The app features look pretty handy, changing the roll is a faff on the clarisea so good to see that's been addressed by red sea. I do wish they sold their new sumps separately so I could just go buy a G2 sump.
I have been out of the reef keeping hobby for about 15 years. RedSea was just becoming a big deal with their plug and play aquariums. I always knew they were going to design products that really addressed the complex art of successfully keeping a reef. I’m am really enjoying your videos and catching up all the knew toys and specimens available. I believe your videos will save me from some of the painful and frustrating moments of keeping a reef again 😃😃😃TY
Yes red sea are very good at making expensive gadgets/toys to add to your reef tank if you are a tech head/geek which is great for the people that have money to burn but you can get by with less equipment and apps and have a thriving reef without the headaches of all the gadgets which will breakdown or stop working and I imagine that old roll must stink after a while
I've never had a problem changing out filter socks. I would just keep a half dozen socks and clean them once a month. Same 200 micron. I'll be setting up my first reef since 2015. Not sure I would want a unit this large in my sump. I'll have to think it over.
I got the 500 to replace a Clarisea. The clarisea was a pain to change rolls and the alarm would go off regularly when it had not needed to advance the roll. It was also a pain to take apart to clean. I agree with everything RD says in the review. I've got mine in the sump facing forward so changing the roll is very easy, I actually look forward to doing it! I did not have room for the included flexi hose connection, which as RD says, takes up far too much space so had to hard plumb it. They include some bits of piping but it would be much easier if they just included an elbow that connects straight on to the inlet. this is the only thing that lets the design down imo. I also like that you can get just about every part of it as a spare and the motor is actually not expensive to replace if out of warranty Zero regrets so far
Excellent review. I have mine on order and so excited for it to be shipped out. I have to swap out my filter socks every 3 to 4 days so I’m looking forward to not doing that so often and have better water clarity
Great review - sums it up perfectly. I absolutely love it but I’m getting through around 50cm per day so it should last a couple of months at this rate. Having come from replacing floss every 3 days maybe I can now feed more heavily. Thanks for what you do - you have a great channel.
Great video again I have just purchased the reefmat 500 for my Waterbox 180.5. I had to remove the filter socket section.I used the Red Sea sump modification kit which made it very easy to remove the silicone
I picked up one last week when they came out here in the USA to replace my old Clarisea roller system and set it up last weekend. The difference in swapping the roll is night and day, and the easy disassembly for cleaning is stupid simple. It's is huge compared to the SK-3000 it replaced, and I am having fits with the overflow since I installed it, but I'm still using the Red Sea diaphragm which we all know is clunky as hell, but otherwise I'm really impressed.
Got mine for one week now on a 300L tank and would never go back fo filter cups. Going through 30cm a day at the moment using 1cm steps, which would be one roll every 3+months compared to exchanging filter fleece every 3 days
Thank you for the review! Just a small question: for how many days do you need one roll and how often will it need to be changed? Yes, I understand that everything depends on the amount of dirt, and so on. But how exactly in your aquarium?
Yeah it really does vary massively! I have 2 now - this one is averaging 67.2cm of roll per day so a roll will last 6 weeks (42 days). The other one is on my Waterbox Frag 55.2 and uses an average of 12.6cm per day so that roll will last over 7 months (222 days)! I'd expect the average to be 2 months ish per roll but that's guessing really...
The motor on mine died after 18 months, and online forums suggest this is not uncommon. Red Sea replaced it without fuss though, and the new motor is quieter, which I hope is a good sign.
Alex, how has this bern going long term. Still far better than the clarisea? Ive got a gen3 sk3000 clarisea but after chatting with an lfs i went to yesterday he claims the red sea is leagues ahead and would probably go someway to solving my highish nitrates, any thoughts?
It's great and it's much better than the Clarisea in terms of design, ease of use, app etc. But I wouldn't expect it to reduce nitrates more effectively than the Clarisea. If you turn your return pumps up, the Clarisea will turn more frequently and therefore the roll will filter the water more often and the dirty roll won't sit in the water as long. But reducing nitrates is better done by feeding less, with a skimmer or just water changes.
