180) but make a killing selling the rolls. At the rate I'm going through these it would be $480 in a year.
 
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HJ99

HJ99

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Wanted to follow up on this. BM maintains there is nothing wrong with the rolls. They say that the ones they had that were bad didn't pass water at all. They blame it on my water quality/feeding etc. That's BS because there was no change except the replacement roll. They have agreed to send back 3 to replace the 3 I sent them. So I guess I'll use these up and try the Aquamax ones. If that doesn't work, I think I'll try some sort of DIY holder for filter floss. Not spending this kind of money on rolls. Thanks to those that replied.
 

diver22

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Hi any update on this ? I just installed a large BM and it has been a week, I do have a lot of flow, my socks were getting changed every 2 days and were in bad shape, my BIO load is very minimal, reason I purchased the roller mat was at times I was out for a week and my sock was overflowing all the time.

I'm a week in and I have only used 1/4 of the roll, but the Mat is brown.
 

vtecintegra

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Wondering myself. I pulled mine out, and put a sock holder back in. They are full of crap that there is/was nothing wrong with the rolls. I cut my flow by more than 1/2 and the roller was still overflowing like mad. Typical crap company that won't take public responsibility for anything. One of the other filter roller companies did admit to a bad batch with a bad coating that reduced flow. I bet the BM rolls were coming off the same production line. No idea if the problem still exist. I haven't been ready to risk the money yet since I'm still mad about the two useless rolls I bought. Close to giving it another try though because these socks I'm using are a pain.
 

diver22

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Wondering myself. I pulled mine out, and put a sock holder back in. They are full of crap that there is/was nothing wrong with the rolls. I cut my flow by more than 1/2 and the roller was still overflowing like mad. Typical crap company that won't take public responsibility for anything. One of the other filter roller companies did admit to a bad batch with a bad coating that reduced flow. I bet the BM rolls were coming off the same production line. No idea if the problem still exist. I haven't been ready to risk the money yet since I'm still mad about the two useless rolls I bought. Close to giving it another try though because these socks I'm using are a pain.
Yeah those freaking socks are a pain... when I bought the BM it came with a roll but purchased 2 additional rolls at the same time lets hope i do not experince the same thing, heck if a roll can last 4 weeks even 3 is worth, the pain to be every 2 days changing and cleaning socks are a pain. thanks and if you try please update us. Thanks.
 

Lbrdsoxfan

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Wondering myself. I pulled mine out, and put a sock holder back in. They are full of crap that there is/was nothing wrong with the rolls. I cut my flow by more than 1/2 and the roller was still overflowing like mad. Typical crap company that won't take public responsibility for anything. One of the other filter roller companies did admit to a bad batch with a bad coating that reduced flow. I bet the BM rolls were coming off the same production line. No idea if the problem still exist. I haven't been ready to risk the money yet since I'm still mad about the two useless rolls I bought. Close to giving it another try though because these socks I'm using are a pain.
Something isn't right. I put in a new roll on 11/16/21, it burned up this morning 12/3/21 I'm running a sock as well, as of now. I'm trying another vendor for rolls, a reefer recommended a outfit in Michigan that does coolant paper (same material as the BM rolls), exchanged a few emails and ordered 4 rolls (2 @ 50 micron and 2 @ 80 micron) to test out.

BM is garbage about it, hell even my LFS didn't believe I was burning through rolls in 2-3 weeks. I Tried the BM ones from china too, same crap. LFS kept saying my flow is too much, my float switch isn't correct height, etc. My setup is heavily modded as the Apex controls the roller motor now (long story), but I can say this much, I was getting motor movement from the float switch tripping every 45 minutes to an hour at a time, lately it's every 10-20 minutes with the latest batch of rolls.
 

vtecintegra

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Guess I will wait. I ran mine for months, averaged 4~6 weeks with a lot of detritus. One day I ordered two rolls. Put one on and it overflowed like crazy. Cut flow by half, and still overflowed. Pulled it out and put it in the attic. Went back to a sock. I haven't been able to nail down a replacement that is cheap. I went with BM because the rolls were inexpensive. If you or anyone finds a replacement in the same price range as the BM rolls, let me know.
 

