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ClariSea SK-5000 review/observations (1 Viewer)

ironman said:
Aquamaxx just came out with a rollerfilter too. It looks to be a slightly better design of the BM. I'm toying with the idea of getting one. It would be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Clarisea.

https://www.marinedepot.com/aquamaxx-af-1-automatic-filter-roller
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Measures the same and $6 cheaper per roll... I'll order one in and run it on my next replacement.

Would be interesting to see the build quality difference. The initial post doesn't say anything about safety features/programming. It does measure slightly shorter overall but is unclear if that's actually chamber height loss or total height. If chamber height loss then ultimately would reduce head pressure if trying to get the most out of a filter roll but if you don't have the height available it wouldn't matter.

Ultimately I can't find anything online about this other than Marine Depot...
 
RSnodgrass said:
Measures the same and $6 cheaper per roll... I'll order one in and run it on my next replacement.

Would be interesting to see the build quality difference. The initial post doesn't say anything about safety features/programming. It does measure slightly shorter overall but is unclear if that's actually chamber height loss or total height. If chamber height loss then ultimately would reduce head pressure if trying to get the most out of a filter roll but if you don't have the height available it wouldn't matter.

Ultimately I can't find anything online about this other than Marine Depot...
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Exactly, I think it's pretty bare bones where the switch just turns on the motor, and if it overflows, it overflows into the sump Here's a video of Arka's roller filter, it looks identical to the Aquamaxx, they even share the same naming scheme, the AR-1. Theis doesn't show up on their website either.
 
Great catch!

What I interpret from the video is:
- much better cage design for feeding paper through providing it doesn't narrow the available area to filter on the paper (unlikely). Nuts to tighten could be on the small side.
- appears to be a shorter available water column height though I can't obviously say. If so this determines amount of paper use.
- pre assembled is nice.
- motor mounts more easily and roles paper quite quickly by comparison. This could be the video or a sign that's it's not geared as low. If not geared as low, which will win on longevity? If the same motor was used then the ClariSea but they are likely different so who knows.
- would be nice to see if the paper attachment to the motor is as easy as the paper feeding. If so that's an improvement as well.
- still a purely vertical design which isn't as quiet for water flow as it likely could be if it leaned in slightly.
 
Well I just started the new roll of Aquamaxx.

- It's definitely wider material, unless you modified the ClariSea I expect to be fighting bunching of the roll on the motor. It's the exact width of the ClariSea housing so their is no room for small sideways movement in the roll and more importantly there are two notches on the white grate that acted as a guide before but now are possible bunching issues. I don't think it will bunch going through the housing though.

- The tube itself is smaller so I had to reroll it. Alternatively I'd need to redo the mounting bracket to a smaller pipe.

Pics of tubes and paper width.
IMG_20191023_134854.jpg IMG_20191023_134910.jpg
 
Slight update on new material... I didn't expect this but the material definitely let's more through so it doesn't seem to clog nearly as fast. Visually you'd never guess it so we'll see how things progress.

I don't feel that's a bad thing though perhaps it will be telling in my skimmer. It's been nearly bone dry for months on the ClariSea material.
 
Well a quick update. I can't say if the other material is better or worse... I'm inclined to say better for my situation BUT not yet.

The slight extra width is problematic in the unit and creates bunching / gaps on the side resulting in water going around the filter and the roll not advancing.

I think a slight modification would likely fix this but it's a pain to access so I haven't decided yet what to do.
 
RSnodgrass said:
I don't feel that's a bad thing though perhaps it will be telling in my skimmer. It's been nearly bone dry for months on the ClariSea material.
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I'm with you on the skimmer. Hasn't pulled much of anything in the past month or two.
 
More updates and situation...

The other paper is not as stiff so it's been having issues stretching as it's under tension. This is a minor thing in the right application I think.

Current issue... my float switch is regularly failing. It fails to recognize the water level has risen even though the float is up and its built in alarm then goes off after it realizes the drum hasn't rotated in some time. If I push float down and it pops up it will then rotate.