@@ReefDork ok thanks. We dont feed a huge amount as it is and the skimmer (rsk300) struggles to pull much as it is, the roller is definitely pulling alot out and its only 3 ft tank but the roll looks like its going to last 4 months, i got the impression the LFS was trying to sell a red sea roller mat by saying it would pull much more out, the features the red sea has does look good but if its actually going to make little if any difference im not splashing another £300 Turf scrubber has been in a week too so that should start to work very soon Thanks
Thanks for the review Alex. How does this compare in terms of clarity to the X Filter. Would you go as far as getting rid of your x filter and buying this?
@@ReefDork thanks for the quick reply. Curious if you have any thoughts as to the why? On paper I think the reef Matt is 50 micron whereas the x filter is 32/25/17 so I theory should provide a cleaner output. Any ideas?
Looks like a fairly decent pice of kit. However, I find it kind of strange that people are hyping this thing like “there’s finally a good option compared to the clarisea”. Like the Deltec and royal exclusive units have been on the market for some time. Without any personal experience with the Red Sea, to me they looks to be higher quality as well.
I think the RE units are built into the dream boxes so not available to most people and I'd expect them to be expensive (but also very efficient). As for the Deltec, I've never seen one for sale in the UK but from the outside it looks similar to the Clarisea in that it's quite basic. Deltec make good stuff to be fair though.
@@ReefDork The royal exclusive one is available as a stand alone unit as well, but yeah pricey (well worth it though based on my experience with other RE stuff). I have to disagree about the Deltec being similar to the clarisea having handled both. The Deltec is all injection molded and super high quality where as the clarisea is a janky hunk of junk 🤣 No gimmicks like apps and stuff though for the Deltec.
I understand the filter roll is 50 microns on the RedSea as opposed to 20 micors on Clarisea. Wouldnt that mean that 20 micron filter will polish your water off better?
Red Sea told me it's made of a different material that you don't measure in microns. All I know is my tank with the Clarisea is nowhere near as clear as my tank with the ReefMat...
Amazing - this is something I NEVER wanted (as I rarely use socks) and now I do. The one question I had was can you open it in some way so that not all of the water goes through the roller. I think you answer this as I could just not allow it to run all that often using the timer so effectively I could run it so that it is clogged most of the time and I guess water would overflow. Plus I guess everyone has 2 drains so some water is bypassing it anyhow. Very cool piece of kit indeed especially with the media basket. Thinking of getting a custom tank next year and I will design the sump around this - cool.
Interesting what you said about the water clarity, I have the Clarisea 3000 and recently changed from using filter floss to catch additional debris on to an off-cut pad from my koi pond filter which has cleared up my tank far better. If the Reefmat is as good as you say, I will defiantly consider changing as the Clarisea is obviously not removing all the fine particles from the water column.
Thanks Alex. You just cost me £300 to change out my clarisea gen 3 🤣. Was never happy with the clarity of the clarisea as always let fine particles through which settled back in the sump or blasted back to display.
Thinking about getting one of these. But, can’t decide on the smaller 500, or the larger 1200. My system volume is around 150 gallons total. Someone told me the 1200 would be overkill. What are your thoughts?
The modification tools (and a bunch of additional plumbing options) come with the ReefMat, so you have everything you need to modify an older Red Sea sump (and likely others). The only think you might need in addition to what comes with the ReefMat is something to cut down your plumbing if you need to do that on the return.
Hi Reef Dork, Very nice and informative video. I installed mine a few days ago. I really enjoy your content. Always very helpful and entertaining. One question if you don’t mind. I think I remember that you are not the biggest fan of an algae refugium and I kind of have the same option. I run an DIY algae scrubber and it works pretty well. But since it takes a lot of space in my sump I would love to get rid of it. Do you think that the reef mat and my nyos skimmer are “powerful” enough together to finally live without the algae filtration. I have a mixed reef with nutrients on the lower side. Thank you so much and keep up the good work. Chris
Just swapped this from clarisea...burning thru a roll like a son of a gun!done half the roll in 5 days..had to turn my return pump right down to counter it but still goes thru quick..not sure why as clarisea lasted me 8 weeks
hello alex thank you so much for videos , may i ask what is the voltage and Hz for electricity for UK red sea that u have , since no one sell it here and i have to order it online , ^^
Did I red your reply correctly? The sump modification kit comes with the Reefmat? Mine is arriving this Tuesday but everywhere I look the sump modification kit is on back order. Thanks
Awesome video! Q: How would your water be clearer after installing a filter roller with larger micron pores than your previous model? That's peculiar :)
Red Sea told me they use a different material that you don't measure in microns. But yes, I've wondered the same thing myself. I tried changing the activated carbon the other day and it made no difference, whereas it used to make a huge difference. I actually asked Red Sea about the clarity and they didn't try to take credit which was interesting. I'll report back in 6 months but I'd like to see if other people notice the same thing...
