Nice, I was thinking the same thing, look at my thread.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146707
Problem with modifying the Fx5 in this mannor is you ruin the purge abuility. The original basets, believe it or not, did help contain the air in a smaller area to help purge it better.
You will also need to do something with the intake, otherwise when the filter shuts off, any air will go right out through the intake instead of the output.
So there is no longer filtering via the side? So in other words the canister will clog much much faster, but it will force all the water that comes in drops from the top and is pumped out from the bottom. Is it now tight fitting? I mean I understand the concept but well it just seems somewhat flawed, ie what is more important for you.
It is flawed right now but it has room for improvment. Just look at the link I provided.
Also, NO it will not clog up much faster. You still have a LARGE surface area (all calculation are in my thread). My modded Fx5 has the same flow path as the OP is describing. Its on a 55 gal African Mbuna tank. Moderatly stocked. I let that filter go for 4-6 months just to keep up on it but I could let it go for a lot longer.
The nice feature of this is that you don't have to worry about the 6" diameter center baskets anymore which clog up VERY quick with a 600 GPH flow volume.
I have had a 100 micron filter pad in my modded fx5 for atleast 4 weeks untill I needed to change it. Pretty good huh?
To the OP, there is A LOT more testing you will need to do. Changing the flow path is the easy part, no get it to purge correctly.
1.) Water flowing though every single material. (IE so if you really want you can do mechanical, chemical and bio..) But at a much quicker loss of pumping power from filters clogging. (Unless you use extremely course filters)
Not at all. The pressure loss in the filter goes down along with the velocity through the media which is good. You have a much larger surface area for all your chemical and biological filtration.
I would suggest to the OP to not mack the mechanical and chemical so deep. The canister really isn't that deep inside and you loose bio capacity, something the Fx5 is known for (little bio capacity)
2.) Water being filtered though a filter pad for sure, then maybe only 1 bucket of bio material. BUT at the beginning likely a large amount of the water flows though less of the bio material, then as things tend to clog (likely the bottom side filters first...) more and more water goes the now easer route through the higher buckets, till noticeable flowrate decrease and filters are cleaned/changed.
Im lost in this statement. I think your not understand the flow path.
The image below is the flow path of my Fx5. The OPs will be very similar with some differences.
The way the Fx5 is built now, any small partical filtration will clog up with in a week or two causing the flow through the entire filter to drop. Increasing the cross section surface area for small partical filtration will increase the longevity of flow.
I talk about small partical filtration because a 40 PPI course sponge is NOT going to clog very quickly. It would probubly take 8-12 months to clog depending on the fish you have in your tank.
So in other words as time goes on the current version is likely better,
Not at all, the current version is HORRIBLE. You have a TON of cross section surface area with the coarse sponges but VERY little in the center baskets. Please look at my thread for further details.
but in the beginning the new version might be better. (I honestly haven't done much studying of how it flows... I just have all my baskets full of bio material, so if it flows less over one area for a while, who cares, the slower water will just be cleaned better on the biological standpoint, IE there is now way water is staying still in those baskets.)
Your last sentence I couldn't understand. Must have been typing fast.
The current version has a higher velocity and MUCH less contact time than the new version. As long as the OP plays his cards right, he can increase the bio capacity of the filter to 12-14L instead of the 5L we have now.
