Home made fleece mats/rollers

[Danno86]

Has anyone attempted to make their own fleece roller? I cant imagine it being too incredibly difficult, being made of a sheet of acrylic and a high torque motor with a float switch of some sort. I have looked at (and currently own) a clarisea sk5000, red sea 1200 and others like MRC. But dont see anything simple, and robust without spending 2k to handle a 400gallon system. If I can source the fleece material at a common size, I was thinking of building my own fleece roller.

I'm just wondering if someone has already tackled a diy like this, and if they can provide some feedback on the fleece material and perhaps the motor or switches used.

 

[TheSheff]

Has anyone attempted to make their own fleece roller? I cant imagine it being too incredibly difficult, being made of a sheet of acrylic and a high torque motor with a float switch of some sort. I have looked at (and currently own) a clarisea sk5000, red sea 1200 and others like MRC. But dont see anything simple, and robust without spending 2k to handle a 400gallon system. If I can source the fleece material at a common size, I was thinking of building my own fleece roller.

I'm just wondering if someone has already tackled a diy like this, and if they can provide some feedback on the fleece material and perhaps the motor or switches used.

I have designed a couple for my all in one 80 gallon and they work well. I am confident the red sea ones are the best, and in the future I will just save up to buy that lol. IMO they are worth the price.

 

[caddnima]

I made a DIY fleece roller using IKEA gallon container and 1200 reefmat as consumables. I am also using a float switch to turn on the motor. The 1200 material was installed October 2025 and was replaced June 2026.

Here is the DIY page.
https://sites.google.com/site/caddnima/myreeftank/diy-fleece-roller

Hope this helps.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I have designed one to work in my redsea S1000 sump. 3d printed. Uses a Bunn Coffee maker filter roll. 675 ft x 9.0" wide for $37- equivalent to 1472 cups of coffee. If i remember right it is 6 times the surface of the redsea 1200 filter roll for the same price.

Utilizes float switches and controller by a old JBJ Ato brain. This will allow for the top it to activate the motor and rotate the drum until the water flows freely enough to trip the second lower switch.

The motor I plan to use is a 3 Rpm 110v gear reduction unit I found on amazon and will be direct driven.

Was waiting to upgrade my 3d printer to actually print it but may just bite the bullet and start.

Between this and the 4' tall Direct from overflow recirculating skimmer I plan to build it should pull anything i throw at it out of the water.

I already ordered 10 rolls of black Petg, just need to order the motor and 1" acrylic rods. total cost minus rods, JBJ ATO(on my shelf) plastic hardware and time is about $125

 

[PPBlimpy]

I made a DIY fleece roller using IKEA gallon container and 1200 reefmat as consumables. I am also using a float switch to turn on the motor. The 1200 material was installed October 2025 and was replaced June 2026.

Here is the DIY page.
https://sites.google.com/site/caddnima/myreeftank/diy-fleece-roller

Hope this helps.

That is pretty slick!!