When it touches the sensor, the mat will advance meaning the water will be a bit below the sensor (depending on how long you have your roll advance set to). So most times when you check, it'll be a few cms below the sensor. I have my roll advance set to 3.5-4cms
up to buy one; have a basment sump of 400 l ( 200 l water ) so lots of space . Reefmat 500 or 1200 ? can i oversize the roller ?? or is it just a matter of space . Dt is 600l
Just put mine in yesterday, I haven’t seen much improvement in water clarity. I’m wondering if I hooked it up incorrectly. Do you get a lot of flow out of the bottom of the reef mat?
I love it - it doesn't keep the water as crystal clear as it did when I first installed it but I recently bought a 2nd one for my other tank to replace a clarisea. The app is a really good feature and the roll change is much easier than the x filter. And it's really easy to strip down, remove from the sump and clean. I'm doing an install video on the new one soon on the Reef Dork Xtra channel...
im having a lot of issues with the water level always wetting the sensors, causing it to not auto roll. Anyone else having this issue? I hang it on the side of my sump with the water level without the return pump on about halfway up inte chamber. SHould iadd the legs to elevate it?
As in one main drain, one emergency? There's no 2nd input so you'd either leave it (as I've done) or you could tee it. The X Filter is the only one I've seen that accepts more than one input.
As you know fitted mine but from understanding ,it doesn’t do auto until it’s dispensed a metre is right or have I got it wrong lol 😂. Not with technical stuff . Ty if you could clarify for thanks
@@ReefDork thanks for that mine hadn’t moved yet only buy me starting it off manually on app . Had water rise up to sensor and not moved . Thanks for help
@@ReefDork so ive ran the mat over night and safe to say it 100% affecting my red sea ato (the ato is set to pump when 2mm water drop/evaporation) each time the reefmat dispenses and starts building up water again the return chamber drains by more than 2mm and the ato kicks in....this has happened 18 times since adding the reefmat (app shows me my top off log) (7L have been added to my 350L tank over night). The salinty has also dropped by 1ppt over night and the sump now has way more water in there than desired and emergency drain is now in use....am i doing something wrong or is it just cause the ato is sooo sensitive with only allowing a 2mm water drop before pumping rodi
Just brought one for my Red Sea 425xl with the v3 sump but going to take baffles out so get to try the equipment out provided 😜so while see how easy it all is to do
Well just put reef Matt in and took the baffles out , to be honest it was very easy todo the hardest bit was removing all the equipment , so I could get the sump out to work on tried with sump under tank but no room . All in and up and running . Thank god and equipment back in .
It did at first, then I siliconed the connection and it stopped. Did you use silicone? If not, could you report back after you've put it on? I'd be interested to hear if that doesn't fix it...
@@ReefDork I've not used silicone yet thought it might be a rubber seal but only seems to do it from the right hand side of inlet 2 even if I switch the inside water inlet around still leaking bubbles.. but will move the reefmat & reseal with silicone & let you no, also do u no if its possible to run a refugium as well as the reefmat ? Thanks
Everytime I buy something, Red Sea puts out the same type of item 2 months later for a bit less money with a few more features. Messing with my head is one of their mission statements.
@@ReefDork Yeah, I have an X-filter. On my second one as the first was replaced as it started falling apart. The build quality is turd, but being able to drop multiple feeds in the side is its only redeeming feature.
I connected easily - I wasn't a fan of the app for the ReefLED (although I connected fine) but this seems fine. Maybe because it's almost all for information not control...
I dont get how anyone can trust opinion videos like this when you start off by saying Red Sea gave this to you free? By Far The Best Roller (FOR FREE) ? What you gonna do say you disliked it and ruin your free Red Sea products or sponsors in the future?? Doubtful.
Fair challenge. It takes more than a bit of kit to buy me off and I like to think I'm as transparent as possible with any freebies. If it was no good, I'd have sent it back with no review - my tank means a lot to me so I only run equipment I actually like. But ultimately that's exactly why I'm so open - you need to be able to make your own mind up as to whether you think I might be biased.