What I believe is happening is the paper allows more particles through and doesn't need to rotate very often. The internal timer then times out going into an alarm mode and shutting it down.

I think it's time to cut the float wires and connect to my BOB for additional remote reporting and control.
 
I purchased a used Theiling compact roller filter, unfortunately the Theiling rolls were apparently re-designed to let more detrius through. My sump is full of it and my display has a lot of floating crap. Kinda negates the whole reason I wanted a roller filter. It was also very difficult to plumb and silence. Also, my method of silencing it seems to have increased filter roll usage significantly. I'm going to be looking for alternative filter rolls that are more effective and cheaper. Can you provide dimensions of the cardboard tube from the different brands you've tried?
 
Update, I've not had any issues with the paper in a month and a half. I also still have half the roll left after 2 mo which is 3x longer with more flow then the ClariSea roll. Obviously it doesn't filter as much but for higher bio loads maybe a worthwhile trade off.

I keep forgetting to tell you the tube diameters... for the moment I'd say the ClariSea mounts on a 1.5-2" pvc pipe. The Aquamaxx and bubble magus were on a 1" I believe.
 
New paper lasted 4mo which was 3mo longer then the ClariSea.

I didn't have any further issues since my previous post but a slight modification would still be advised.

I believe the main reason I didn't have any further feed/timeout issues was that I started feeding twice as much food as before so the roll was collecting more and not timing out.

Without question the ClariSea paper is filtering smaller particles and why it doesn't last as long. The current paper not only ran longer and on more food but put more flow through it as well.

Again I don't think this is better or worse but it's definitely cheaper by ALOT. I still have a box of ClariSea from black Friday so going back to that.
 
Further post... at 25m that means it need to roll 82 ft fast enough that it's leaving the water within 2 days if you are trying to remove organics before breaking down.

At 20 inches in the water at a time that means the roll should be used up in 98 days or less.

The ClariSea is used in a 1/3rd that time (on my tank) and the other longer more like 2.5 days.

If my tank was stocked heavier and thus fed more I'd use the aquamaxx brand roll. At the cost difference per roll I can afford another fish and still break even after 1yr.

ClariSea left
IMG_20200217_162931.jpg
 
Don't wait two years to clean the spray bar tube in the bottom of the unit. My rolls were lasting a very long time and discovered that the pipe was chockablock full of inverts and baby snails plugging it up.

Also interesting, my tank is MUCH dirtier and the invert populations are significantly on the rise as my filter hasn't been fully functional for at least a month.
 
Had anyone tried the AquaMaxx or bubble magus filter rollers? I see Ryan tried the filter media and provided good feedback. I'm wondering if anyone tried the actual devices?

I can't justify the clarisea price in my mind vs DIY. But I might be tempted to pay the extra for a cleaner design with the bubble magus or AquaMaxx price points.
 
Mordim said:
Had anyone tried the AquaMaxx or bubble magus filter rollers? I see Ryan tried the filter media and provided good feedback. I'm wondering if anyone tried the actual devices?

I can't justify the clarisea price in my mind vs DIY. But I might be tempted to pay the extra for a cleaner design with the bubble magus or AquaMaxx price points.
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You may be able to pay for those units and swap the roll.
 
I've got the Bubble Magus (I guess now it's the medium sized one), I've been using it for about a year and have been happy with it. No issues or problems- my biggest complaint isn't I don't have sump space for one in my other tank or I'd get a second.
 
@Rendgrish Thank you. Do you find the motor to get in the way or take up too much space? I like how the AquaMaxx has a lower profile motor. However, I've read the AquaMaxx doesn't have an auto-shutoff safety feature after X seconds of running like the Bubble Magus is supposed to have.
 
The motor does take a good amount of space, but everything is reversible so you can switch sides if needed. It's pretty tight in my sump, but it fits. Let me know if you need anything like measurements- that was something I struggled to find before I bought it.

IMG_20200707_154800

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