# FX 5... Worth the cost?



## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

I have had my 180 gallon up and running for 6 months now. I currently run a Rena xp4 and an AC 110.

Tank is far from a monster set up.
1 6" Chocolate Cichlid
5 3-4" Tapajo Red Top
1 8" Common pleco
1 6" Chocolate Pleco
6 4" varied plecos
4 3" Keyhole Cichlids
6 Cories

Weekly 50% water change. 
water parameters are always ok. (low gh/kh)
Havent lost a fish except for the strange bacteria infection that killed all my BN Plecos 3 months ago. Everyone appears very happy and low stress.

Substrate is pool filter sand and lots of large and medium Manzanita and several Javas.

Seems I have a fairly constant stream of fine debris loating around at all times.

I plan to keep alot of these fish as they grow larger. Plus likely to add some more plecos and whatnot. 
Is the fx5 worth the expense? I can afford it at the moment but likely wont be able to in the near future after my cash burns a hole in my pocket and disappears.
Or should I just get another xp4 or AC 110 which are really affordable?

Any opinions from other members would be appreciated. I'm interested to hear what fx5 owners think of these units.

Thanks


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

I just picked up a fx5 and love it it is a work horse My water is crystal clear but i do run a 405 and the fx5 together on a 110G


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

I absolutely love your tank BTW Nice job


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Russ that tank is a beauty.....(little green monster comes out)...lol
as you know i run Fx5s on both my 110g and 150g and love them no complaints at all.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Adz1 said:


> Russ that tank is a beauty.....(little green monster comes out)...lol
> as you know i run Fx5s on both my 110g and 150g and love them no complaints at all.


I seem to recall your water alwasy being very clear when I visited also. Im pretty much sold on it. Why not have the best available components on my dream tank after all eh?

Thanks for the compliments folks. I am planning to switch out my pool sand for light brown 3m sand I got from Dave J. I find the pool sand gives a bit of a dessert type look.


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## Bubblebower (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice tank! 
I have one FX5 running in my 90 gal. and it works well. Lots of water flow when the media is not too dirty. Here's a link to the tank.
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/90-gal-dead-mans-walking-stick-7975/
Merry Christmas


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

fx5 is a pain in the ass. I don't like how it was designed. Removing the hoses spills water, the filter itself is pretty awkwardly shaped and the inner design for media is terrible. I'd mod it to store more media but I don't have the time....

But it is a very good filter for the price. It's very good for mechanical filtration if you have a messy tank and don't mind cleaning it once every 2-3 months. I'd rather go with a sump or a giant eheim model if I had the cash.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

I had originally planned a sump. As a plumber though I have just seen too many mechanical pipe joint failures to trust that many hose clamps in my newly renovated house. 
I'll take a look at eheim also.
I had never heard FX5 was that tough to clean.....


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## _TiDy_ (Apr 29, 2010)

I have a fx5 on my 90 gallon, it does an awesome job cleaning my water up, i never see any debris on the bottom of my tank (barebottom). Cleaning does take a little longer but worth it imo.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The FX5 is only tough to clean if you are have Eheims (I do) and then they seem poorly thought out. I can clean my Eheims in the time it takes me to disconnect the hoses and wipe up the small spill during disconnection (bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea). It does do a better job with mechanical filtration than the Eheims (except the 2080). Speaking of which Charles has a nice used 2080.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Its not tough to clean. Just not quite as elegant in design as the Eheims. The FX5 is just a simple filter that pushes a lot of water for the money.


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## malibu aka justinking (Apr 26, 2010)

yea i agree i got two on my saltwater tank is crystal clear mindyea one is modified


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I never did like the polishing pads on the FX5 which clogged way too easy and effectively reduced flow to nothing. I had to swap pads every two weeks in my SA tank before. Became a pita. I took a couple of maxijets and put some foam on their intakes and that really took care of all the fine particles and was a snap to clean too.


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## hgi (Jun 13, 2010)

Short answer is YES!

The FX5's are a lot cheaper than they used to be, and right now I'd say Yes it's a great deal, I currently have one on my 170g with 7 piranhas and I open it up every 10 to 12ish month for cleaning.


