I gotta admit, when first looking at aquariums pumps, I did not know what to invest. I originally had some cheap ones from wal-mart that worked good at first then started clogging and became a huge maintenance for me. I had a 55 gallon freshwater tank and my pacu is getting huge so I upgraded to a 180 gallon aquarium tank. I went ahead and started looking for a new pump that could do the job. I was recommended by a fish expert to look into canister pumps and Fluval FX5 was one of the recommendation by him. I took a shot and asked several other people who also recommended the same. I got a great deal here on amazon because nobody could get me the deal I got. The cheapest in town I could get was $400.00. The setup was very easy and the instructions was at 4th grade level.After running the pump for 2 weeks, the pump stopped working. I quickly called the tech support from FLUVAL (number on manual) and they were very helpful and smart. They fixed the problem and I will recommend this to ANYONE that buys this product. DO NOT BUY THE FINE FILTER PADS!!! These are the pad that are round, either white or blue. They do clean your water but they clog up within a week (SO UNLESS YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR PADS ONCE A WEEK) and you do not really need them. After the tech support helped me out, I removed that polish pad and the pump works excellent! The best part is no problems since then. I only do once a month maintanence for the ZEO-CARB, which removes the ammonia and impurities. The pump works great and has given an excellent water flow in my tank. I have an actual current that runs clockwise. The fish love it and my ammonia and nitrate levels remain at 0. My tank is super clean and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. DO NOT BE DECEIVED. You may pay $259.00 for the pump but if you think about it, you'll spend more with changing your filter pads and cleaning the cheap filters I had from wal-mart. Invest good! I clean my tank ONCE A MONTH!
However, When work schedules left me with very little "me" time, changing a 55+ gallon tank bucket-by-bucket, did not seem like a very good use of my time. Thus began the search for a better filter.
I researched for MONTHS to find the exact right filter for my pet. I finally decided on The Fluval FX5. Being rated for a 1,000 gallon tank, I figured it would be perfect for a very dirty turtle in a 55+ gallon tank. The exact order I placed came with one box of pre-filter media and one box of Biomax media.
When I got it home, the thing was so HUGE I decided not to put it under the tank in the decorative stand, but next to it, so if i needed to remove it I would be able to. (My particular stand had small doors the canister wouldn't fit through.)
I also found that each of the three media basket required TWO boxes of media, meaning I was 4 boxes short, so off to the local pet supply store.
In the end, this was my setup:
1-Top basket, 2 boxes of pre-filter media,
2-Middle basket, 2 boxes of carbon media (in a "media bag" to keep the small carbon particles from falling out of the basket and harming the motor), and
3-Bottom basket, 2 boxes of Biomax media.
Setup was very easy, just follow the instructions. (It doesn't state this in the directions, but I also recommend rinsing the media VERY well before putting it in the pump. Particularly the carbon)
It has now been about a month now, and the tank is still CRYSTAL CLEAR! Normally it would be so dirty at that point, I wouldn't be able to even find the turtle in the tank.
The tank is also very quiet. However once a day it turns off for 2 minutes to let the air purge. It took about a week for all the air to fully get out of the system. Once it got to that point, I barely noticed it was even on.
I wish I would have bought this filter years ago!
I only have 2 little drawbacks to mention:
Number one: The thing is REALLY BIG. Bigger than I was expecting when I made the purchase. If you want to see if it will match your application, grab a 5-gallon bucket and use that as your guideline. the 1-inch diameter hose also may be a tight fit for your tank lid. measure and plan accordingly.
Number two: The extra connector that is supplied to help you drain the tank requires a 1-inch diameter hose. Hose this size, or even adapters, I am finding very difficult to find. Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll find a 50-foot hose that is this size for less than $120, so I never have to drag buckets around again!
If you can get over those two things, you'll LOVE this filter!This review is for one-day use. I will update my review as time goes on to help round-out a good, solid review.
First, I chose this filter on recommendations of a coworker who maintains 4 Aquariums at his home. 2-Fresh, 2-Saltwater. His exact recommendation was you can never over-filter and aquarium. Well, my OCD and personality kicked into high gear, ordered this and its probably overkill!
I currently have and 85-Gallon Glass Aquarium with roughly 18 Chiclids ranging from 9" to less than 1". Mixed lot of all type of Chiclids. I have a LOT of Lace Rock, a few fake plants and a fair amount of bottom rock since Chiclids like to burrow and dig! OK, enough about my aquarium setup, onto the problem that brought me to Amazon to buy this Filter.
Problem:
-Yellowish, murky, filmy water
-Maxed out filters that just didnt cut it!
-Constant yellow and green slime on glass surface
Filter setup PRIOR to Fluval FX5:
-Two under gravel filters with power heads in the corners
-Emperor 400 behind back filter
My filters were being overworked. I would honestly have to change 1/4 1/2 the water every 2-3 weeks. Change filters every months (washing them weekly). Etc, etc. I was TRYING to maintain the water constantly. In the end, it was always dirty. Fish wouldnt eat and became unhappy. I was spending a small fortune on water filters and maintenance. Since I owned the entire setup (6 months), the tanks water quality has progressively gotten worse. Nothing I had done helped. Total cost for a failure of water quality was upwards of $125+.
