On the fence to add roller mat or not

[Reef5]

It’s been almost a year since I started working on my aquarium setup. I initially planned to use a roller mat, so I bought a Clarisea 5000.

My tank is a Pro Clear 230, so I’d need to modify the sump to accommodate the roller mat. Removing the baffles doesn’t seem to be a problem, but if I end up not liking the roller mat, it could be quite frustrating.

If I decide not to install the roller mat, I don’t plan to use socks. Instead, I’d place filter floss on top of the six sock holders. Filter floss seems like a simple and inexpensive solution, but since I already have the roller mat, I’m weighing the pros and cons. The main drawback of the roller mat is needing to get metric plumbing to alter the plumbing, and once I remove the baffles, I’m essentially committing to the roller mat setup.

I’m having a hard time deciding and would really appreciate your advice, as you guys always seem to have good recommendations.

Thank you

 

[disaster999]

I went to roller mat and never went back. Not having to change out any socks or floss for a few months alone is worth cutting the baffle and the extra plumbing required. My tank already came with metric plumbing so it wasnt that bad.

 

[Waters]

I also recently installed a fleece roller and absolutely love it. I had the same concerns with removing baffles and modifying the sump but it was definitely worth it.

 

[Doctorgori]

I've said it before: "once mat, never back" LOL

 

[GARRIGA]

Notice many these days struggling to raise nutrients. Before deciding on needing roller vs socks, do you have a nutrient problem? Some have bypassed roller mats and gone as far as even removing the socks.

 

[Reef5]

Notice many these days struggling to raise nutrients. Before deciding on needing roller vs socks, do you have a nutrient problem? Some have bypassed roller mats and gone as far as even removing the socks.

I don’t have any animals in the tank yet. It has taken me a long time to complete the setup, and the roller mat is the last piece of equipment that needs to be installed.

From past experience, I’ve found that plumbing and setting up equipment is much easier with an empty tank. I plan to fill the tank with water next week, so the time to make a decision has finally arrived.

I agree that I might not need the roller mat in the long run, which makes the decision even harder. If I skip the roller mat, the tank is ready to go as-is. However, if I decide to install it, I’ll need to figure out whether to stick with metric plumbing or switch to standard, and perhaps take the opportunity to add a gate valve or make other adjustments.

Half the fun of an aquarium is in the planning, but maybe it’s time to move on…

 

[GARRIGA]

I don’t have any animals in the tank yet. It has taken me a long time to complete the setup, and the roller mat is the last piece of equipment that needs to be installed.

From past experience, I’ve found that plumbing and setting up equipment is much easier with an empty tank. I plan to fill the tank with water next week, so the time to make a decision has finally arrived.

I agree that I might not need the roller mat in the long run, which makes the decision even harder. If I skip the roller mat, the tank is ready to go as-is. However, if I decide to install it, I’ll need to figure out whether to stick with metric plumbing or switch to standard, and perhaps take the opportunity to add a gate valve or make other adjustments.

Half the fun of an aquarium is in the planning, but maybe it’s time to move on…

Considering the valid point of easier now than later and assuming easy enough to remove later (taking off tends to be easier than adding) or leaving in place if not needed doesn't become a burden then I'd just add it now. Better to have that not needed then other way around. Unfortunately no way of knowing now whether needed later. Plus often that put off tends to stay off in my case.

 

[Dom]

Personally, I find roller mat systems to be a waste of money.

You can accomplish the same thing using 12" squares of white felt in your media tray and get the same result for about 25 cents per week.

Amazon product

 

[dangles]

Personally, I find roller mat systems to be a waste of money.

You can accomplish the same thing using 12" squares of white felt in your media tray and get the same result for about 25 cents per week.

Amazon product

I’ll qualify my opinion by stating up front I’ve only set up 2 tanks, so take my opinion as just that.

With my first tank I just used filter fleece squares and replaced them every 3 or so days. On the second tank I installed the ClariSea SK3000 G3.

I much prefer the roller. Again, just my opinion. It’s even more hands-off than fleece squares. And if you travel at all, asking a friend to replace them is a bit much to ask if they aren’t a reef person like us.

As for the OP’s questions…

Doesn’t the ClariSea come with a metric/standard adapter? I can’t remember for sure but I thought mine did.

I set mine up so the drain feeding the roller just rests (dry fit) in the elbow into the roller body so I can remove it easily for cleaning. I also added a union above that. So to remove it all I need to do is unscrew the union, and lift out that 90° piece out that feeds the roller.

You could put a union higher than I did mine, so if you ever decide to get rid of the roller you can just re-plumb from the union downstream.

