My 1 Concern With The Fluval FX6

Рет қаралды 26,982

7 жыл бұрын

So far i'm very impressed with the Fluval FX6 but there is one component of this filter that makes me nervous. I share my feelings on it, and in my review I invite you guys to take my survey and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Пікірлер: 91

@MrUpliftingjoe 2 жыл бұрын

I have this filter and I love it and really appreciate your videos on the subject. What I ended up doing is adding a large coarse sponge from aquarium Co-op and replace the intake with the course sponge allowing lots of water to be filtered in not negating the flow while taking away the risk of sucking up my fry

@toml1578 7 жыл бұрын

We get fry in our FX4 (Sword Tail & Cory Cat) on occasion. Out of about 40+ fry that we've found in filters a total of 5 were dead. We've tried pre-filtering but it impacted filter performance more than we liked.

@AlexGallegos 6 жыл бұрын

I placed a large filter media mesh bag over my intake.

@mechanicalbees7698 6 жыл бұрын

I have a new fx4, same intake. Good catch, I share the same concerns within only a month of owning. I feel like I may need to modify it.

@efrainscichlids9038 7 жыл бұрын

great video, i subbed

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks man I appreciate it!

@robertspencer6050 3 жыл бұрын

I have an FX6 and an FX4 on my 125g goldfish tank with white sand substrate so I am very familiar with what you share as a concern in your video. As you know, the inlet or suction if you will, is done at the tube opening itself above the catch basket, which if you were to measure, is quite strong. Keep in mind that basket is simply there to block fish and large debris from getting sucked in, but it also slows or dissipates the water flow until it too gets sucked up the tube. I’d recommend moving the basket up 1 to 2 inches higher, the tube is telescopic and easily adjustable. That will reduce the amounts of sand that you see trapped in the bottom. Don’t worry about the heavier fish poop or detritus, you’ll be able to vacuum that right out during your tank cleaning/ water changes! Fluval FX6 rocks!

@hanhsui 4 жыл бұрын

I am thinking about taking off the top part of my sponge filter and attaching it to the intake and see how that goes

@jfritz9703 6 жыл бұрын

Every time I clean the FX6 I find fry in the canister. I called them to be told, like you, it`s a trade off. Also agree re intake in terms of suction and sand lying within the intake. In addition, not happy about the output constantly blowing bubbles.

@dogdogtv21 7 жыл бұрын

A Nylon Stocking over the intake would allay any fears but location, location and location is the key I think!.

@DebTim 7 жыл бұрын

HI AL.. understandable concerns.. you just need to slip a cut sponge over the intake.. or even DYI a smaller intake. Good Luck!

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tips Deb

@ianpotato1971 7 жыл бұрын

You could put pantyhose or a fine mesh over the intake if you don't want to use foam

@jodymarty3179 6 жыл бұрын

I put a black media bag on my fx4 intake. Its still looks pretty good and its getting the job done. Its not restricting the flow but has much smaller holes so its much more safe for fish and even shrimp.

@russellbrunet3924 6 жыл бұрын

Jody Marty what kind of media bag? Amazon link?

@jodymarty3179 6 жыл бұрын

Russell Brunet i honestly dont know. Sorry. Its just one i had lying around for years. Im pretty sure it came from petco.

@peettee79 7 жыл бұрын

I use the oem hose as my intake with a course sponge cable tied to the end, Ive drilled a heap od 4mm holes along the pipe, it sux hard

@dreaparks2590 6 жыл бұрын

I found your channel yesterday and I like you videos, so I subscribed! I know that this is an old video, but what about panty hose? Buy some black knee high ones and cut the down to size? I have to buy panty hose quite often for work and I use them for my AC110 biological filer medias. I like them better than the nylon bags, because they catch more debris. I just found out that my supposed "all male" peacock tank, just had some babies!! I got all my big fish out and tried to remove the babies and still cannot get all the babies. So the few left, have many hiding spots. I have two FX6 for this tank, and I'm worried about the intakes as well... What did you decide to do back then?

@adamc7918 7 жыл бұрын

I've used multiple fx6 for a couple years. I would use a nylon liner if u were concerned

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Whats a "Nylon Liner"?

@adamc7918 7 жыл бұрын

essentially like women's leggings, or buy an aquarium net and cut out the net. rubber band it around your intake. water will go through. fry and sand won't

@MrDanAng1 5 жыл бұрын

I would fill the intake with a piece of coarse foam, then swap out the top trays with medium and fine foam and even a fine polishing pad in the top tray, it wouldn't need to fill more than the top 1/2 inch or so. Will it restrict the flow? Maybe, a little bit. But it would also prolong the time between service and make the biological media more effective, so it's a fair trade off. You can always add a wavemaker if you want more flow.

@HalfManHalfCichlid 7 жыл бұрын

what I do is build a foam filter block around the intake using Poret foam. Use 200 pores per square inch (20 PPI). Make for tremendous surface area and keeps fry (and in my case shrimp) from getting sucked into the cannister filter. The dirt holding capacity of the poret foam is amazing and it develops a "bacterial mulm" that helps with your bio capacity of the tank.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

I have 20 PPI foams in my XP4 (4 of them) and I would consider that a medium foam. When I do maintenance on it I have to give it a really good and concerted wash under my tap to get all the stuff out. With the 900GPH flow at the intake do you think it would clog up really quick?