Lbrdsoxfan

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Guess I will wait. I ran mine for months, averaged 4~6 weeks with a lot of detritus. One day I ordered two rolls. Put one on and it overflowed like crazy. Cut flow by half, and still overflowed. Pulled it out and put it in the attic. Went back to a sock. I haven't been able to nail down a replacement that is cheap. I went with BM because the rolls were inexpensive. If you or anyone finds a replacement in the same price range as the BM rolls, let me know.
Check out this company, that's who I ordered the rolls from. They also sell on ebay, but contact them directly via email or phone call.

https://preconfilter.com/products
 

diver22

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Check out this company, that's who I ordered the rolls from. They also sell on ebay, but contact them directly via email or phone call.

https://preconfilter.com/products
Let me us know how it goes with these, I ordered 2 additional rolls when this one that came with the BM is over I will put in the replacement and keep an eye on it, so far I love it so let’s see these replacements. I hate socks and cleaning every two days sucks . It has been a week…

6D873A54-C0A2-4A12-A12C-C50AF9A14D6A.jpeg
 

Lbrdsoxfan

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Let me us know how it goes with these, I ordered 2 additional rolls when this one that came with the BM is over I will put in the replacement and keep an eye on it, so far I love it so let’s see these replacements. I hate socks and cleaning every two days sucks . It has been a week…

6D873A54-C0A2-4A12-A12C-C50AF9A14D6A.jpeg
Yours looks good so far. I'd have so much more on that used side of the roller, after a week, it would be insane.

Is yours the M or L roller. I use the small due to sump dimension limitations. I considered the medium, but it's a pain and I didn't want to mod my trigger cube sump.

Upside, I got the media delivered today and it's installed, so far so good. Only down side is that the precision rolls are a bit bigger dimensionally due to the 2" core. Both are 50yd. Installed it and no issues from the skimmer and the roller hasn't ran yet. I'll update this in a few days how it's going so far with the 50 micron.

Smaller roll in photo is from BM, larger is from Precision.
 

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diver22

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Yours looks good so far. I'd have so much more on that used side of the roller, after a week, it would be insane.

Is yours the M or L roller. I use the small due to sump dimension limitations. I considered the medium, but it's a pain and I didn't want to mod my trigger cube sump.

Upside, I got the media delivered today and it's installed, so far so good. Only down side is that the precision rolls are a bit bigger dimensionally due to the 2" core. Both are 50yd. Installed it and no issues from the skimmer and the roller hasn't ran yet. I'll update this in a few days how it's going so far with the 50 micron.

Smaller roll in photo is from BM, larger is from Precision.
Mine is a Large, that’s great fingers crossed. Maybe the Small for your tank is to small. Did you do any modifications to the new replacement roll or you just installed it as it comes ?
 

Lbrdsoxfan

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Mine is a Large, that’s great fingers crossed. Maybe the Small for your tank is to small. Did you do any modifications to the new replacement roll or you just installed it as it comes ?
I thought that as well, but based on BM's numbers the gph that is going through my drain to the sump, I should be ok. Max is 600 gph and I'm running a measured (inline Dwyer flowmeter) 370-400 gph through my return.
 

diver22

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I thought that as well, but based on BM's numbers the gph that is going through my drain to the sump, I should be ok. Max is 600 gph and I'm running a measured (inline Dwyer flowmeter) 370-400 gph through my return.
When you got the roll from Precision did you have to cut it to size ? or needed any adapter for the center hole to fit your BM ?
 

ReefHog

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I just replaced my first roll on my BM Large roller filter after three months on my IM 150 Lagoon. My return flow is 600 GPH per Neptune flow meter. I previously had the Medium on my 75 and got the same three months average from each roll. I guess time will tell if the replacement rolls will last as long. Holding my breath. In addition to the flow and sensor height, I believe the actual height of the filter itself within the sump might play a roll. After the first few weeks of my current Large roller filter, I raised the whole filter one notch as the paper was not getting as dirty as I would have liked. So right now it sits about an inch above the sugested water line.
 

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