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I just put my new fx5 in my 40 gal tank
Am I impressed ? Not really. I would use 2 or 3 in a 100 gal tank! Justt my 2 cents.

did you set up your media as shown in the media thread? What don't you like about it?

It's 600+GPH, that's quite a bit and it holds a TON of media.

3 FX5's in a 100 gallon tank would be 18-20x full volume turnover hourly

Not true my manual says 563 gal an HR? No way. In a 40 gal tank it doesn't move my plants at the end of the small tank? I set it up just fine

Here's the manual: it says on page EN-2 & again on page EN-4 "607 GPH".

http://www.redearslider.com/~res-mod/ve ... ual_EN.pdf

Maybe yours is defective?

If you followed the media setup on this forum, it's optimized for filtration ability and flowrate. Did you use some tightly packed media like a ton of carbon or that Seachem matrix bio media?

I usud pot scrubber's plastic and way cheaper

And much less surface area. When you compare the filtration capability of the two, the ceramic media is much less expensive.

But pot scrubbers shouldn't slow down the flow rate very much at all. Fluval's measurement of 607 is at full 6' head. If yours isn't pushing much water I'm wondering if the impeller is messed up or your unit is defective.

You probably won't see much plant movement near the intake. That huge strainer is designed to distribute the flow all the way around the strainer so that fish don't get sucked into it. A better place to judge flow rate is near the output. If yours is barely putting out any force, then something is wrong. I had to turn down the flow rate slightly on my 75 gallon tank because the the flow was causing the output nozzle assembly to bounce against the side of the tank making an annoying knocking sound.

Yeah that's a good point pridg.... The there are valves on the filter. Are they fully open?

My FX5 moves the plants on the far side of my tank... I have a 6 foot long tank and the output isn't centered.

No offense but somethings not right. The FX5 would be considered way over kill on a 40 gallon tank. If it's not impressing you then something must not be quite right.

Rubicon wrote:No offense but somethings not right. The FX5 would be considered way over kill on a 40 gallon tank. If it's not impressing you then something must not be quite right.

Agreed

I woke up this morning and II must say the tank is cleaner than it has ever been. I think they changed the GPH my manual says 563 GPH? I will try different media. Maybe I just put too much in it.

Hrmm... strange that it says 563 and the online manual and the printed one I have says 607. Does yours say anything about a version number? Mine is a few years old and I'm wondering if they revised the filter or the manual.

Sorry for the 1000 questions, I'd just like to update the filter reference thread with the latest correct info if possible.

Before you try changing media... maybe try running the filter without media. If there's a HUGE difference in water flow, then your media may be packed too tight. I don't suspect the pot scrubbies are at fault. I would look more at the carbon or media of that size that can pack together tightly.

On the front of the box it says 925 GPH on the back of the box and in the manual it says 563 GPH. I have 3 pot scrub ceramic rings and polishing pad in
the bottom basket. In the middle I have 3 pot scrubs one carbon and one purigen. In the top I have pre filter ceramic rings.I know that's not how its supposed to be set up just working with what I got with the filter and what I had on hand.

The change in the GPH could be because of motor changes over the years. Normally a vendor will buy "X" amount of product for "Y" price from "Z" vendor. Once they run out the renegotiate with the vendors and get "X" amount of "A" product from "B" vendor because they are cheaper.