@@ReefDork I don’t doubt that the roller is great, but it’s hard to trust a reviewer who is getting the thing they are reviewing for free. Your honesty in saying you got it free is a good reason to trust that you’re being honest as you said. Thanks for the reply!
@@BurntSquirrel I bought the Reefmat myself with my own money and I agree with everything he said in the review. He is honest to tell us he got it for free. And if he is biased with his reviews of free stuff, don’t you think people will find out once they own the product themselves? He can do it one or two times, but after that he will lose viewers. I don’t think he will risk that.
It’s a paid promotion guys as he has got it for free from Red Sea so he would leave a nice review. This is a sponsored review as you got it for free. To make it an unbiased review you should give it free to one of your subscribers by raffle otherwise who would believe you when you say it’s an excellent bit of kit and all the other praise for it. I suppose you wouldn’t do it though. You are hardly going to say, it was utter rubbish.
With my reviews, I always give my opinion because people want to know. But ultimately I try to show as much about the product as possible so people can make their own minds up regardless of what I say 🙂
This is a paid advertisement on behalf of Red Sea by Reef Dork and you know it otherwise they won’t send you anymore freebies. This could be your first bit of kit for free from them as I remember in one of your live streams, all you did was plug them for free goods. The unbiased reviews that I have seen are not half as good as your advertisement for them. Stop wasting other people’s money by giving out not accurate reviews so you can get a freebie. If you are serious about giving unbiased reviews, you should give the free goods that you review away as many of the other you tubers do as a matter of transparency.
The app features look pretty handy, changing the roll is a faff on the clarisea so good to see that's been addressed by red sea. I do wish they sold their new sumps separately so I could just go buy a G2 sump.
I have been out of the reef keeping hobby for about 15 years. RedSea was just becoming a big deal with their plug and play aquariums. I always knew they were going to design products that really addressed the complex art of successfully keeping a reef. I’m am really enjoying your videos and catching up all the knew toys and specimens available. I believe your videos will save me from some of the painful and frustrating moments of keeping a reef again 😃😃😃TY
Yes red sea are very good at making expensive gadgets/toys to add to your reef tank if you are a tech head/geek which is great for the people that have money to burn but you can get by with less equipment and apps and have a thriving reef without the headaches of all the gadgets which will breakdown or stop working and I imagine that old roll must stink after a while
I've never had a problem changing out filter socks. I would just keep a half dozen socks and clean them once a month. Same 200 micron. I'll be setting up my first reef since 2015. Not sure I would want a unit this large in my sump. I'll have to think it over.
I got the 500 to replace a Clarisea. The clarisea was a pain to change rolls and the alarm would go off regularly when it had not needed to advance the roll. It was also a pain to take apart to clean.
I agree with everything RD says in the review. I've got mine in the sump facing forward so changing the roll is very easy, I actually look forward to doing it! I did not have room for the included flexi hose connection, which as RD says, takes up far too much space so had to hard plumb it. They include some bits of piping but it would be much easier if they just included an elbow that connects straight on to the inlet. this is the only thing that lets the design down imo.
I also like that you can get just about every part of it as a spare and the motor is actually not expensive to replace if out of warranty
Zero regrets so far
Excellent review. I have mine on order and so excited for it to be shipped out. I have to swap out my filter socks every 3 to 4 days so I’m looking forward to not doing that so often and have better water clarity
Great review - sums it up perfectly. I absolutely love it but I’m getting through around 50cm per day so it should last a couple of months at this rate. Having come from replacing floss every 3 days maybe I can now feed more heavily. Thanks for what you do - you have a great channel.
Great video again I have just purchased the reefmat 500 for my Waterbox 180.5. I had to remove the filter socket section.I used the Red Sea sump modification kit which made it very easy to remove the silicone
Good to know, thanks for the info
I picked up one last week when they came out here in the USA to replace my old Clarisea roller system and set it up last weekend. The difference in swapping the roll is night and day, and the easy disassembly for cleaning is stupid simple. It's is huge compared to the SK-3000 it replaced, and I am having fits with the overflow since I installed it, but I'm still using the Red Sea diaphragm which we all know is clunky as hell, but otherwise I'm really impressed.
Just got mine the other day setting up this weekend, like you I currently have the Clarisea Sk3000 looking forward to the use of the Redsea app.