One issue I don’t like about the ClariSea brand in particular is the micron size of the fleece. It’s a hard stat to nail down (they don’t even have a figure for it!) but I’ve read somewhere it’s VERY fine. Like 20 microns or something like that. I also run a fuge, and I’ve found that I do NOT need a skimmer at all. Even with 23 fish (in a 120 gallon) and a heavy feeding schedule. There is a small thumb screw near where the water comes into the roller that you can remove to let some unfiltered water through if it’s filtering TOO much. With a very low bio load you may find you’ll need to use that early on, or even turn it off for a portion of the day. At least until you get your bio load up.

I’ve also found that I go through the fine fleece faster than I expected. I’m getting about a month out of each roll of I’m lucky. Usually 3 weeks. YMMV with that. I’ve heard other people don’t have that issue. Because of that, I stopped buying new rolls and just chuck my used UNROLLED roll into the washer (in a washer bag) then re-roll after. This could be a deal breaker for a lot of people and I can understand that. I really wish ClariSea would offer multiple versions of their fleece rolls so the system is a bit more flexible.

Rollers are great but they aren’t perfect. As long as you’re ok with the tradeoffs then go for it. As another poster said, it’s probably easier to do now and remove later than the other way around.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

I have a roller mat on a 5G deskmate. If that tells you anything lol.

Rollermat all the way. Especially for extended trips away from tank.

 

[Schulks]

My current roll was installed November 10th. It has a few more days left.

I think roller mats are must have for beginners. The only complaint is they take too much out of the water. Unless you are already growing a ton of coral to filter the water for you this won't be a problem.

 

[exnisstech]

I have a tank with a reefmat 500 and love it. No sump mod was required. When I first started it my N and P bottomed out so I disabled the auto advance at night and let it over flow. Eventually I was able to stop doing that but my nutrients still run very low at times requiring me to dose N and / or P even with no skimmer on the tank.
I have another tank, a WB 330.7 that uses two 7" socks. I added a klir di7 that I picked up cheap. I recently removed it because it wasn't allowing enough flow. I would need two for it to work and I don't like it that well so I'm back to socks. I use mesh socks and also have some made out of a honey comb material and both are easy to clean. I don't know if I would permanently mod my sump to install a roller. That said I can't imagine having 6 filter socks on one tank. No way I'm changing 6 at a time on one tank.

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

I don't personally have a roller mat on my tank but if I were to ever want to go that route I had set up my plumbing to accept the change and you can do this now if you really wanted to. On my return after the gate valve I installed two ball valves to bypass the sock option. lets see if I can describe this visually for you because I don't have a picture handy right now...

After the gate valve I have a Y, then a Ball valve followed by a union (to remove the pvc if a roller goes in so it saves the space), on the other output of the Y, there is another ball valve followed by a union that can feed the roller mat. so if the mat needs to go in, it would take about a half hour of cutting and gluing some pvc to get the roller mat on line.

I don't know if i would go that route right now, but the more we have to change socks, the more i want to get a mat haha

 

[everpresentnoob]

I have a reefmat 500 and a classic 150 skimmer. My nutrients keep bottoming out so I have my setup where the skimmer runs from noon to 1pm , and then 10pm to 3 am. Roller mat is shut off from 9pm to 9am. I do love that when I leave for business travel my wife takes care of my tank and doesn't have to mess with anything, basically just feed it for me. But I will say it does sometimes clean the water to much...

 

[Dr. D]

I’ve seen that some people complain about the odor of a roller mat. What has your experience been?

 

[dangles]

I’ve seen that some people complain about the odor of a roller mat. What has your experience been?

Absolutely none from my roller. Unless of course I stick my nose right on it!

If it smelled at all my wife wouldn’t let me forget about it

 

[everpresentnoob]

My roller mat doesn't smell at all unless like said above I put my nose right on it. The only thing that smells is my skimmer if I forget to clean it out after a week or so.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Personally, I find roller mat systems to be a waste of money.

You can accomplish the same thing using 12" squares of white felt in your media tray and get the same result for about 25 cents per week.

Amazon product

You can accomplish the same thing with socks and filter floss also . The major difference, which I think you are missing is a roller filter doesn't have to be changed out every few days .

 

[Dom]

You can accomplish the same thing with socks and filter floss also . The major difference, which I think you are missing is a roller filter doesn't have to be changed out every few days .

I get that. And there is a place for roller mat systems in the hobby; I'm thinking travel.

I feel the more automation, the less connected we become to our tanks.

 

[Snoopy 67]

If & when you order your roller mat tell them you need the adapter for its metric fitting.
That's how I got mine & it was the right one.