Reefmat reviews

[benmed]

I have see a lot of people who are having trouble making their Reefmat function properly. I’m looking into it because the idea of having to do less is highly attractive to me and I’m willing to spend extra to get that. But it does seem like there is a lot of fiddling. Does anybody have a positive experience with them? Like they just put it in and it worked? I don’t mind about 3-4 hours of initial tinkering, but not interested in spending an hour every week

grateful for thoughts

 

[hart24601]

I set mine up on a platform in my Rubbermaid 150g downstairs sump. Not a single issue and didn’t take nearly that long to set up. It is a impressive but a gear and perhaps some have had mounting issues that I didn’t have with my sump or connection issues but this thing seems
Rock solid and just keeps chugging along. Along with ph probe based alk monitors I have to say it’s been the most impressive gear I have owned in 20 years or so for the tank.

 

[helijamal]

I have had mine going on 3 weeks and only had to clean the sensor once so far. Excellent piece of equipment.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Not sure what problems you've been hearing but I heard nothing but great reviews. I have the reefmat 500 and it is fantastic. I have never set one up prior to the reefmat . Mine just works

 

[David_CO]

Mines been online for about 6 weeks and I’ve had no issues and only had to change the roll once a few days ago. I havnt seen anything negative aside from 2.4GHz wifi issues which seem to be a common theme with reef tech.

 

[MrOmega]

Well, I, for one, can't get my water level to stabilize. It has been nothing short of I might turn it off, as it has become an enormous hassle. Does it work for sure, but in my case, my water level in the return changes every time the mat advances creating issues with my ATO sensors and my overflow.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Well, I, for one, can't get my water level to stabilize. It has been nothing short of I might turn it off, as it has become an enormous hassle. Does it work for sure, but in my case, my water level in the return changes every time the mat advances creating issues with my ATO sensors and my overflow.

What is your current mat advance length? I set mine at the lowest possible setting. My water level is consistent in my return pump chamber.

What tank so you have?

 

[MrOmega]

RedSea 425 XL 112 Gallons, I set mine at .04-.06 and have tried the lowest setting too. No matter how high I raise my ATK sensors the High sensor will at some point get tripped. The water level in my return section has risen by a few inches and this is with my pump working and my ATO off. I had Neptune check my stuff to see if there was something else going on but I watched the water level increase with my own eyes.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Gotcha. I can understand the frustrations with sump water level. Been there myself. What really helped me dial it in was making sure I wasn't over loading the overflow for my tank. I adjusted my return flow to match the overflow rating, then adjust my gate valve so it's just a few mm under the emergency drain.

It took a while of fiddling to find the sweet spot. And the sweet spot does change little from time to time.

When I installed the reefmat on my 200 XL it was literally plug and play. I didn't need to cut anything at all other than shortening the corrugated tube.

 

[MrOmega]

I've set my Cor 20 to run at 65% I also have a gate valve. I set up the water level exactly as I want it and by the next day, the water level in the overflow will change and then at some point go back to where I set it. I might not have an issue all day and then without warning my overflow changes and/or my sump level changes as you would expect. I also don't understand how I have removed two gallons of water from the sump and yet it still continues to fill the return section and trip the High sensor. Most nights I can go all night without issue then in the early morning my return chamber has filled tripping my High sensor alarm. No matter how high I raise that sensor the water level will rise to trip it. And that's with the ATO OFF. I'm not a beginner here and this isn't rocket science. But for the life of me, I have no idea what the heck is going on. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. The night before I had the level set to just trip the low sensor and by the early morning this is where I ended up.

 

[glency]

No issues. Set up in 15 minutes. Love it.

 

[billyd]

i have 2 a 500 on my wb4820 ( 6 weeks old ) 1200 on my 190 gal ( 2 weeks old ) using about 9-10" of roller a day
no issues and no prob with install after i learned what side of the water level sensor goes inside.
never really minded cleaning filter sock until i didn't have to. never again. great equipment for me

 

[dmsc2fs]

I have 2 roller mats and one I put in and has worked from day 1 and the other I have struggled with. Only one is a RefMat but the issues are not reefMat related. I one I struggle with is all the similar complaints from above.