To be fair, my Emperor was really the only filter doing anything. Under gravel sucks in my opinion. The Emperor will remain running in my tank. I am told the Bio-Wheel setup is quite helpful in helping establish and maintain the beneficial bacteria. Since the Bio-Wheels are very well established, it will help me setup the new Fluval filter.
Onto the Fluval FX5 review (thats why you're here reading this):
I ordered my filter from Amazon as this package setup only cost about $10 more vs the filter alone and included the two bags of stuff for the filter. It was more cost effective for me. Took about 5-days to get to me with free shipping. Shipped in its actual box (a little frustrating as it could have been damaged, but was not). From opening the box to setting it up and having it running took less than 1-Hour. My tank is already established and setup, so it took a while to uninstall and install the Fluval since my lace rock was in the way
Following the very simple and basic instructions, I had the filter running quickly. The fish (should be) happier within a few days as the water is substantially cleaner within less than 12-hours of initial turn-on.
A few very minor problems I found:
-The filter takes a lot of water. I filled the filter up with the appropriate amount of water and ran the hoses. Once I turned it on, it sucked in another 1-2 gallons simply to run the pump. I ran out of filtered water (from my RO system) to fill the aquarium. So its a little low right now.
-The hose length is far too long for my tank as it is only 85-Gallon. I forgot the golden rule: Measure twice, cut once. I didnt even measure. I simply found the middle and cut. Now my hoses loop a little bit and dont go in a direct path to the filter. Might cause a problem, might not. I do know its working for now
-I have 8 small suction cups and an extra On/Off Valve...no idea what they go to or why i need them.
Initial turn-on and opinions:
The unit will cycle 2-minutes on, 2-minutes off to help clear the air pockets in the system. The self-bleeding setup is very nice and works perfectly. Your aquarium will turn into a foamy, bubbly milkshake for a little while and your fish will probably hate you. Once the system is bled, it works very well. It is quiet and consistent. The supplied media for the filter allowed me an immediate setup that worked immediately. My tank has better flow and proper filtration now.
Initial quality is suburb. I am very happy with the build and quality of the parts. The cost of this unit is reflected the minute you open the box
Some recommendations:
-Measure the hoses and lay out the setup prior to cutting. Im the type that ignores general instructions and skims over install steps. My fault...dont do the same. If you do change aquarium sizes later and cut the hoses to length, they may be too short and new hose will be needed.
-Have extra water handy and possibly a funnel. If you fill the hoses once attached to the filter then place them into the tank, this should help bleed the system better and quicker.
-Search online and review the best way to stack your media in the layered filters. I also suggest snagging some Chemi-Pure bags for your third level filter. This should clarify the water and make this a bullet-proof filter (http://www.amazon.com/Chemi-Pure-Elite-Aquarium-Filter-Media/dp/B000UEENR2)
Day 7: (02/14/13)
I added two bags of ChemiPure (Regular and Elite, 1 of each) about 5 days ago. I have since them rearranged my aquarium for better flow. I have also removed my old, unused under-gravel filter system. This disturbed the water and gravel making a HUGE mess. The water was so dirty you couldnt even see an inch through the glass. The filter system went to work. 6 hours later the water was crystal clear! Essentially at the rate of flow, this equals to 3400+ gallons being filtered out.
Shortly after Sunday (02/10/13), the filter system began forming thousands of super tiny air bubbles in the tank, essentially clouding it up. This is a common issue with restrictions in the filter or a bubbles/skimmer too close to the intake. I took the filter apart last night to rearrange my filter levels to be a little more efficient and proper. I found the filter was still flowing very well but very dirty due to all the sediment i filtered out.
I cleaned everything up. Moved my chemical bags to the middle level filter and put it all back together. This morning I woke up to an ever cleaned tank than before and no air bubbles. Be careful, I hear the scrubbing pads clog up very easily and require constant cleaning (translation: PITA AKA: pain in the...).
My fish are much more active. They appear to be a lot happier than before. This filter seems to work VERY VERY well. Build quality is still top notch! I love this filter.I use the Fluval FX5 filter for a 125 gallon RES turtle tank. For anyone out there that knows anything about turtles the are messy! With that said since I switched to the FX5 my tank has never been so clean and I don't have to clean the filter nearly as often as any other filter I have used on this tank in the past 4-5 years. If you look at the specs you ay think that it would be over kill for a 125 gallon tank but from what I have learned there is no such thing as over kill when it comes to filters. I have been using the filter for about a year and a half now and still haven't found anything I don't like about it. This is the first self priming filter that does exactly what it says it will every time you plug it back in. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FLUVAL FX5!!!!My air pump is louder that this filter. I have a 150g with the FX5 and a 305 running in the same room with my TV and I don't even notice them running 24/7. Great products!
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