I'm used to my tank having very sluggish flow, but the reason I bought this new filter is because the slow flow was causing me many problems. That makes up very slightly for the low bio filtration capacity.įlow wise, given that the FX5 is rated at 2300li/hour compared to the 1050li/hour of the Eheim, I can safely say that it's a HUGE difference that I'll need to get used to. So it doubles up as both bio and mechanical filtration. It's made of the same tough material as the biosponge, but it's alot less coarse and thus can act to trap particles as well. The sponge, however, seems to be a hybrid between the coarse biosponge of the Eheim and the finer wool sponge for mechanical filtration. I can probably fit some more media in, so perhaps it's more accurate to say that the biomedia capacity of the FX5 is like 1.2-1.3 times that of the 2028? Definitely less than 1.5x capacity. Disappointing given that the internal capacity of the filter is probably twice that of the Eheim. I used my Eheim's biomedia (seeding the filter so I won't need to re-cycle the tank) and I feel that the amount of media in the 2028 is actually enough to fill the FX5.
I might have gotten my numbers wrong, but I think it has like 2-3x more sponge than space for biomedia. The canister has 3 large trays inside, but the way it is made is that there are 3 large rings of sponges surrounding each tray, leaving not much space in the middle for biomedia like Efhi SubstratPro or Biohome. What took up ALOT of the huge canister was sponges. The biggest disappointment for me was the lack of media space. It also shuts itself off every 24 hours to purge itself of air, so you have no need to worry about airlocks ever! No problems encountered at all.the filter primed itself up in 4 minutes and I was good to go! I love the fact that I don't have to kneel under the tank to press on the big button on top of my Eheim anymore. Priming is a thing of the past, as what this filter does is to start up for 2 minutes, then switch itself off for 2 minutes to purge out the air, then it starts up again. I sawed of about 1.5 inches and it was perfect. What took alot of time was the sawing of the intake pipe as the provided pipe is too long for a 2ft depth with about 2-3 inches of substrate at the back. Took me about an hour all in, including the measuring and cutting of the hoses, and uninstalling the Eheim from the tank.
Again, the material feels more sturdy and less brittle than an Eheim. The cover of the filter is less heavy and "solid" than the Eheim, but that's because the Eheim has its motor and impeller in the cover itself, while with the Fluval, it's just a cover and nothing more. With the Fluval, I actually think that the filter might survive intact if I were to drop it while carrying it to the backyard for maintenance. When I was carrying my Eheim to the backyard to wash, I was always afraid that it would break if I was too rough, and I knew for sure that it would shatter if I dropped it filled with water. The canister housing reminds me of a large garbage bin, and it feels thicker and less brittle than my Eheim. While some overseas forums I read said that Eheims felt more solid than Fluvals, I'd beg to differ with this filter. I'm bad with estimates, but I'd say all in it's double the size of my Eheim? Next thing I looked for was the build. It made my Eheim ProII 2028 look tiny in comparison. I'm comparing it with an Eheim ProII 2028 as that was my previous filter, and Eheims are known to be the best canister around, so why compare it with anything but the best?įirst thing that strikes me when the box was opened was that this filter was HUGE. I noticed noone's reviewed it or had any feedback on it when I asked, so I'm writing about my first impressions of the filter after having set it up. Well I bit the bullet and bought this filter today.