FX5s plumbed together inline?
- Thread starter joe00
- Start date
I'm almost 100% sure that the engineers at Hagen, have carefully matched the canister size, media capacity and pump volume to do a specific job...
The FX5 is their flagship product, and is the product of many gererations of Fluval filters...
Not to mention the electronics that automatically purge the air from the canister every 24 hours.... how will you get around that feature?
re-inventing the mousetrap is a dicey ontaking...especially when the health of the tank occupants is at stake...
All this is pure speculation until you purchase a pair and do the experimenting...
As you get on with your fishkeeping wisdom, you too, will see the beauty in the simplistic, easy to service hardware...We tend to complicate the hardware part, and loose sight of what it is really all about...The Fish
The easier and quicker the servicing of the hardware is, the easier it is to keep an impeccable service schedule, and that is GOOD for the fish...
The FX5 is their flagship product, and is the product of many gererations of Fluval filters...
Not to mention the electronics that automatically purge the air from the canister every 24 hours.... how will you get around that feature?
re-inventing the mousetrap is a dicey ontaking...especially when the health of the tank occupants is at stake...
All this is pure speculation until you purchase a pair and do the experimenting...
As you get on with your fishkeeping wisdom, you too, will see the beauty in the simplistic, easy to service hardware...We tend to complicate the hardware part, and loose sight of what it is really all about...The Fish
The easier and quicker the servicing of the hardware is, the easier it is to keep an impeccable service schedule, and that is GOOD for the fish...
Thinking to hard now. Check this out.
http://innovationlandscaping.com/fx5/internalmod.html
First of all. Running two canisters with one pump doubles the restriction caused by the media.
ahhah yeah i picked that link up from an earlir post on this thread had a good read last night and liked the outlet idea on there . ive not been totally happy with the split .
ok that said the guy on that site makes the media capacity of the fx5 much greater . in my eyes thats just the same as puting them inline with only the second pump on . you are just increasing the potential media capacity .
yeah it will restrict the flow a little more but i shouldnt think so much that it would cause a problem.
i think you guys have answered my question anyhow .
zenzo said that the impellor will be fine regardless of the load it would only be the flow output that would be affected . so the way i see it . as long as there is a good flow through the media and not stuffed up with pads or anything then it should be fine . the first filter would probably need cleaning more regular but that could work just fine .
i wonder if anyone has actaully tried this or tired it with different media to see what effect it has on the flow
ok guys i currently have 3 fx5s running side by side all seporate intakes and outputs just to put your minds at ease . but i had a broken one and wondered if this could be done . also by running two filters like this there is the potential to reduce the nitrate level of the water .
ok that said the guy on that site makes the media capacity of the fx5 much greater . in my eyes thats just the same as puting them inline with only the second pump on . you are just increasing the potential media capacity .
yeah it will restrict the flow a little more but i shouldnt think so much that it would cause a problem.
i think you guys have answered my question anyhow .
zenzo said that the impellor will be fine regardless of the load it would only be the flow output that would be affected . so the way i see it . as long as there is a good flow through the media and not stuffed up with pads or anything then it should be fine . the first filter would probably need cleaning more regular but that could work just fine .
i wonder if anyone has actaully tried this or tired it with different media to see what effect it has on the flow
ok guys i currently have 3 fx5s running side by side all seporate intakes and outputs just to put your minds at ease . but i had a broken one and wondered if this could be done . also by running two filters like this there is the potential to reduce the nitrate level of the water .
That would be me
Its not the same at all.
First with the Fx5 modded you increase the cross sectional surface area for mechanical filtration, meaning you can use fine particle filtration pads for over a month without them clogging.
Second, you are reducing the flow velocity through the media for better contact.
Third, you are reducing restriction caused by the media.
Running two or three Fx5s on one pump, you are increasing the restriction.
2 or 3 Fx5s daisy chained will not allow the 2nd filter to capture much in the foam pads. The third Fx5 you would never ever have to clean so its only use would be 5 liters of bio media if its not modded.
3 Fx5s equal 1800 GPH with 15 liters of bio media.
3 daisy chained fx5s would be less than 600 GPH and 15 liters of bio media. I say less than 600 GPH because of the additional restrictions.
I am pretty sure it would be around 500 GPH but that would be interesting to find out.
I say do it for the hell of it. Remove the impeller in the first and second Fx5s and link them together and let us know what happends.
Yes the impeller would not be affected. But, why would you not mind a reduced flow? You already have 3 Fx5s running seporatly which is the best thing you can do. Why tie two of them together to cut the flow more than half?
