Questions/Opinions on the FX5

So I have a couple questions about the FX5

1) Is it worth the $100 i'm going to pay for it....It's only a year old!?

2) Would it be wayyy too much filtration for a 72Gal bow front?

3) Is there anything I should be looking for when I go pick it up...seeing how its a used filter and all?

Thanks in advance!

1) Yes..for sure

2) No, I have one on my 72 bowfront and it is awesome!

3) Make sure all the hoses are there, the valves, the intake and outlet and the cover/oring. Make sure it seats correctly and the top isn't cracked. Make sure the baskets are inside it. If possible, run the filter before you pay for it.

4) If you don't take it, I will.

Good luck!

+1 to Spyral. And if you do those things and it passes the test, but you decide you don't want it, I'll take it.

Ya Ill take it also. You can NEVER have to much filtration.

Ya I couldn't believe the price either!? Now I just hope the guy doesn't change his mind on me!

Ok thanks guys I'll keep you all updated!

I run two FX5's on my 210g. I think a single on a 72g bow would be perfect. I would do a spraybar mod to it to ease up on the current.

Sweet thanks...the guy said he did a spraybar mod already!

Why can't I can't ever find deals like that?

That's what I always say....you'll get your's!

X2 what Spyral said.. I have 2 plus other stuff on my 300 and like them alot.. If possible try and run it to make sure it's motor is ok.. Probably too much work to take the impeller out to check that..

hbluehunter wrote:X2 what Spyral said.. I have 2 plus other stuff on my 300 and like them alot.. If possible try and run it to make sure it's motor is ok.. Probably too much work to take the impeller out to check that..

Cool thanks I'll see what I can do....I'm meeting the guy today!

OK I picked up the FX5 today! It's missing some clips, suction cups, the t-handles, and he couldn't find the spray bar mod...but everything else is there and it pushes water like crazy! So I think I still got a deal! Anyway does anyone know of a good place to pick up some FX5 parts??

BTW I knew this thing was BIG,but man this thing is HUGE!

Aquarist World - the last time i was there, they had an extensive array of parts for many kinds of canisters. Should call and ask for Michael.

cool thanks Protocl

APFP has all the stuff

stierwalt3 wrote:I knew this thing was BIG,but man this thing is HUGE!

That's what she said!

Sorry could not resist!

When I got my FX5 I had that "WOW" moment and had the thought 'do I really need two of these on my 210g?' They are pretty monstrous!

Parts are available at Aquarist World and APFP as mentioned. However, I find at Aquarist World, if Mike isn't there..good luck..lol. Same with APFP, if Kevin isn't there, good luck!

I looked at an FX5 for my 75 but being the cheap dirty old man I am I could not justify the price with other canisters out there that were a lot less. Now if I could have snagged one at that price I would have....

sounguru wrote:I looked at an FX5 for my 75 but being the cheap dirty old man I am I could not justify the price with other canisters out there that were a lot less. Now if I could have snagged one at that price I would have....

No canister out there filters like it does. the amount of water it pushes is amazing.

Spyral wrote:

sounguru wrote:

No canister out there filters like it does. the amount of water it pushes is amazing.

900 gallons per hour is overkill in my mind I'm not into the larger really messy fish to be honest. Turning a 75 gallon tank over 12 times per hour is gonna create quite a flow and when doing heavy plated tanks or tanks with smaller fish, unless they are fast flow fish it is a little much. It can be turned down using valves and spray bars,but hey that is more than I wanted to do. My tanks (or tanks in the past) turn over on average of 0 to 5 times per hour and I find it to be quite sufficient.

I'm not a fan of the over filtration school of thought unless you are running a Fish only tank with larger messier fish. I'm more of a balanced tank kind of guy where everything works together to achieve a healthy environment.

Every fish keeper has their own ideas and ways of doing things if I could have picked one up I would have but split it to run 2 if not more tanks and slow down the output into each tank. There is no question that it is a good filter just that there are cheaper options out there that can do just as well if setup correctly, but for 100 bucks it is a huge steal.

larger fish != messier fish

My mbuna are messy buggers, but pretty small. Having 10x or more turnover for them is advisable.

To you point, you don't want that in a nice planted tank with shoalers.

Never disagreed on that point is I was still running my African or my Aro/Bicher tank I would have a massive filter going on that one since plants and other means of balancing the tank are out. Not to mention they would leave parts of the feeders just laying around the tank...

If all goes well I maybe setting up another African tank since I really loved the buggers but I want to do at least a 150 for it ans a real elaborate background rock setup then I will be in the market for a filter like the FX5 or even larger.... Or I may go native with bass and sunfish ... or maybe gar .... oh dang the wife is gonna kill me...

It all goes back to what do you keep and how are you setup ...

The 900gph is not a realistic number, I think that was a no media inside thing. I think that in recent tests with media it more like 600gph actual real number. On my 210g with two FX5's and custom spray bars it does not create any current the fish cant handle. But Ive got big messy fish!

The #'s never are .....

One of theses days they will actually give us real numbers like my HW303b's say 378gph but are actually higher than that ... Never have figured that one out... they actually have an output closer to the C530 which is what SUN Sun builds for Marineland and that this filter matches in size. So I would say in the 420 range with media in the canister since I don't pack them tight.