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I'm not sure the best place to post this... here or in filters? Move it accordingly, if you'd like.

I mentioned before that my XP4 canister cracked and leaked water all over the place for the second time. I am currently trying to get a warranty claim processed, but in the meantime I ordered an FX6 because I really don't trust the XP4 to not flood my entire study again. I was excited about the FX6 capacity and it really sounds like a workhorse, but when it got here I found myself thinking.. well.. it's ugly.

The filter is an eye sore to be sitting next to my aquarium in one of the main rooms in the house. It's too big to fit in the cabinet, and I have no idea how to hide it so that it's not visible.

Even the tubes are an eye sore? Why black and not clear tubing like the XP4? It looks like a little shop-vac plugged into my tank lol.

It's huge?! It's even bigger than I was expecting, and I was expecting it to be big. How exactly do you guys clean these things out? I carried my XP4 to the bathroom to clean it out before. I also had a tupperware underneath the XP4 in case of a leak (not that it did me a lot of good when the thing split higher up on the canister and sprayed everywhere like an angry can of coke). I can't find anything big enough to even put under this to contain spillage. I probably need to watch some videos or something.

There are just my initial thoughts as I'm trying to figure out where to put this so I can cut the cords down and get it up and running. The backup XP3 is starting to feel overwhelmed (again), much like me. Ha. Thanks in advance for all your continued help. I really do appreciate having somewhere to go to talk to folks about this kind of stuff.

I thought the black hoses are better... my XP3 hoses have been stained brown a long time ago. If they go behind the tank, you can use a background to cover everything back there.

Not sure about cleaning, that should be interesting. Could any sort of shelving go around it?

I think if I can upgrade to one filter in the future, I'll keep 2 sets of media. That way I can change it out and then clean it out at a later time.

Steve, where would you keep your extra filter? So you're still happy with your XP3, huh? Maybe I should have just waited for my warranty replacement, I don't know... There is no way I can pick this beast up, that is for sure.

I have 2 tanks, both with an XP3. They are 10 years old and still work well. The ones I have are made in France, but they are no longer made there. The newer ones seem to suck. I most likely will get a FX6 when the time comes. With that, I would keep 2 sets of media. Take media out, empty filter then add the clean ones.

The fx has a drain valve on the bottom. You can drain part of the water into a container and make it easy to carry. I clean mine in the bathtub. Rinse the sponges in tank water so you don't kill benificial bacteria. I used to rinse them in tap water but changed that a while back.You could build a small fence to hide it if you can't stand to look at it. I beleive the hoses are black in order not to let light in. The new Rena is Chineese junk.

We've got everything setup and running now! We are waiting for the dust to settle, as it were. Is there any optimal direction to point the output? For some reason, I thought I had read to point it a certain way, but now I can't find it, so maybe it doesn't matter. I had all my bio media from the temp filter set out to put in the new filter, but hubby did it for me while I was feeding the kiddo, and he forgot. So I guess we are going all new, because he looks like he would rather cut off his arm than re set it up lol.

It doesn't matter as long as the outpu is pointed toward the center of the tank. I point mine slightly up so it moves the water surface. This will keep an oil slick (so to speak) from forming. My output nozzles are pretty close to the surface. Glad you got it up and running.

Thanks Kansas! I have one more question. I know the filter purges air bubbles twice a day, but should it be like... jacuzzi tube action for several seconds twice a day? It seems like an awful lot of air bubbles, and we are wondering if we have an air leak somewhere, but we have examined all the connections and everything seems to be tight. So I'm not sure what else to check.

Any thoughts? I could figure out the exact time of day lol.

That's normal. Mine do the same. Lots of air in water.

Okay, thanks.