Fx5 Media setup

[thegoodlife]

I purchased a used Fx5 a month or so ago that was already setup with clean used media...It came with ceramic rings on the bottom tray and the middle and top tray was loaded with the eheim substrate balls and sink scrubber sponges...I also have a fluval 405 in addition to the fx5...Basically I'm wondering what other fx5 media setups people have had luck with...Preferably one that keeps the water decently clear and doesn't clog up too quickly as the fx5 is capable of doing...

[SunnyHouTX]

I'd leave the FX5 as is. It should work great just like it is

[thegoodlife]

That's what I was thinking...I have seen a lot of different setups and opinions on media setup...I just wanted to make sure that I was getting the best filtration that the fx5 was capable of...

[BrAin]

What kind of sink scrubbers do they use for that? Just a general purpose sponge?

[thegoodlife]

Little circular pot scrubbing sponges...The guy said its for holding beneficial bacteria...I've heard of people putting scrubbers in there canisters but never knew what that meant until now...

[SunnyHouTX]

Scrubbers are also a cheaper alternative to bio balls for wet/dry filters.

[thegoodlife]

They seem to hold a ton of good bacteria while allowing water to still pass thru them...good idea whomever thought of putting those in canisters and filters...

[crazy42bmx]

Keep all the outer sponges in the rings in place, load ur bottom try with bio, middle with carbon. " there was mention of carbon in the initial post" and the top tray can be used as a second clarifying step. The main sponges on the outside last a long time, i usually pull mine and rinse in a 5 gal bucket w clean tank water. I use tank water juat to keep the good bacteria alive rather that a straight tap rinse.

[thegoodlife]

Yeah I need to get a better system for cleaning my canisters...I think I destroy most of the bacteria when I have another one going and do them separately it hasn't really affected me yet...Once my fronts get bigger I probably shouldn't take that chance with a larger bio-load...Once my other filter is due for a cleaning I am going to try out carbon once again...haven't used it in a while but it did wonders in my smaller eheims...Alot of mixed opinions on Carbon as well...

[SunnyHouTX]

Get yourself a wet/dry filter for bio filtration in addition to the FX5. Your fronts will thank you.

[nightster]

Get yourself a wet/dry filter for bio filtration in addition to the FX5. Your fronts will thank you.

+1

[thegoodlife]

Down the road possibly...I've seen some nice setups lately...Taking baby steps for now though...

[SunnyHouTX]

Ideally, a wet/dry will be something you buy the soonest for a heavily loaded tank due to its bio filtration power.

For a 180, get a ProClear 200 or 300, CPR3000, or similar. You will be amazed at how much fish you can stuff in a tank with a wet/dry.

[crazy42bmx]

Heres another lil trick for the fx5 in regards to media. Go to ur local HD, and in the paint section look for 1 gal paint bags. Should be by the spayers. They work amazingly. And for some other smaller bags hit up the sherman williams paint stores and get the lil strainer bags that come 3 to a pack. Cheap bags that work great and their fine enough for even ur really small media can sometimes be hard to place with out bags.

[thegoodlife]

Yeah the guy that I bought the fx5 had that setup...he had fish packed tight in his aquarium...That's a good idea on the bags crazy...I've seen media bags at petsmart but they are kind of on the small side...