Very good review - reminded me I need to change the roll on my Clarisea!
This looks a better bet when my clarisea breaks
Great video Alex as always & I notice you still have your copper and so very well done cos I hear these fish are very tricky to keep! 😀👍👍
Thanks Paul. Yeah he's going strong 💪
Got mine for one week now on a 300L tank and would never go back fo filter cups. Going through 30cm a day at the moment using 1cm steps, which would be one roll every 3+months compared to exchanging filter fleece every 3 days
The smell from that roll is going to be putrid after 2 or 3 months in the cabinet
@@davidridland the smell doesn´t change, whether its 1 or 3 months. you won´t even notice it unless you put your head right next to the roll.
Thank you for the review!
Just a small question: for how many days do you need one roll and how often will it need to be changed? Yes, I understand that everything depends on the amount of dirt, and so on. But how exactly in your aquarium?
Yeah it really does vary massively! I have 2 now - this one is averaging 67.2cm of roll per day so a roll will last 6 weeks (42 days). The other one is on my Waterbox Frag 55.2 and uses an average of 12.6cm per day so that roll will last over 7 months (222 days)!
I'd expect the average to be 2 months ish per roll but that's guessing really...
The motor on mine died after 18 months, and online forums suggest this is not uncommon. Red Sea replaced it without fuss though, and the new motor is quieter, which I hope is a good sign.
Alex, how has this bern going long term. Still far better than the clarisea? Ive got a gen3 sk3000 clarisea but after chatting with an lfs i went to yesterday he claims the red sea is leagues ahead and would probably go someway to solving my highish nitrates, any thoughts?
It's great and it's much better than the Clarisea in terms of design, ease of use, app etc. But I wouldn't expect it to reduce nitrates more effectively than the Clarisea. If you turn your return pumps up, the Clarisea will turn more frequently and therefore the roll will filter the water more often and the dirty roll won't sit in the water as long. But reducing nitrates is better done by feeding less, with a skimmer or just water changes.
@@ReefDork ok thanks. We dont feed a huge amount as it is and the skimmer (rsk300) struggles to pull much as it is, the roller is definitely pulling alot out and its only 3 ft tank but the roll looks like its going to last 4 months, i got the impression the LFS was trying to sell a red sea roller mat by saying it would pull much more out, the features the red sea has does look good but if its actually going to make little if any difference im not splashing another £300
Turf scrubber has been in a week too so that should start to work very soon
Thanks
That noise of the motor turning reminds me of the first kh keeper, could they really not find a quieter one 😂
The geeks love to hear that motor sound it gives them the fizz
Thanks for the review Alex. How does this compare in terms of clarity to the X Filter. Would you go as far as getting rid of your x filter and buying this?
My previous filter was an XF 1.0 so this video is a direct comparison between the two. I sold my XF a week after this...
@@ReefDork thanks for the quick reply. Curious if you have any thoughts as to the why? On paper I think the reef Matt is 50 micron whereas the x filter is 32/25/17 so I theory should provide a cleaner output. Any ideas?
@@YD500 no idea - I wasn't expecting any difference. The ReefMat is made from a material that isn't measured in microns though for what it's worth...
Looks like a fairly decent pice of kit. However, I find it kind of strange that people are hyping this thing like “there’s finally a good option compared to the clarisea”. Like the Deltec and royal exclusive units have been on the market for some time. Without any personal experience with the Red Sea, to me they looks to be higher quality as well.
I think the RE units are built into the dream boxes so not available to most people and I'd expect them to be expensive (but also very efficient). As for the Deltec, I've never seen one for sale in the UK but from the outside it looks similar to the Clarisea in that it's quite basic. Deltec make good stuff to be fair though.
@@ReefDork The royal exclusive one is available as a stand alone unit as well, but yeah pricey (well worth it though based on my experience with other RE stuff).
I have to disagree about the Deltec being similar to the clarisea having handled both. The Deltec is all injection molded and super high quality where as the clarisea is a janky hunk of junk 🤣
No gimmicks like apps and stuff though for the Deltec.
I understand the filter roll is 50 microns on the RedSea as opposed to 20 micors on Clarisea. Wouldnt that mean that 20 micron filter will polish your water off better?
Red Sea told me it's made of a different material that you don't measure in microns. All I know is my tank with the Clarisea is nowhere near as clear as my tank with the ReefMat...
