What are Automatic Filter Rolls? What do they do? How do they work? Should I get one for my setup? In this Blog we're going to look at automatic filter rolls, the pros/cons and answer all of those questions you have about them.
Automatic Filter Rolls form part of the mechanical filtration in your setup. Mechanical filtration is basically a physical medium which is positioned in your setup where aquarium water is forced to flow through it in a controlled manner in order to capture suspended solids for removal. For years now mechanical filtration has formed a key part of pretty much all marine setups, traditionally this has been the filter sock. The filter sock is a sock made usually of fleece positioned in your sump where the overflow pipe flows into the sump. It catches solids and allows the cleaner water to flow through it. You, the aquarist, then remove the filter sock periodically and clean it thus removing the caught solids from the system. This is usually once a week or sooner depending on how many solids there are to remove from your system on a regular basis. This way of mechanical filtration works absolutely fine and is still used by a lot of hobbyists with no issues. The Automatic Filter Roll offers you the option to go for longer between cleaning out the filter sock which is often the number one most hated job when keeping marine aquariums.
So how does it do this? Instead of a 'sock' you have a roll of filter floss which looks a bit like a fabric toilet roll. This is housed in an appliance/housing which takes the filter fabric and draws it from the clean roll, through the water and onto another 'dirty' roll. It controls the rate at which it draws it through the water by using a float switch attached to a motor turning the dirty roll. This means that the filter roll will not be drawn through the water until it has been clogged up, making it efficient. Let's have a look at a picture of the Clarisea filter to better explain how this works;
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So in the picture on the left you can see the clean new filter roll (which looks like a loo roll) and the filter fabric is drawn down to the bottom of the housing, round the bottom and back up the left hand side up onto the dirty roll. The dirty roll has a motor inside of it which turns the roll when activated by the float switch. In the middle bottom of the housing there is a horizontal pipe with a 90 degree bend on it pointing upwards. This is what your overflow pipe plumbs into. Water from your display flows down the overflow pipe and into the middle of the housing which is essentially a perspex acrylic box with the filter fabric wrapped around it. The water is now forced to flow through the filter floss and into your sump. Over time this filter fabric will slowly clog up with suspended solids which it has caught from the water. This causes the water in the housing to rise because it can no longer flow through the filter floss. As the water level rises it eventually causes the float switch (the blue device in the middle top of the housing (left hand picture)) to rise which activates the motor, which turns the roll and draws dirty filter fabric on to the dirty roll and clean filter fabric from the clean roll into the housing and the water. This then allows the water to flow through the clean part of the fabric until it too is eventually clogged up with solids, the water level rises, activates the float switch and process repeats itself. That is, in a nutshell how the automatic filter roll works. Once the clean filter roll is expended you simply remove the dirty filter fabric from the dirty roll, replace the clean roll with a new one and reset it. Done! It's that easy.
The main thing that this equipment does is that it stops you from having to remove and clean filter socks every week. A Clarisea filter roll can last anywhere up to six months depending on how many solids are suspended in your water. For a lot of reefers this is a game changer because usually what happens is that we get sick and tired of changing filter socks or we just get too busy to do it, it's just one of those jobs that no-one enjoys doing and we end up leaving the filter sock for longer than we should. I've certainly been guilty of this on my reef at home when I had filter socks. This means that the water overflows from the sock and it's no longer catching solids from the water. The Clarisea prevents this by automating it and changing filter socks once a week goes to changing a filter roll every few months or so (system dependant).
What is the catch I hear you say. The Clarisea costs more than a filter sock, it will take a while for you to break even if you're comparing it to buying filter socks but the value in having an Automatic Filter Roll isn't money, it's not having to change filter socks every week! The other drawback of the filter roll compared to socks is that threading the filter roll around the housing can be fiddly. You are better off removing it from the system and threading it whilst out of the water, this is a hassle but in all honesty, when you remove it you can give it a quick clean to keep it in good working order so it's just good maintenance really. Plus I still think doing this once every few months (or longer system dependant) far outweighs changing and cleaning filter socks every week. If you haven't noticed, I really hate cleaning filter socks!
So, should you get one for your setup? Absolutely! I am a big fan of the Auto Filter Roll, it reduces the amount of maintenance you have to do on your system on a weekly basis and gets you back to the more fun part of keeping your reef tank which is enjoying the fish, critters and coral.
The Clarisea Filter is available here on the RnC site, just click the link below to see it online. There's also a video in the about section where you can get a hands on look at it.
CLICK HERE FOR THE CLARISEA FILTER