A few years ago I invested in an Eheim 2262 canister for my 150G central american tank. Hands down the best filter I have ever owned. About 6 months ago I set up a new 150G and found a new FX-6 on sale for 200.00. Given all the hype I decided to take the plunge.
- I started with the recommended media configuration (big mistake). The pads clog quickly and within 6 weeks I had a leaky at best water flow.
- On the recommendation of my local dealer I removed one of the top tray thick spongy pads and just put a polyester pad in bottom tray below Matrix. So my configuration was now Top tray (1 thick sponge) Middle tray (Chempure bags) third tray Matrix sitting on polyester pad....8 weeks later back to a dribble
The outer pads were a bit dirty but I had a thick sludge on the chem pro pouches...matrix looked spotless.
I cleaned it up and got it running full strength again.
After looking online I'm considering just filling every tray with Bagged Pond Matrix or Pot scrubbers and calling it a day. This filter is very easy to clean but I really don't want to break it down every 2 months! My Eheim 2262 has a much bigger bio load and I touch that thing every 6 months or so.
So please tell me what FX-6 media strategy has worked for you? At the moment I feel like I could get better results from 2 AC110s but want to give this a chance.
Thanks in advance for any responses.
- I started with the recommended media configuration (big mistake). The pads clog quickly and within 6 weeks I had a leaky at best water flow.
- On the recommendation of my local dealer I removed one of the top tray thick spongy pads and just put a polyester pad in bottom tray below Matrix. So my configuration was now Top tray (1 thick sponge) Middle tray (Chempure bags) third tray Matrix sitting on polyester pad....8 weeks later back to a dribble
The outer pads were a bit dirty but I had a thick sludge on the chem pro pouches...matrix looked spotless.
I cleaned it up and got it running full strength again.
After looking online I'm considering just filling every tray with Bagged Pond Matrix or Pot scrubbers and calling it a day. This filter is very easy to clean but I really don't want to break it down every 2 months! My Eheim 2262 has a much bigger bio load and I touch that thing every 6 months or so.
So please tell me what FX-6 media strategy has worked for you? At the moment I feel like I could get better results from 2 AC110s but want to give this a chance.
Thanks in advance for any responses.