Amazing - this is something I NEVER wanted (as I rarely use socks) and now I do. The one question I had was can you open it in some way so that not all of the water goes through the roller. I think you answer this as I could just not allow it to run all that often using the timer so effectively I could run it so that it is clogged most of the time and I guess water would overflow. Plus I guess everyone has 2 drains so some water is bypassing it anyhow. Very cool piece of kit indeed especially with the media basket. Thinking of getting a custom tank next year and I will design the sump around this - cool.
Yeah there's no bypass valve like on the Clarisea so you'd have to do a workaround
Great Video reef dork, question with the jammed mat, I have a jammed error message but canot fix. Can you do an video on this pls
Give Red Sea a shout
Interesting what you said about the water clarity, I have the Clarisea 3000 and recently changed from using filter floss to catch additional debris on to an off-cut pad from my koi pond filter which has cleared up my tank far better.
If the Reefmat is as good as you say, I will defiantly consider changing as the Clarisea is obviously not removing all the fine particles from the water column.
It might just be an initial boost so I'll report back in 6 months...
@@ReefDork In your opinion is the Red Sea Matt better than the x-filter you removed? I am tossing up between the two.
Great review as always
Thanks Alex. You just cost me £300 to change out my clarisea gen 3 🤣. Was never happy with the clarity of the clarisea as always let fine particles through which settled back in the sump or blasted back to display.
😁
Thinking about getting one of these. But, can’t decide on the smaller 500, or the larger 1200. My system volume is around 150 gallons total. Someone told me the 1200 would be overkill. What are your thoughts?
1200
Given the choice though would you go with the RedSea or Reef Factory one?
Red Sea if I had the space, otherwise RF.
@@ReefDork perfect that’s the reason I’m thinking of changing from my RS to RF the RF is so much smaller. Cheers
thanks for the review, where can you purchase the modification tool, thanks
Hmm. Can't find it online - it'll probably be released soon...
The modification tools (and a bunch of additional plumbing options) come with the ReefMat, so you have everything you need to modify an older Red Sea sump (and likely others). The only think you might need in addition to what comes with the ReefMat is something to cut down your plumbing if you need to do that on the return.
Hi Reef Dork,
Very nice and informative video.
I installed mine a few days ago.
I really enjoy your content. Always very helpful and entertaining.
One question if you don’t mind.
I think I remember that you are not the biggest fan of an algae refugium and I kind of have the same option.
I run an DIY algae scrubber and it works pretty well. But since it takes a lot of space in my sump I would love to get rid of it.
Do you think that the reef mat and my nyos skimmer are “powerful” enough together to finally live without the algae filtration. I have a mixed reef with nutrients on the lower side.
Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
Chris
Yeah probably - on my 2nd tank I just have a Clarisea and nothing else and that works fine.
Just swapped this from clarisea...burning thru a roll like a son of a gun!done half the roll in 5 days..had to turn my return pump right down to counter it but still goes thru quick..not sure why as clarisea lasted me 8 weeks
Welcome to the world of gadgets and apps you can either save time or save money not both
The Red Sea ReefMat looks real big!
And this is the smaller of the two! The quick change mechanism wouldn't work if it was smaller - you wouldn't be able to get your hand in it...
@@ReefDork Thank you for explaining why it is big and that is one of the smallest of there lineup.
Wish you showed it running more often
Have mine being fitted on Tuesday pre-ordered when I bought the tank
hello alex thank you so much for videos , may i ask what is the voltage and Hz for electricity for UK red sea that u have , since no one sell it here and i have to order it online , ^^
Check out the manual on the Red Sea website - it lists full specs on page 5
Did I red your reply correctly? The sump modification kit comes with the Reefmat? Mine is arriving this Tuesday but everywhere I look the sump modification kit is on back order. Thanks
No, as far as I'm aware it's sold separately. Someone else said it's included but I don't think that's right
Awesome video! Q: How would your water be clearer after installing a filter roller with larger micron pores than your previous model? That's peculiar :)
Red Sea told me they use a different material that you don't measure in microns. But yes, I've wondered the same thing myself. I tried changing the activated carbon the other day and it made no difference, whereas it used to make a huge difference. I actually asked Red Sea about the clarity and they didn't try to take credit which was interesting. I'll report back in 6 months but I'd like to see if other people notice the same thing...