First, the ReefMat being installed into a RedSea sump/tank will be put it in and forget it. the height, water level, ATO all work in synergy.

When you are piecing it together you start to find problems. I struggled with my self assembled sump and still do a bit. First I had my Clarisea too high so that when the mat advanced the water would dump out filling my return pump chamber and altering the head pressure changing the overflow chamber level, altering the gate valve adjustment. Next I had it too low causing it to constantly be advancing and when I turn off the return pump it would trigger it to advance. I am still at this point since the next adjustment will move it from one side of my sump to the other when I do a roll replacement.

The point of my long winded response is that if you are putting a RedSea ReefMat in a RedSea tank you should have zero problems. That is part of the premium you are paying for.

If you are piecing the kit together it's no different than the piece that only you can adjust the variables. If I swapped the Clarisea and put the ReefMat in my self assembled sump nobody before me would have tested what height the ReefMat should be. The return chamber and ATO sensor are at the size/position I picked and it is undersized for the water quantity that the ReefMat holds if it is extremely high.

At least for me the main culprit is that I need to find a way to compensate for an undersized sump for the size of rollermat I stuffed in it. I'm still debating the best way to pull this off.

 

[Enderg60]

I got one to use on my 75g QT system. Its been going for over a month now.

Fantastic design, low profile, and it can be take apart and reconfigured which is a big deal for me.

Overall its great and works as described but there are nit picky issues I have.

You must connect it to the internet for it to actually work. This makes zero sense to me. If I dont care about logging usage, why does it need internet to even work?

Reversing the fleece only rolls one role. It doesnt actually reverse the fleece. This could be extremely useful in extending fleece life. Maybe on the next version.

Its made to be plumbed off a siphon drain, not a regular drain. Meaning if you have air in your drain line it will gurgle and make a ton of noise, and in my case shoot water out the sides(which went onto the floor before I moved it) The drain line needs an air break. Im trying to find a way around this as its currently producing skimmate inside the unit.

Why the hell is there no 90 fitting for use on the drain?

IT HAS A BREAK IN PERIOD. I see a lot of people complaining about how much fleece is being used, but it only uses what it needs to in order to operate. I had a bacteria bloom and it was using 10 feet a day for a few days. Its now settled down and uses maybe 6" a day. I had purchase the unit expecting a month per roll. It looks like rolls will be lasting 2-3 months which is great.

If I scrub the tank without turning off the return its going to use like 10' of fleece, thats just how it is.

Bottom line, its not perfect but its the best one Ive seen and Ill never have a tank without one now. The 500 is suited for small tanks, I dont think I would recommend it on tanks over 75g. I kind of wish I got the 1200 simply for the extra fleece area, but I didnt have room.

 

[Floyd-]

Love my 1200! water level is consistent and its super quiet. My only issue at the moment is that im still in the "break in" period. Currently going through 30-36" a day but I havent had it for a week yet. Hoping that goes down to 10-20".

 

[Enderg60]

I actually just checked my logs, I was using 10-50 inches a day for the first few weeks. I cleaned the tank last week and it used 10-20 inches day for 3 days. Past week has been under 1" a day. I still have about 40% of the roll left.

 

[Floyd-]

I actually just checked my logs, I was using 10-50 inches a day for the first few weeks. I cleaned the tank last week and it used 10-20 inches day for 3 days. Past week has been under 1" a day. I still have about 40% of the roll left.

An inch a day?! Mine is like an inch every 30 minutes.

 

[Enderg60]

An inch a day?! Mine is like an inch every 30 minutes.

Its on a QT system, so after it cycled it seems to only go off after I feed. This weekend will mark 5 weeks since I started the system.

 

[Yasmar01]

I have one on my Red Sea 350. Ripped the filter sock area out and had it installed in less than an hour. Its been running flawlessly for 2 months now. Would never go back. It uses about 24" a day. My tank has never looked better.

 

[frank-lloyd-reefer]

I pulled the filter sock business out of the sump in my Red Sea 750 XXL and am extremely happy with the maintenance efficiency gains. Once the sump was modified install was a breeze. If there's a jam or you're about to roll out of fleece the app lets you know. Super-glad I made the change.