FLUVAL FX5

[Live2Ride]

HI everyone
my Fluval FX5 is Finally up and running got it this after noon.
talk about power
so far so good
but hey its only been 5 min
let see after a while
anyways gonna keep you posted.
righht cycling it with my penguin.
this week end i'll get all of the media i need for it.
whats a good combo for cichlids.
right now i have carbon,foam,floss,ceramic tubes.
anything else i should get or change.
i was looking to add maube bio balls or stars
Al

[repeej]

yep....lose the carbon

[Live2Ride]

lose the carbon?
i've been reading that but whats with that
cause in all my yrs in fish keeping its always been foam+carbon.

[Live2Ride]

right now the fluval FX as just basic foam
and the penguin is running
foam,carbon,ceramic tubes and wal-mart cheap floss

[Marc]

lose the carbon?
i've been reading that but whats with that
cause in all my yrs in fish keeping its always been foam+carbon.

The carbon doesn't hurt if it's changed regularly as it will absorb some chemicals from the water but on the other hand if you do your regular water changes those will remove the chemicals and the carbon doesn't really do a whole lot and so you're wasting your money on it.  That's how I see it anyways.

It would of been nice if repeej would have taken the time to explain why he thinks you should lose the carbon.  :roll:

[mseguin]

Carbon is good to have on hand in case you need it to remove medication or other chemcials but I don't reun any of my filters with it in them regularly.

[repeej]

lose the carbon?
i've been reading that but whats with that
cause in all my yrs in fish keeping its always been foam+carbon.

The carbon doesn't hurt if it's changed regularly as it will absorb some chemicals from the water but on the other hand if you do your regular water changes those will remove the chemicals and the carbon doesn't really do a whole lot and so you're wasting your money on it.  That's how I see it anyways.

It would of been nice if repeej would have taken the time to explain why he thinks you should lose the carbon.  :roll:

Here you go Marc before your rolling eyes give you a headache.  Maybe repeej doesn't always have time to write an essay.  Maybe you should just answer the question then and nevermind about repeej.  :wink:

Most experienced fishkeepers do not use carbon on a regular basis.  It is used for removing medication or tannins (discoloration).  Water changes with clean water are more effective at controlling the content of your water. Carbon is only active for a brief time, requiring frequent replacement--costly! It may even cause more problems than it's worth.

Your tank will run fine without carbon, especially if your maintenance is appropriate for your stocking.

Instead try some polyester/cotton batting to replace the carbon.  It is cheaper and does a nice job.  

[Live2Ride]

rthanks all for the answers off to work

[Aiglos]

Good Responce to the question Marc and msequin.   I will second there posts !

[babblefish1960]

It is a very large filter and I wonder if down the road, you could keep us abreast of the functioning of this filter along with your personal experience and anecdotes on its usage and ease of handling. It is after all, HUGE, and I can't imagine the logistics of shifting it about to freshen it up.

I am very curious what you will think of it after having been more accustomed to it for a while. thanks

[Live2Ride]

only time will tell.

[darkdep]

Not knowing the plumbing that comes with this filter, I wonder if, given it's large rated capacity, if they designed it so it could filter multiple tanks at once?

[Jason]

perhaps if you were running multiple tanks off a sump it would work, but I don't think you could with the plumping included.

[Live2Ride]

you only have enough tubing for intake and return
but i guess using a Y and more tubing it could handle multiple tanks.