Is the water level supposed to touch the bottom of the sensor? Or be below the bottom of the sensor?
When it touches the sensor, the mat will advance meaning the water will be a bit below the sensor (depending on how long you have your roll advance set to). So most times when you check, it'll be a few cms below the sensor. I have my roll advance set to 3.5-4cms
up to buy one; have a basment sump of 400 l ( 200 l water ) so lots of space . Reefmat 500 or 1200 ? can i oversize the roller ?? or is it just a matter of space . Dt is 600l
You can oversize it but I'd go for the 1200 for that tank. It can handle a lot more flow as much as anything.
Just put mine in yesterday, I haven’t seen much improvement in water clarity. I’m wondering if I hooked it up incorrectly. Do you get a lot of flow out of the bottom of the reef mat?
Hard to say - it's in an awkward place for me to check
Great review Alex
Thanks Grey
Can’t wait to get mine!
Have you tried the deltec version ? Maybe you should
No, I tried to buy it a while ago but it was really hard to get hold of and very expensive!
Any update on the reefmat? Specifically interested in how it compares to the xfilter!
I love it - it doesn't keep the water as crystal clear as it did when I first installed it but I recently bought a 2nd one for my other tank to replace a clarisea. The app is a really good feature and the roll change is much easier than the x filter. And it's really easy to strip down, remove from the sump and clean. I'm doing an install video on the new one soon on the Reef Dork Xtra channel...
im having a lot of issues with the water level always wetting the sensors, causing it to not auto roll. Anyone else having this issue? I hang it on the side of my sump with the water level without the return pump on about halfway up inte chamber. SHould iadd the legs to elevate it?
Do you know if this will fit a waterbox 220.6?
It definitely will - you might need to put it in the refugium section or you might need to remove the filter socks first though
@@ReefDork great ty
what if you have 2 input pipes into the sump, one being the overflow. where does that connect to or do you need to T it in before the filter? Thanks!
As in one main drain, one emergency? There's no 2nd input so you'd either leave it (as I've done) or you could tee it. The X Filter is the only one I've seen that accepts more than one input.
As you know fitted mine but from understanding ,it doesn’t do auto until it’s dispensed a metre is right or have I got it wrong lol 😂. Not with technical stuff . Ty if you could clarify for thanks
Mine started automatically immediately...
@@ReefDork thanks for that mine hadn’t moved yet only buy me starting it off manually on app . Had water rise up to sensor and not moved . Thanks for help
Lol got it sorted had the little black salt sensor round wrong way lmao 🤣. All working great , real difference 🤪
stupid question, just installed this, how do i know if its working :) it hasnet movved at all but will move if i do a manual advance
Depends what you've got in the tank but give it 24-48 hours and if it hasn't moved, check the install
reefmat 500 would be sufficient for 150 gallon reef tank?
1200 might be better - 500 can only take 6,000lph
Anyone had issues with jammed message on rollermat 500
Hi I have 625 xl do you think I should go for the 500 or 1200 . Understand the specs say i should put the 1200 but i have alow stock sps tank
1200
Ive just installed my reefmat.. will it mess with my red sea ato though...kind of feels like it will?
When the mat advances, the water level in the return pump section rises but it's minor. Shouldn't affect anything.
@@ReefDork what about as its rising in the reefmat does it not lower the return chamber making ato pump rodi?
@@BlazedReefer no more than a skimmer will - it won't affect your salinity reading if that's what you're worried about
@@ReefDork great! Thanks for your replies .. ive learned so much from your channel 💯
@@ReefDork so ive ran the mat over night and safe to say it 100% affecting my red sea ato (the ato is set to pump when 2mm water drop/evaporation) each time the reefmat dispenses and starts building up water again the return chamber drains by more than 2mm and the ato kicks in....this has happened 18 times since adding the reefmat (app shows me my top off log) (7L have been added to my 350L tank over night). The salinty has also dropped by 1ppt over night and the sump now has way more water in there than desired and emergency drain is now in use....am i doing something wrong or is it just cause the ato is sooo sensitive with only allowing a 2mm water drop before pumping rodi
I'm convinced!
Just brought one for my Red Sea 425xl with the v3 sump but going to take baffles out so get to try the equipment out provided 😜so while see how easy it all is to do
Let us know how easy it is to remove sock tray and baffles. Cheers
Well just put reef Matt in and took the baffles out , to be honest it was very easy todo the hardest bit was removing all the equipment , so I could get the sump out to work on tried with sump under tank but no room . All in and up and running . Thank god and equipment back in .
