FX5

[OhioT]

I have a fluval FX5 I've had on my 120 almost a month now. This may seem weird but my Discus have blossomed color wise and have become super aggressive eaters. I have a mix of 6-4 to 5 inch with 3 new 3 in cobalt blue in my medium heavy planted tank. I was wondering if any more filtration would be needed. I had a Rena 3 that leaked almost 1/4 tank in December with 2 aqua clear 110. They are watching me now. They seem happy but want too make sure I have enough. Thanks

T

[gotfish?]

you can add as much filtration you want. but since you have more fish now and im guessing your also feeding alot more now, i guess you should bump up your water changing routine (if your not doing it daily...like most of us here )

[OhioT]

I'm on almost every other day routine. Working 12 hrs 6 days a week keeps me from a daily water change.

[gotfish?]

you know one guy(chad) on here only does weekly WC and i think he also added plants to somewhat help with water quality(check out the challenge thread..i havnt been following but im pretty sure chad only does weekly wc ). well as far as filtration goes i think your ok. i mean what are fx5 rated for..like 400-500 gallons?? and additional filtration is def plenty. 9 fish, 120 gallon, every other day wc...with plants...i think your pretty safe

[OhioT]

Thanks for the help. Eventually I would like to see a couple pair off and begin breeding. I've been able to breed angels/Africans/molly's with little effort but I'm down to just my Discus tank because of the time I have for the hobby, not to mention I'm addicted to the beauty of a school of healthy Discus eating out of your hands. My Larger ones are about 2 maybe 3 years old memory going bad but I would love to see them begin the breeding process. I have tanks waiting on this to start to move them into.

T

[Fish Finatics]

I am new to posting so please forgive my delay. I have had three or four
FX5s (including motor replacements). I believe you will encounter a problem with them down the road regarding biological filtration as they run so fast
(925 gph) that they are not really effective biologically to spite their media capasity, if you want to take advantage of all that wonderful tank space you have. It is better to run slowly through your bio-media.

FX5s are wonderful for "nutrient export", very aggressive and can draw from 4feet in any direction. I have run them on my coral reef but not in any of my discus tanks (4) as I was concerned about the duel output creating too much current. I would watch your oxygen levels closely as well. You should be fine depending on your bio-load as it grows otherwise. I've been into fish-keeping for 40 years now and there is always an exception to the rule. Just watch how your fish continue to do and if you do start running into problems it will likely be because the FX5 is just too fast to serve effectively as a bio-filter but will always serve well for keeping large fish wastes and uneaten food out of your system.

Best of Luck

[farebox]

I have the FX5 on my 125GA, and just completed the " convert to vinyl hose" modification. The filter is running nicely, tank is perfectly clean and all discus doing great in this setup. http://www.innovationlandscaping.com/fx5/
Better flow on the output side of the tank. Check it out...
farebox

[Melissa]

Heeey! Good read- hadn't even thought about that! Thanks for the informative link.

[TURQ64]

If you have a few sponge filters, all will be well biologically...

[lipadj46]

I call bs on the idea that an fx5 runs too fast to bio filter, just not true. if the flow is too high just put a ball valve on the output.

[TURQ64]

All my sumps have pumps much larger than my FX5, and they do well biologically. H2O and 02 are all that's needed...

[ExReefer]

Eheim promotes the opposite of the competition. They say a slower flow is necessary to enhance the biological process. They don't play the marketing game of promoting pump output and gallons per hour.

I'm sold on the lower flow concept. I just bought an Eheim 2075. It's loaded with four trays of Eheim media and it has all the bio filtation I'll need for my bio load and room for more if I add more discus to my group.

I've had it running since last Friday. My water is clearer. It's just as clear from a side view as it is from the front view on my 125G. Prior to this, the side view (looking six feet across the tank from the side) was never clear. Prior to the Eheim, I ran two large sponge filters and an AC110 filled with two sponges. I kept the AC110 going with the Eheim and removed the in tank sponge filters. The AC110 is still an excellent mechanical filter and worth keeping on my tank when paired with the Eheim. It also moves a lot of surface water which is good for oxygen content.

[TURQ64]

I've got the extra basket on the FX5 stuffed with fluidized bed media..(Kaldness from Inland Empire, as with all my sumps)..let it flow!