FX5 and Sand

[dizee-d]

Hey,

I am contemplating purchasing an FX5 for my 150g tank, however the tank has a 30mm thick sand substrate.

Has anyone had any experience of this filter with a sand substrate (good or bad)? Any comments would be much appreciated.

Regards

Dan

 

[iloveoscars702]

uhm no exp. with the fx5 but if your sand is a larger grain and is heavy adding the filter wont be bad. if your sand is really fine iono, the impeller might get worn out really fast. the sand in my tank is a larger grade and is pretty heavy and my eheim pro II 2028's havent got any damage.

 

[Deaths Sting]

i run a FX 5 with sand, i use heavy 3M color quartz sand, so there's no problems.

if ur worried that ur sand mind get sucked up then i would suggest raising the intake. its easy, just get a hack saw and cut the plastic pipe that the intake strainer is attached to.

one other option is to make a prefilter for the intake. however, u would have to clean it almost everyday; depending on how u feed and what ur feeding.

 

[mushroomsoup]

the motor on the FX-5 is on the bottom of the canister. So if the sand is small grained then it is probably a bad idea because it'll go straight into the motor and seize it.

 

[djarmstrong]

I have play sand in one of my tanks along with a FX5 .

When i first put in the FX5 i placed the inlet pipe almost touching the sand and as soon as i turn the filter on it sucked up loads of sand and clogged the motor , so i had to strip down the motor clean it out , so when i put it all back into the tank all i did is put the inlet pipe a little higher and is all well now not sucked up any sand .

 

[WattaMelon]

you could rig up an inline prefilter using some filter floss. Just get a PVC 3" clean out Tee (with cap), two reducers/ female adapters and hose barbs to fit. Put the reducers/ female apdapters at the two ends of the Tee opposite each other and fill the Tee with filter floss threw the center hole, Throw some teflon tape on the screw cap threads, screw it together and you're good to go. You can put a circle of screening inside the Tee on the outlet if you're worried about the floss getting sucked down.

 

[DISCIPLE]

i run a FX 5 with sand, i use heavy 3M color quartz sand, so there's no problems.

if ur worried that ur sand mind get sucked up then i would suggest raising the intake. its easy, just get a hack saw and cut the plastic pipe that the intake strainer is attached to.

one other option is to make a prefilter for the intake. however, u would have to clean it almost everyday; depending on how u feed and what ur feeding.

yes i agree totally. i have mine set up the same way i just raised it about 6 inches off the substrate.

 

[dizee-d]

cool cool... still considering it. The filter I have now is some no name brand but it is still doing the job for now. Will see how I go when I start adding more fish, will prob need more bio filtration. Would love to get one of the big eheims if I can pick up a cheap second hand one....gotta see how i go.