i just won bid for a couple of these and only heard great stuff about them. Question is what is the best media for it since i know it has quite a big capacity for media.. is bioball an option? or even maybe sand?

I thought they used ceramic rings?

I run glass rings in mine.
I don't think sand will hold and bio balls aren't very affective in total submersion.
You can even use one tray for coral chips.

That filter is a mother load but if you compare the trays to Eheim, Eheim got it beat by a mile for media/filter size ratio.
That's why the FX5 has such big flow due to low media resistance.

Rh

can you elaborate on that statement?

Ken,
I have an Eheim 2028 and an Eheim 2229 as well as an FX5
Eheim filters do not have any room b/w the media tray and the canister body, all water goes straight down through the media tray.
FX5 has a bunch of room b/w the media tray and the canister body which creates a bypass for water to not go directly through the media.
For this reason, they can achieve such powerful flow because there is not as much water friction/restriction going through the media.
I'm not saying the FX5 is a poor filter. I just think it is better for a different application such as salt water and in my case, planted tank.
My planted tank don't need much filtration, I just need the powerful flow to distribute the CO2 through out the entire tank.
I think a flowerhorn tank is better off with a tighly packed media filter such as an Eheim for a Fluval 400 or some sort like that.

One more draw back for the FX5 is you can't install a prefilter at the inlet.
A prefilter at the inlet can prolong the cleanliness of the media 10 folds.
You do this by changing the prefilter on every water change and to prevent alot of crap from entering the media and clogs them up.
So without a prefilter, the FX5 is going to get dirty very fast and it is a bitch to haul to the tub to clean.
Yeh, yeh, they got the drain valve at the bottom for you to use a garden hose to empty it out.
But trust me bro, you will eventually not going to go through that hassel and just man up and haul the whole damn thing to the tub.

Ken, I hope that answers your question. And I apologize for being so negative at your new filter. I'm just being honest with first hand experience thats all. Maybe after using it, you will learn new tricks about the FX5 and share them with me.

if u got them for less the 200 shipped, mind sharing your souce?

Rh, thank you for your honest feedback and i think thats whats needed at times in this hobby

vinny,


i won them at 150 each with about 40 in shipping so i got em for 190 each

This post has been edited by cheken: Mar 13 2008, 04:40 PM

Alright, i got one of them up and running today. Fairly easy to setup but still trying to figure out what to stock it. The package i got didnt come with the media, should i just put bioball in them?

Ken,
I don't think bioballs are much affective in a submerged filtration.
You might want to use sindered glass or ceramic rings.

Try some of this stuff:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=15440

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...amp;pcatid=4173

Thanks for the info Dan.
Only been using the rings and found that they slowly flake off.
I've never seen that new stuff before.
I got to give it a try.

I read about Far Infrared-Rays a long time ago and think somebody needs to try the out :)

I saw this a couple of years ago, looks like we have the opportunity now. http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3497298

This is good stuff bros. Thanks for the info.