Fluval FX5
- Thread starter vietmanx
- Start date
I've had my fluval fx5 for about 6 months now. I bought if off ebay for $199 shipping included.
I love this filter. Its very powerful. Holds quite a bit of filter media and is well designed. Its a very big canister about the size of a shop vac. Its also very heavy when full of water. It does have a drain you can use to remove some water to make it easier to move.
I will tell you one issue I've had. If you try to use the fluval fx5 filter pads they will get clogged in about 2-3 weeks and need to be cleaned or replaced. I no longer use them for this reason. The filter has 3 layers of foam that do mechanical filtration that dont clog and I rely on those without placing the additonal coarse or fine pads in the canister.
This is an easy filter to prime as the pump head is located on bottom of the canister. As long as you fill it about half full of water it will prime itself. It has a smart pump in that it turns itself off for 2 mins after priming and for 2 mins once every 24 hours to purge any built up air.
The hoses come with some pretty heavy duty plastic clamps to attach them to the back of the tank. The hose it comes with is no kink hose which is nice instead of vinyl.
The intake strainer is rather large as this is a powerful filter. I took my strainer off to feel the suction and its about like placing your hand over the end of a vacuum cleaner attachment.
The output is dual nozzle allowing you to direction the flow in different directions. I use it to break the surface tension in my tank so I dont get surface film.
For reference I have this filter on a 125 gallon cichlid tank. it keeps my water crystal clear and I clean the filter once a month. I considered buying the Eheim 2262 when I bought his filter. The eheim will run you $400 after you fill it with media. To me this Fluval is a better deal. I dont think the Eheim is worth nearly twice as much.
I love this filter. Its very powerful. Holds quite a bit of filter media and is well designed. Its a very big canister about the size of a shop vac. Its also very heavy when full of water. It does have a drain you can use to remove some water to make it easier to move.
I will tell you one issue I've had. If you try to use the fluval fx5 filter pads they will get clogged in about 2-3 weeks and need to be cleaned or replaced. I no longer use them for this reason. The filter has 3 layers of foam that do mechanical filtration that dont clog and I rely on those without placing the additonal coarse or fine pads in the canister.
This is an easy filter to prime as the pump head is located on bottom of the canister. As long as you fill it about half full of water it will prime itself. It has a smart pump in that it turns itself off for 2 mins after priming and for 2 mins once every 24 hours to purge any built up air.
The hoses come with some pretty heavy duty plastic clamps to attach them to the back of the tank. The hose it comes with is no kink hose which is nice instead of vinyl.
The intake strainer is rather large as this is a powerful filter. I took my strainer off to feel the suction and its about like placing your hand over the end of a vacuum cleaner attachment.
The output is dual nozzle allowing you to direction the flow in different directions. I use it to break the surface tension in my tank so I dont get surface film.
For reference I have this filter on a 125 gallon cichlid tank. it keeps my water crystal clear and I clean the filter once a month. I considered buying the Eheim 2262 when I bought his filter. The eheim will run you $400 after you fill it with media. To me this Fluval is a better deal. I dont think the Eheim is worth nearly twice as much.
The fluval fx5 has 3 media trays. In my top tray I have ceramic noodle pre filter. In the 2nd and 3rd trays I have Seachem Matrix.
You can put whatever you want in the media trays. The only limitation would be particles being small enough to fall through the tray. In that case you could always use a media bag.
You can put whatever you want in the media trays. The only limitation would be particles being small enough to fall through the tray. In that case you could always use a media bag.
i was running 3 of these and think they are very good.
the media i was using was substrat pro, ceramic rings and kaldness k1 and just spread them between the 3 trays. i did keep the coarse sponge round the side of the trays though.
i had 1 problem with a motor getting stuck in its turn on cycle and had to have it replaced but hagen sorted it no problem.
i recommend them.
the media i was using was substrat pro, ceramic rings and kaldness k1 and just spread them between the 3 trays. i did keep the coarse sponge round the side of the trays though.
i had 1 problem with a motor getting stuck in its turn on cycle and had to have it replaced but hagen sorted it no problem.
i recommend them.