I own 3 fx5s, and they work fine. I usually clean them every 3 months, not because they need it but because it gives me piece of mind. I did have a problem with one burping a lot and having low flow rates, but it was because I had packed filter material too tight in one of the buckets (operator error).
I respect arguments about longevity, but I think the field might be a little slanted based on the fx5 not being out for as long as some eheims. I did recently sell a fluval 202 that I purchased in 1990 or 1991 and it still worked perfectly. That is 17-18 years of flawless operation. In any mass produced item, there will be production defects in a certain percentage of the products (Eheim and Fluval both manufacture in China, I believe), so if we discount some of the posts as production defects and look at good, operational filters, we can have a more productive debate.
I think the debate depends on the value you place on certain features:
1) Price
2) Bio filtration
3) Mechanical filtration
4) Flow rate
5) ease of cleaning
6) appearance (to some)
7) product loyalty
8) bragging rights
How you rate each filter depends on the value you place on the above attributes. Ultimately, both are good filters, and neither will steer you wrong.
I respect arguments about longevity, but I think the field might be a little slanted based on the fx5 not being out for as long as some eheims. I did recently sell a fluval 202 that I purchased in 1990 or 1991 and it still worked perfectly. That is 17-18 years of flawless operation. In any mass produced item, there will be production defects in a certain percentage of the products (Eheim and Fluval both manufacture in China, I believe), so if we discount some of the posts as production defects and look at good, operational filters, we can have a more productive debate.
I think the debate depends on the value you place on certain features:
1) Price
2) Bio filtration
3) Mechanical filtration
4) Flow rate
5) ease of cleaning
6) appearance (to some)
7) product loyalty
8) bragging rights
How you rate each filter depends on the value you place on the above attributes. Ultimately, both are good filters, and neither will steer you wrong.
.. I'm within a week of buying a filter ...and Ive changed my mind daily from the FX5 to the Eheim 2229 wet/dry canister ..... I plan to keep rays and this an extremely important choice to make
