Two XP3 or one FX5.

[Illbuyourcatfish]

As the title states, whats better filtration? Considering the tank already has an fx5 and a 405. I figured I'd cut down on the amount of wires and hoses and also noise by getting rid of the xp3s but will my overall filtration suffer?

For clarification, current setup, one fx5 one 405 two xp3.
new setup would be, 2 fx5 one 405.

I wouldn't mind ending up with 3 fx5's and that's all but we'll see.

For those that will inevitably ask the tank is 6x2 and the stock is mala wolf, large bala and large panaque.

 

[dayak]

have u consider sump pump set-up with HOB?
i considered to have fx5 for my tank but after some thinking its dangerous to have cannister set-up inside a house due to their nature which is sealed canister and they all r always under pressure.

 

[CLDarnell]

have u consider sump pump set-up with HOB?
i considered to have fx5 for my tank but after some thinking its dangerous to have cannister set-up inside a house due to their nature which is sealed canister and they all r always under pressure.

The pressure inside a canister filter is nothing to be alarmed about. There is nowhere close to enough pressure to be considered dangerous. Granted, they can leak. But you can say that about any type of filter and even the tank itself.

Catfish, what size tank is this? Three FX5's sounds pretty smexy

 

[dayak]

i dunno LOL, how much GPH does fx5 pumped out the water over 1000gph+ in sealed case?thats moving alot of water..
u will have alot less chance of gettting leak if its not under pressure.
a drip every 2 second could ruin ur property if u found it out week later not to mentioned ur electric bill
then again its only my opinion

 

[Illbuyourcatfish]

180 gallon, I have considered a sump but would only move in that direction if i was going to stock the tank heavily to give it that extra water volume. With 3 fx5 I figure maintenance would be easy as I could do one filter at a time spread out. Sump isn't entirely out of the picture but for right now it is. I have of course considered eheims but cost vs effectiveness keeps me with fluval, also helps that I've never had a problem with any fluval canister.

 

[dayak]

if sump is not an option in ur case, yes u cant go wrong with cannister just check those cannister now and then often, put a light or something so u can see drip even a little, or put news paper under the cannister so u could notice any wet spot right away

 

[CLDarnell]

Hey dayak, yeah, that I can agree with. There is enough pressure for sure to blow a seal and have a leak. But again, anything that holds water could form a leak Now if you blew the output hose out of the tank...oh yeah, there's gonna be a mess! lol

Catfish, I agree, I am a big fan of multiple, like filters on a tank. It's nice having one type of media for every filter. And, like you said, you clean one filter at a time and the other two carry your bio load.

I would definitely replace the 2 XP3s with one more FX5. You could always move the XP3s over to another tank. That's what I did when I started upgrading. I kept moving my canisters down the line to the next smaller tank.

Good luck...sounds like a nice set up!

 

[s2convt]

3 fx5's on a 180g is waste of money imo. 2 is more than enough for a 180. heck, 1 should be fine.

You are going to need abt 6 xp3's to equal the flow rate of 1 fx5

 

[Illbuyourcatfish]

I've always heard that fx5's pump 600 or less gph, x3 would be 1800 or less gph on a 180= 10x turnover which seems to be a pretty common preference around here?

 

[s2convt]

I've always heard that fx5's pump 600 or less gph, x3 would be 1800 or less gph on a 180= 10x turnover which seems to be a pretty common preference around here?

Xp3's are rated at 350 gph without media. You will get less than 200 gph once filled. Two xp3's are still going to be less flow than 1 fx5 which is rated 600 gph with media and 900 gph with out.