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## malibu aka justinking (Apr 26, 2010)

i run a old fluval 203 cramed with filter floss instead of in the fx5


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

Its a pain in the ass for me to clean because its so big and it's under my tank, inside a stand. 

My biggest problem with it is the poor filter media design because of all the water bypass compared to Rena's and Eheim's. BUT its still a great filter for the amount of money you're spending.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Gotta agree with the size and weight. Its huge, tho my other fave filter is the eheim 2080 and that's even more beastly. I would do eheims myself except for the cost of them. I'm running 4 FX5's and that was under 1k. The 2080's would be double! Not to mention they are even taller than the fx5!


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

Are you wanting to add this to the filtration you already have or are you wanting to switch out for the fx5? The reason why I ask is with the filters your running right now you have 950gph whereas if you are switching out for the fx5 you have 607 gph so you would actually have less overall water turnover. If your combining it all together that would be a much better idea as you will have more gph on the tank.


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

I have an fx5 on my 150g and 1 on my 210g and I like them. good bang for the buck. but the hoses do drip and make a mess when removed. but if you hook up a drain hose to the bottom drain and drain into a bucket while you slowly remove the hoses. spills are very minimal.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

taureandragon76 said:


> Are you wanting to add this to the filtration you already have or are you wanting to switch out for the fx5? The reason why I ask is with the filters your running right now you have 950gph whereas if you are switching out for the fx5 you have 607 gph so you would actually have less overall water turnover. If your combining it all together that would be a much better idea as you will have more gph on the tank.


Yeah I am looking at adding to the existing filtration. If my water becomes clear again I might remove the ac110.


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

i have 2 fx5 and a xp4 on my 170 my tank is crystal clear . and for the price u get a better filter then the ehimes . and any other canister out there . but yes they drip out a bit when u disconnect the hoses


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks Everyone.
I picked one up at J&L yesterday. Some small hassles setting it up. I broke one of the hose attachments that clamp on to the intake and return where they meet the tank.
My tank has such a thick plastic rim (1 1/4" at least). I boiled the second one first so it would be more flexible, got it on pretty easy. I dont think it will come off though haha.

for media I went with 2 socks full of carbon in the top tray, bio riings and a medium pad in the 2nd tray and bio rings and a polishing pad on the bottom.

Right away though my tank became more clear. I think between and xp4 and a fx5 I should onle have to clean one filter every 1-2 months or so. this way I will always have a large volume of beneficial bateria also.

thanks again for all the experiences.


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## Rajan (Apr 21, 2010)

the fx5 is awsome filter but if it doesn't clear up the water then you might want to try a uv sterlizer. I have a fx5, a fluval 404 and a ehem pro11 on my 125g and still my water was cloudy until i used a 8watt aqua uv sterlizer and a week later the water was crystal clear.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

What size of pump or powerhead did you get to move the water through the sterilizer?
Its a nice looking unit but I didnt have time to read the whole manual.
I beleive the sterilizers usually need pretty low flow for best effect?


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

*Great looking setup nice job!*

Nice tank, looks great. I am going to be setting my new 110 tall and am going run an Eheim 2075 pro3 and a AC 110 hoping to set up as discus tank, never had discus fish any help or thoughts would be great.


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## Rajan (Apr 21, 2010)

get the smallest powerhead and run it. the slower the flow the better it is. UV sterlizer will solve your problem and that tank is not even nearly as cloudy as mine was.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

You should determine what is the cause of your cloudiness before getting a UV. I think its still a good idea regardless but you're better off in the long run to solve the cloudiness issue by figuring out what is off in your system. The cloudiness is just a symptom and the UV may or may not get rid of it. If its some kind of bacterial bloom, it will just go away by itself eventually once the tank comes back into balance.


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

Clown Lover said:


> Nice tank, looks great. I am going to be setting my new 110 tall and am going run an Eheim 2075 pro3 and a AC 110 hoping to set up as discus tank, never had discus fish any help or thoughts would be great.


Need help on discus?
You should start your own thread.
Don't hijack this thread.

Mods can delete this if it's improper.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

get rid of the water polisher in the FX5. It clogs up WAY too quickly (2-4 weeks).


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