Here's a quick review:
A new Fluval FX5 set up for about a month and a half.
Media: Top - prefilter; Middle - carbon + a handful of Biomax; Bottom: All biomax.
90 gallon tank.
1 Adult turtle.
So Ralph's tank was in a dire need of a cleaning, so since I was in the "tank cleaning" mood, I thought I'd do a partial water change in Frankie's tank and clean the filter.
After about a month and a half, the water is still nice and clear, but the nitrate levels are starting to creep up a bit (as is the norm).
OMG! I think I'm in LOVE!
A couple weeks ago, I picked up an 11 foot 1" clear, flexible tubing from Princess Auto for about $8.
Now here comes the cool part:
You attach the tubing to the spare Aqua-stop valve that comes with the FX5, unplug the filter, put your tube's valve in the out connection, put the open end of the tube in a toilet (or other suitable drainage area), plug the filter back in, and the filter begins to drain the tank!
Now, this can be rather slow... NOT!!! It took about 1 minute to drain 25% of the 90 gallon tank! That's faster than it takes me to fill it up with the hose!
Next step is to drain the filter. This is another super-handy feature of the FX5. With your toilet-tube still attached to the out connection, disconnect the in connection, and turn the filter on again. This drains 90% of the water out of the filter so it's light enough to carry.
It makes a bit of a gurgling noise when you do this, which startled Frankie to start, but then she decided the big black and orange monster wasn't a threat and went back to foraging for last night's leftovers.
One of the pros I mentioned before are the 4 handles on the filter that make it easy to carry.
A minor con for me is that it doesn't fit in the laundry sink. The 404 fits in the sink, so it's easy to take everything apart without getting the floor soaking wet.
Inside the filter, the water left in the bottom is amazingly clean! The nice white foam pads are now nice and grey, but that's to be expected.
I thought it might be a pain to clean out the 6 big foam pads, but it wasn't too bad. The baskets rinsed off very nicely, and didn't need scrubbing.
There seemed to be a lot of gunk on the biomedia in the middle basket, but that was easy to rinse off with a bit of tank water.
I'm thinking about investing in one of those filter tube cleaners for the input and output tubes in the filter, but a pipe cleaner worked pretty well this time.
It was a bit tricky to get the cuttlebone crumbs out of the bottom of the filter, and I had to use an ice cream bucket to rinse it out a couple times.
The orange rods that hold the media together make it super easy to lift the media baskets in and out.
Once it's back in place, a couple ice-cream buckets of tank water to fill the filter up partially. The lid is quite nice, and is easy to put on and seal.
Re-connect the input and output, and you're ready to plug her back in!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Self Priming. Oh yeah!
Once it's plugged in, 2 minutes later it stops to purge the air bubbles, and then it's back into it's 24 hour purging cycle.
The whole procedure took about 1 hour (including clean-up). That's pretty good! I've gotten down to about 40 minutes for a partial water change and filter clean of Ralph's tank, so I'm sure I can shave a few minutes off of Frankie's procedure.
Here's my summary of Pros and Cons (continued from my first review)
PROS:
- -self priming
-2 output nozzles
-adjustable flow
-4 easy to carry handles
-easy to take apart
-easy to set up
-easy to drain water out of filter
-uber cool looking
-Amazingly fast to drain tank water
-Pretty simple to clean
-Media baskets easy to lift in and out
-SELF PRIMING
CONS: (Not many, but the things I have found are:)
- -Slightly louder than the 404, which is expected, because it is a bigger filter. It could also be because my 404 is somewhat enclosed under Ralph's tank, and the FX5 isn't.
-(This one is more neutral than a con) The strainer on the intake valve is just the right size for Reptomin to get stuck in. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, because then Frankie comes along and picks them off. However, you'll want to make sure the strainer is on there firmly, so it doesn't get knocked off.
-There seems to be a large gap between the intake strainer and the aquarium wall. This means that big chunks of food can get stuck back there, and Frankie can't get at them, and neither can I.
-The gap between the input tube and the tank wall is about the right size for an inquisitive turtle to get his or her head stuck (or a hatchling to get wedged in). This has a quick fix though: Just remove the suction cups from the strainer. This actually turns into a bonus Pro: I used the suction cups to support Ralph's basking platform!
-Doesn't fit in the sink for cleaning.
I definitely recommend the Fluval FX5 to anyone looking for a filter for a large tank.
If you are steering away from the FX5 because of the price (They're pushing $400 where I live), check EBay. That's where I got mine.
It was just over $150, with $58 shipping (to Canada). That works out to about the same price as a Rena XP4 (at least on Big Al's website). It also came with bonus carbon and polish filters, which you don't get if you buy it in stores.
If Ralph's 404 ever stops working (fingers crossed it doesn't happen any time soon) I think I'd like to get another FX5 for him.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I'll do my best to answer them!