Don't bet on that to much.
thanks jgray .
i would only do two , i mentioned 3 just as the comparison to a sump that was all
if i daisy chained two as you say i could put nothing but biomedia in the second so this should take very little cleaning the first has easier access so would be the one i would put the mechanical filtration in with anything that needed changing more regularly or part mech filtration to clean the water nicely and then more biomedia .
i know they are set properly but as i said the main reason for asking is because a few months ago i was unfortunate to have one break down on me and in the event of this happening again i think after talking to you guys i would try setting them inline and it could be an option for anyone running two filters and have one break down .
also === very nice details on the fx5 mod page . well done and thanks . i picked up some good info and a few helpfull ideas
going out later to get the elbows for the output as well lol
i would only do two , i mentioned 3 just as the comparison to a sump that was all
if i daisy chained two as you say i could put nothing but biomedia in the second so this should take very little cleaning the first has easier access so would be the one i would put the mechanical filtration in with anything that needed changing more regularly or part mech filtration to clean the water nicely and then more biomedia .
i know they are set properly but as i said the main reason for asking is because a few months ago i was unfortunate to have one break down on me and in the event of this happening again i think after talking to you guys i would try setting them inline and it could be an option for anyone running two filters and have one break down .
also === very nice details on the fx5 mod page . well done and thanks . i picked up some good info and a few helpfull ideas
going out later to get the elbows for the output as well lol
zennzo . from your earlier post about purging air . how do you purge the air from any other canister that doesnt have the auto purge feature ? i imaging the filter would purge air in a similar way to that .
im sure they have designed it with the best interests and cost at heart . and im sure puting another filter inline is most definalty not practical for a marketable product . is not something that they would want to advertise even if it is a good idea. an im sure that it is not the most cost effective way of expanding a filter.
hagen have made the most reasonably sized filter . having a filter with twice the capicity alone would be a hard product to market just on size alone. .. . have you tried lifting a full fx5 ? its heavy . its on the limit of anythign you want to market as a semi portable unit .
the nitrates ? they are not really worth a mention .
all i said was that there is a potential . possibly a nice side effect just as a reduced flow could be a negative side effect of linking them . with a reduced flow a prolonged time that the water is without new air ( doubled ) and with very porus biological medai in the second canister there is " potential " for nitrate consuming bacteria to colonise in * parts * of the media . not saying its likely or anythign just that its a posibility . but really nothing to do with the reason for asking about this .
im sure they have designed it with the best interests and cost at heart . and im sure puting another filter inline is most definalty not practical for a marketable product . is not something that they would want to advertise even if it is a good idea. an im sure that it is not the most cost effective way of expanding a filter.
hagen have made the most reasonably sized filter . having a filter with twice the capicity alone would be a hard product to market just on size alone. .. . have you tried lifting a full fx5 ? its heavy . its on the limit of anythign you want to market as a semi portable unit .
the nitrates ? they are not really worth a mention .
all i said was that there is a potential . possibly a nice side effect just as a reduced flow could be a negative side effect of linking them . with a reduced flow a prolonged time that the water is without new air ( doubled ) and with very porus biological medai in the second canister there is " potential " for nitrate consuming bacteria to colonise in * parts * of the media . not saying its likely or anythign just that its a posibility . but really nothing to do with the reason for asking about this .
Purging the air is done to keep the pump primed and the filter running efficiently and quietly...It was mentioned because of the talk of flowing through an "un-plugged" FX5.
Have you ever seen a Wet/Dry sump with overflows in action?
and what is
Nitrate consuming bacteria??!
Have you ever seen a Wet/Dry sump with overflows in action?
and what is
Nitrate consuming bacteria??!
yes. i belive it similar to how the berlin method works on marine tanks ( within the pores of the live rock )
and in the anaerobic sections nitrate reductors where flow is reduced and oxigen deprived in such units as coils etc.
i beleive these ideas are used in human waste plants where they use masses of carbon purley for the huge surface area and porus nature ( rather than they ability to remove some impurities ) and idea that is similar to the huge surface area of some bilogical filter media .
and as would work deep within the poors of porus filter media ( to some extent ) such as scintered glass
as i said . not really the aim . but purley a * potential * benefit . even if it was very small . but as mentioned its more unlikley that it would happen as the flow even though reduce and traveling through twice as much media im sure it would still be too much . however . if an appropriate filter media was to be used at the correct stage. im sure anything is possible and nothing should be ruled out completley .
was more of a pasing coment than something to look into too much .
the idea is using a dead / broken fx5 inline with a working one .
and in the anaerobic sections nitrate reductors where flow is reduced and oxigen deprived in such units as coils etc.
i beleive these ideas are used in human waste plants where they use masses of carbon purley for the huge surface area and porus nature ( rather than they ability to remove some impurities ) and idea that is similar to the huge surface area of some bilogical filter media .
and as would work deep within the poors of porus filter media ( to some extent ) such as scintered glass
as i said . not really the aim . but purley a * potential * benefit . even if it was very small . but as mentioned its more unlikley that it would happen as the flow even though reduce and traveling through twice as much media im sure it would still be too much . however . if an appropriate filter media was to be used at the correct stage. im sure anything is possible and nothing should be ruled out completley .
was more of a pasing coment than something to look into too much .
the idea is using a dead / broken fx5 inline with a working one .
