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Hey guys, I've been using my fx5 for the past year or so... I've used the recommended media arrangement as posted in by one of our moderators. However, during my 2-3 monthly cleanings, I realised that my biomedia gets really gunky.. esp in the first and second layers..., this is a concern for me as they gunk will certainly hinder the biological filtration over time!
I've used the blue filtration pad as recommended.. haven't changed it for ard 5 months though :/


Do other fx5 users get this same issue?

What's the gunk look like? It might actually be the beneficial bacteria growing there. If anything, just give it a rinse in some tank water.

its dark brown/black... they seem to build up as small chunks over time! yes i do rinse the media out!
I'm juz wondering whether all fx5 users are able to get their media clean with just the blue sponge...cuz it seems to allow some sort of bypass over time..

Well you don't want the gunk stuck in the pads because it will hinder flow and cause blockage. My XP4 gets the same way, only my turtle filter gets this way not even on my heavily stocked planted tank. Just do a good rinse with tank water and shake loose the gunk. It's inevitable in any filter, just do your maintenance as usual. Unless your losing flow or having any parameter spikes I wouldn't worry about it.

thanks for the heads up bro. I guess its normal in most filters that the biomedia gets gunky over time

Yes, not much you can do about the gunk other than rinse it out from time to time. The recommendation is to to rinse the biomedia monthly and replace the carbon at the same time each month.

Cheers!