@@karlhal8165
Great stuff yes could drain the sump and remove gear to do this also
@@reeferexplained8846 yes I drain the sump and pulled it out as I wanted to level sump side door up aswel so all looks good and very happy with it . 😆
@@karlhal8165 yep good shoot, just ordered redsea Reef wave pump, and installed the 4 doser by redsea
Does it stink when the used roll starts to get full?
No, you can't smell it at all - same for all my filter rollers
Hi does your reef mat leak bubbles inside the chamber where you turn 180 degrees seems to be a seal problem
It did at first, then I siliconed the connection and it stopped. Did you use silicone? If not, could you report back after you've put it on? I'd be interested to hear if that doesn't fix it...
@@ReefDork I've not used silicone yet thought it might be a rubber seal but only seems to do it from the right hand side of inlet 2 even if I switch the inside water inlet around still leaking bubbles.. but will move the reefmat & reseal with silicone & let you no, also do u no if its possible to run a refugium as well as the reefmat ?
Thanks
@@ethanpring4780 yep, I run a fuge too
No more bubbles seems there wasn't enough water going to the reefmat which was causing the bubbles gate valve now open problem solved...
Everytime I buy something, Red Sea puts out the same type of item 2 months later for a bit less money with a few more features. Messing with my head is one of their mission statements.
😅
I’d be happy if it only lasts 4 weeks before you need to change a roll
Anyone used on freshwater?
It won't work - the level sensor measures electrical conductivity (salt water)
Shame it only has the one pipe going into it, kind of limits what tanks other than red sea tanks you can fit it to.
The x filter can take 2, maybe 3...
@@ReefDork Yeah, I have an X-filter. On my second one as the first was replaced as it started falling apart. The build quality is turd, but being able to drop multiple feeds in the side is its only redeeming feature.
If the connection to the app is anything like the pumps. Hard pass... couldnt get the pumps to stay connected more then a day.
I connected easily - I wasn't a fan of the app for the ReefLED (although I connected fine) but this seems fine. Maybe because it's almost all for information not control...
I dont get how anyone can trust opinion videos like this when you start off by saying Red Sea gave this to you free? By Far The Best Roller (FOR FREE) ? What you gonna do say you disliked it and ruin your free Red Sea products or sponsors in the future?? Doubtful.
Fair challenge. It takes more than a bit of kit to buy me off and I like to think I'm as transparent as possible with any freebies. If it was no good, I'd have sent it back with no review - my tank means a lot to me so I only run equipment I actually like. But ultimately that's exactly why I'm so open - you need to be able to make your own mind up as to whether you think I might be biased.
@@ReefDork I don’t doubt that the roller is great, but it’s hard to trust a reviewer who is getting the thing they are reviewing for free. Your honesty in saying you got it free is a good reason to trust that you’re being honest as you said. Thanks for the reply!
@@BurntSquirrel I bought the Reefmat myself with my own money and I agree with everything he said in the review.
He is honest to tell us he got it for free. And if he is biased with his reviews of free stuff, don’t you think people will find out once they own the product themselves? He can do it one or two times, but after that he will lose viewers. I don’t think he will risk that.
It’s a paid promotion guys as he has got it for free from Red Sea so he would leave a nice review. This is a sponsored review as you got it for free. To make it an unbiased review you should give it free to one of your subscribers by raffle otherwise who would believe you when you say it’s an excellent bit of kit and all the other praise for it. I suppose you wouldn’t do it though. You are hardly going to say, it was utter rubbish.
With my reviews, I always give my opinion because people want to know. But ultimately I try to show as much about the product as possible so people can make their own minds up regardless of what I say 🙂
This is a paid advertisement on behalf of Red Sea by Reef Dork and you know it otherwise they won’t send you anymore freebies. This could be your first bit of kit for free from them as I remember in one of your live streams, all you did was plug them for free goods. The unbiased reviews that I have seen are not half as good as your advertisement for them. Stop wasting other people’s money by giving out not accurate reviews so you can get a freebie. If you are serious about giving unbiased reviews, you should give the free goods that you review away as many of the other you tubers do as a matter of transparency.
Someone sounds jealous!
Took mine out because the motor is so damn loud