New FX5 delivered yesterday and....

[pacu mom]

Yeah now that I think about it the guy I brought the setup from had a whole garage full of those 100g rubber made containers he was harvesting liverock in. It was all disasembled when I bought the tank, but I bet he had 8 of those plus the tank. I only planned to use 1 of those hammerheads on that tank. The tank has 3 2" drains in the bottom of it then it returns to 8 1" down spouts mounted in the top of the tank. The refugium alone was 100g. I should have passed on the setup as the tank is scratched to hell. I was going to buy a buffer sand it all down them clean it up one day. Once I got it to the house I realized it would not fit anywhere so its on the bakc burned until we build a house in a few years. Its going to be a room divider then. I hope it turns out nice. If not I will have a long coat closet!

I think one Hammerhead is reasonable, especially necked down to 1" returns. If you check out VLDesign's tank, he's running two Hammerheads on a 2600 gallon tank. When you wrote two Hammerheads on a 350 g tank, I was picturing major whirlpool action. We have one 1" spa filter return nozzle on the far end of the tank. The current travels eight feet across the tank, hits the far wall and starts heading back the other direction. It eddies near the middle of the tank. Not all fish like the strong current. Our big plecos hated it and spent most of their time on the other side of the overflow box farthest away from the return.

I am in no way putting down Hammerhead pumps. I love Reeflo pumps and wouldn't consider any other pumps. Our current Hammerhead has performed flawlessly for nearly 6 years. I bought a backup Hammerhead five years ago, and it's still in its box.

 

[ricksreef]

That was pretty much my plan when I got it. Even if I don't use the tank I plan to use one and keep the other as the backup. They were too cheap a deal. I bought the 350g tank, 100g refugium, 2 hammer heads, a ton of pipe, bulkheads, drains, etc... all for $800. The guy got clobbered by a drunk driver and he was on a motorcycle. Spent over a month inthe hospital and came home to a thrashed salt water aquarium. I think he drained it and let it sit for a year b4 he sold it. I have no idea how I am going to get all that coralline algae off the walls. I filled it and ran it with vinegar in it for a few weeks and it didn't even budge. I thought about filling it then using muratic acid on it or bleach. He tried to scrape it and scratched the tank pretty good. I think I may just 180grit the whole thing then work my way up the sandpaper and buffing line from there. I HATE BUFFING! I painted cars years back and I have speant plenty of time buffing in my life.

Here is the tank when I bought it. Pics were obviously not recent as the tank looked clean.

http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=71962&p=573375#p573375

Here is the pics I took of it in my garage after I brought it home. I have since took it to a house I have we use for storage.

http://s957.photobucket.com/albums/ae57/ricksreef/360%20Fishtank%20July%202010/

 

[ricksreef]

Update : pumps dead. Anyone have issues with these pumps? Wondering if that's what the price got so cheap on these. Also thinking about inlining this to my reef-flow closed loop circulation system.

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[Greg31]

No problems with my fx5, 5 months in.

If you think a fx5 is huge...you should see a eheim 2260.

 

[TheRealCramer]

I want one so bad. It came out right after I got the 405 which was the biggest fluval. The prices really came down (almost 50%) since its debut so I'm glad I didn't jump on it then. Just goes to show these corporations just make up a price they think they can get then the real market tests it.

Alas, I can't justify it now that I run a sump. I'm running said 405 with it for "backup" which may be nothing more than sentimental for my canisters. I have 4 in the shed so I don't need another unless I found one used for a mortal sin of a steal.


Question for you owners; few said they don't use floss just bio...then say it cleared the water super fast and efficient.
How? Those sponges aren't made to clean much else than big particles which I never see suspended anyway. I'm a filter geek and mechanical is my muse. Mainly because it's the only one I can see really working and I judge it as most important to water quality to me. To me, the viewer not the inhabitant. Of course bio is the most important.


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[Conlin2]

I have had my FX5 for about 5 months and it worked awsome.It works great and does a hell of a job keeping the water clean.

 

[pacu mom]

Update : pumps dead. Anyone have issues with these pumps? Wondering if that's what the price got so cheap on these. Also thinking about inlining this to my reef-flow closed loop circulation system.

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Are you referring to the Hammerheads? I love mine. Going reeflo pumps all the way on my big set up. Six years ago I bought a spare Hammerhead. It's still in the box. Will use it on the new system and keep the current Hammerhead as the spare.

 

[richbear647]

Is two FX5's too much for a 125 gallon tank?

 

[gimmiks]

Update : pumps dead. Anyone have issues with these pumps? Wondering if that's what the price got so cheap on these. Also thinking about inlining this to my reef-flow closed loop circulation system.

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Did you get it running again ??and when you ordered from amazon did they sell it to you with all the necessary Equipment . I don't know where I heard it from but they told me they don't come with a few gaskets ??


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[toomanytoys]

i have had my FX5 for 4-5 years and it is a beast ,on my 210 planted when i tear it down there is so much crap in it i cant believe it still puts out the flow that it does. just bought another for my 420 and will probably get a second for it when my fish get a little bigger . ya dont run the polishing pads they plug very rapidly and do kill flow