@HalfManHalfCichlid 7 жыл бұрын

I use a pretty large block of the foam. Swiss Tropicals has other colors and pore sizes if you want to make any "tweaks" in this strategy. You will find (as I have) that the cannister filter will need less frequent cleaning with this approach, and the intake foam is a lot easier to clean than opening up the cannister. In addition, when you clean your cannister (insides), you are leaving a very active biological filter in place with the filter intake while your cannister bio capacity recovers. Win Win.

@HalfManHalfCichlid 7 жыл бұрын

Depends on how large a block of foam you set up. Mine is about 4 inches on a side, lxwxh.

@BenCheeksFish 7 жыл бұрын

Use a pre-filter sponge on the intake from aquarium co-op

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Coey does not ship to Canada :-(

@iamlegend712 6 жыл бұрын

Aquatic Logic You can improvise and just get any foam and wrap it around the air intake and finish it off with a rubber band to hold it.

@rogerchien2329 5 жыл бұрын

Any pre is fine dont need from coop

@IsoMolly 3 жыл бұрын

Wrap it around with pantyhose stockings

@darijanr5704 7 жыл бұрын

If you are concerned with fish getting sucked into the intake, get a block of coarse filter foam, cut an appropriately shaped hole in it and push the whole intake into it. You'll be effectively making a pre-filter that is easily accessible for cleaning without having to turn off and take apart your canister and thereby disturbing/killing your bacteria. I've run filters undisturbed for years that way and that's really how a canister filter is supposed to run. Nitrite spikes after messing with filters, called "cleaning" by aquarists, confirm that. If you are worried about the flow, adjust the thickness of the foam and it's coarseness grade. To clean the pre-filter, remove it from the intake and wring it out in a buckets of discarded aquarium water during water changes until you deem it clean enough.

@mechanicalbees7698 6 жыл бұрын

I honestly think if at all possible you should move fry to a grow out tank with sponge filters. The other fish will prey on them even before they get sucked into that filter. I do with fluval made this intake half the size with the spacing half it's size.

@Knockelhead 7 жыл бұрын

drill holls in the lower part of the intake

@The_Cholo 6 жыл бұрын

Mathijs Ootjers the fuck are holls? Are they like holes?

@DJ_LittlePea 7 жыл бұрын

I'm so late catching up and it seems everyone has said what I was about to suggest .... hope you figure it out and it goes well for you 🤗🤗

@LonghornInOmaha 7 жыл бұрын

Prefilter with a sponge. A large coarse sponge will work, without cutting down flow. Easy enough to take off and clean during water changes and it will extend the time needed to clean the inside of the canister. Bob, from Steenfott Aquatics just did this mod the other day on his FX6. I would avoid using a fine foam, as this will clog much faster and will restrict the flow.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

I will check it out thanks Cole!

@allaboutdiy1375 7 жыл бұрын

Go to autozone or something like that and get a yellow car wash sponge, cut a nice hole in it and slip it over the intake strainer. That way your less likely to impede your flow. It's going to look like crap but it will work. You could also get some of that blue/white poly foam and make a custom pre filter. It would have to fit snug but would look a lot better than a big yellow sponge.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Would poly foam clog up really quickly killing my flow?

@allaboutdiy1375 7 жыл бұрын

Aquatic Logic Being that you don't have plants and your not overstocked I would say not really. You might have to take it off every week or so and clean it but it's better than sucking up fry.

@allaboutdiy1375 7 жыл бұрын

Aquatic Logic you could also try that extremely coarse black foam and it wouldn't clog as fast.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

I think thats what this comes down to is how frequently you would need to clean the pre-filter sponge. If it would last a week and I could rinse it between water changes that would be cool.

@James-ye7rp 5 жыл бұрын

You could raise your intake a couple of inches higher to keep sand out. Looks like the FX6 has about twice the flow rate as the Rena XP4, but the Fluval has substantially more intake area. You should be OK, but even then I would put on a coarse intake filter.

@CrazyAquariumGuy 7 жыл бұрын

I have the same concerns as you. I have 3 Fx6. But I have never actually seen any fry in any one of them. But if I would do something, I would just put a fine course bag over it. A empty ceramic filter media bag I mean.

@4677estrella 7 жыл бұрын

Zacks Tanks Crazy Aquarium Guy zack is right a filter/media bag would work! It may look bad as it is a display tank but will definitely work. Good luck!

@CrazyAquariumGuy 7 жыл бұрын

Tony Star Thanks Tony! 😎

@CrazyAquariumGuy 7 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help! :)

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Nice work Zack! This is why I love making videos, because get new/better ideas.

