new 180 gallon dual FX-6 setup

[adamsfishes]

You over did it, use the normal sponges it came with minus the “fine” sponges, and use pre-filter sponge on the intake, and you’ll be much happier with much less maintenance.

I typically get 6mos to a year between canister maintenance on my FX’s by using pre-filters.

Also, biohome is a gimmick, dont waste your money. Trust me, this is 34 years experience in aquarium keeping speaking here. Use the most cost efficient media possible (Scrubbies/lavarock/etc...).

The biohome is working phenomenally well for me. I test my water before each water change, and after a week my nitrate is under 5 ppm with heavy stocking and lots of feeding. Also, I already own the biohome, and it doesn't create a financial hardship for me to buy a little media.

 

[adamsfishes]

As for the FX6’s, I also remove the fine pad but I replace it with floss. It makes cleaning a breeze since I put it in the top basket which allows me to do a deep clean every once in a while.

The fine pads are just temporary for me. I just wanted them while my gravel was still producing dust. Even with a lot of washing, I find that gravel takes quite a while to stop producing dust. I've changed them once, and next time I'll just remove them and add a bit more bio media. The less I have to open up the canisters, the better.

Also, I dose regularly with septic bacteria, so I don't get much if any build-up of organics in my filters.

 

[adamsfishes]

Interested in the Seachem tidal as well, or any hang ons with top water intake. 7 or 8 years ago I had a hang on with a floating "sleeve" and a valve to adjust from mid tank to bottom. At the mid tank intake it would pull water down through the sleeve. It also had a flow adjuster to turn down when feeding. Forgot the brand.
I put sponges over the intakes of canister filters and clean them every month or 2, the canisters get cleaned once a year.

One more thing I want to mention about the Tidal, and this is true of all the HOBs I've tried, is they are a bit noisy. It's not really noisy, but it's also not dead quiet. Sitting on top of the aquarium doesn't help in that regard. The Tidal makes more noise than the two FX-6 do. If a super quiet setup is desired, I'd go another route. I find that it's acceptable though.

Once a year is what I'll do in terms of deep-cleaning the canisters. I don't expect them to be very dirty though.