@CrazyAquariumGuy 7 жыл бұрын

Aquatic Logic Yeah, I think the Aquarium Community is more helpful then many others. We all help each other. 😊

@freemansaquatics5326 7 жыл бұрын

i have a cracked fx5 intake totally here ya on the large gaps it has exactly the same design as the fx6 on the intake

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thats another critical thought I have on the intake. Its really flimsy, and when I try and pull it off the glass, it feels like its gonna explode.

@freemansaquatics5326 7 жыл бұрын

I broke mine having a rock arrangement fall on it dosent take much take care buddy

@pitdawg6418 7 жыл бұрын

either foam cut to the shape and size of that intake OR fill that part of the intake with ceramic media or some sort of media that would break up and and save some fry if they were to get sucked up. Other than that the sand in the filter is very bad on the filter component.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Pit Dawg, fortunately it does not draw sand up the intake!

@dtmdanthaman7305 5 жыл бұрын

Out take I have a prob wt. I dont like the double nozzle.

@kurtschnepf9452 5 жыл бұрын

I always have cherry shrimp in my fx5

@craigwoodhull3028 7 жыл бұрын

A media "bag" tied above the intake will not impede water flow. It will keep your fry out of the filter as well. Like the sponge idea as well but the water flow may not be the same, Woody's Discus

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback Craig, I will try it out.

@ryan39364 5 жыл бұрын

I just hooked up a new FX6 and it is LOUD!! Is this normal? It doesn't sound like the impeller is banging around or hitting anything, and its a brand new filter, brand new bare tank (no substrate or anything for it to have sucked up). It's just a very loud HUM noise coming from the motor. I've purged it of air many times... don't think that's the issue. Does the motor normally make such a loud humming noise when it's running?

@rickymedina8663 5 жыл бұрын

Mine was making the same noise until I filled it up with water and plugged it in again

@kennethfarley8347 4 жыл бұрын

Truth be told, filled with media the actual flow is between 400 & 425 gph.

@Deon0026yickadee 7 жыл бұрын

well the fish must be like 2 to 6 mm. I have fry tanks a put cloth over intakes until fish reach a nice girth. I hate that they make the wholes large as well.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Deon

@rogerslawncare7260 7 жыл бұрын

Nice aquarium I'm trying to build my channel I subscribed also !

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Robert and good luck with you channel.

@OriginalMindTrick 6 жыл бұрын

My concern is that the huge intake is extremely ugly to have in the tank.

@bmrigs 5 жыл бұрын

Put your fry and small fish in a tank with just sponge filters. Display tank needs turnover volume.

@therandomman6647 4 жыл бұрын

The main reason I'm getting an fx4 is because of the wider grates

@robertrosson1990 5 жыл бұрын

Just add a simple sponge filter around the intake problem solved

@Zozo806 7 жыл бұрын

The 3500 lph you mean is the pump power, the actual output is only 2200 Liters. Also even if the FX6 sucks up Sand it don't get into the pump because the water enters in the outer circle floats above the upper tray and gets sucked into the botton tray inner circle. The real Problem of the FX is it has a very low bio Media cappacity.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah your right I misread the output disclosures. Fluval says 2130LpH for my model. As for your low bio capacity critique, thats subjective because I had to go out and buy a lot more to fill the thing, and I was rather impressed. Also the dual bio-foam must be accounted for as well.

@ac3b1s 7 жыл бұрын

Aquatic Logic only of you mod it. but with that you lose flow again. I don't wanna start a Filtration war but for me the FX Series is basicly a pond filter Design. The bio media capacity is still ok for tanks up to 100 to 240G depending on stocking but if you run lets say an 220 or 240G on 6.5 feet with 2 pairs of big cichlids and some smaller side stocking you are are allready biological underfiltered. The Design of the FX is ok, a steady build good quality material but the cleaning is a real pain in the a**. For this i cutted myself out of 20 ppi foam the 6 mech sponges and a circle one for the top tray and just replace. If you have to open it up and rinse anything seperatly the cleaning can last for 20 to 30 minutes till the filter is running again. I still have mine around but my tanks are long gone out of the reach for canister Filtration. I just only run internal Filtration. regular tanks up to 180G have HMF filters with 2 to 3 air jets and my 3 main tanks with 600G have internal 3 chamber sumps running with pumbed wavemakers as powerhead with around 2000 real Gph on 14 Watt :)

@yungatumbe365 7 жыл бұрын

get a sponge prefilter

@adnansayyed548 6 жыл бұрын

Buy a prefilter sponge from big al’s ... or put polyfil inside the intake to reduce sand buildup

@isoaqua5825 7 жыл бұрын

put a piece of coarse foam inside .... easy.

@AquaticLogic 7 жыл бұрын

How long do you think it would take to clog and restrict flow?

@isoaqua5825 7 жыл бұрын

ages honestly .... also if say once a week you clean the intake which will be easy ... u will hardly ever need 2 clean the canister as the large bits of plant matter or poop ect will be caught on the intake sponge...

@isoaqua5825 7 жыл бұрын

depends on lots of factors

@isoaqua5825 7 жыл бұрын

but on your tank with no plants and no big organic matter ... it would take ages

@mintsiez 6 жыл бұрын

i read some were thats why its opens