Fluval Fx5 Rant!

[MojoDex]

ok bought a fluval fx5 off ebay 2 months ago, it took the guy 6 weeks to post the bloody thing to me for a start so i was not impressed one bit. upon getting it, it had no instructions no box and no media again not very impressed! but i persevered and got it going all the same.

it seemed to be a fairly good filter in the beggining so i forgave it for its bloody stupid shape! i forgave the box sticking out of the bottom which only a moron could of designed, i forgave the stupid pipes that r stupidly oversized and don't lend themselves to any practical purposes in a fish tank! but now its gone and done it! the flow rate of the thing has suddenly gone to barley a trickle.. i opened the aformentioned stupid box up to get to the impelller(seriously unscrewing the filter to get to the impeller!) cleaned it all up put it all back together properly (found a manual online and printed it) and the thing just isnt working now! im fairly sure the impeller has just given up life but god damn i should not have to replace a part on a filter that hasnt really been out all that long!! i have a 7year old eheim that has never once had a problem with it so this in my eyes is ridiculous.

im just thankful it was running as a secondary filter to my eheim 2180

bottom line here kids is avoid fluvals like the plague there crap buy an eheim and get what u pay for because all fluvals give up life and are eventually gonna be crap!

 

[kewskills]

go on fella rant away. i thought those filters were meant to be good

 

[MojoDex]

me 2 im just so pissed off with it right now! ive had nothing but troubles with fluvals before but was assured this one was different this time fluval got it right! i can officially confirm that is a lie!

 

[The-Wolf]

there is one major flaw with the fluval fx5
and that is FLUVAL!

 

[adamgreen240]

i agree fluvals are crap !

my 405 keeps pumping out 20 gallons over my floor - a joke!

adam

 

[kewskills]

04 val externals and they have been great, i hope i continue to be the exception

 

[SuperColey1]

I don't think you're the exception as Marcus @ Pleco Aquatics was telling me he used FX5s on his home tanks and was raving about them being quiet and extremely good at cleaning the water.

I use a TetraTec myself, although I did once have a fluval intenal which worked great, just didn't want an internal anymore.

Andy

 

[MojoDex]

2day i picked up a 10 year old eheim cheap from my lfs and it works perfect! 10 years old! this fluval can be tops a year old and its knckered i mean i ask ya seriously!

 

[dylema]

That sucks about your troubles. I have had mine running for a year now with no real maintainence and no trouble, touch wood. I hope for my sake you just got a dud.

 

[sharpshark]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Have had mine about six months or so no probs (touches wooden stuff), agree with you about the impeller, its a bit of a pain to access.

I think your real problem is ebay here, someone has sold u a dud, with no hope of claiming on the five year warranty the FX5's come with.

How much did u pay on ebay?

 

[michaelwgroves]

I've had mine for 12 months without any problems.
Are you sure you put it back correctly, if it was trickling before you took it apart, it should at least trickle when you put it back together. Maybe take another look?

I'm cleaning my filter tonight. I'l clean the propeller while I'm there to see if I can spot any gottcha's.

 

[Danno]

Tip #1: Purchase Fluvals brand new. People destroy them since they don't normally read the directions.

 

[T1KARMANN]

eheim = the best money can buy low running cost built to last you know you are safe for 10yr+

fluwho = cheap budget filter higher running costs parts are hard to get and you will need them

the filters are the most important bit of kit you will ever buy dont try to save a few £s buying a budget filters

apart from the classic and eco internal models the eheim pros are the best filters on the market

 

[drud]

Mine has been up and running for about 13-14 months and I have nothing to ***** and moan about. The tubes are a bit massive but then they do splurge out 3500 liters of water every hour (about twice as much as EHEIMS biggest and best!).
And yeah, Its bulky but, bigger = more filtering materials!
A friend of mine had a prof2 from EHEIM break. It had been running for about 5 months. He switched to an FX5 and it seems to run just fine!
Another friend has had an AM-TOP running flawlessly for years (He still complains as h... every time he cleans it ) but it works...

Oh yeah, You can run faster with NIKE`S than Adidas

 

[rsands]

i have a fluval and it is a brilliant filter in the tank. Easily cleaned and mantained. But in the FX5, bigger filter means bigger equipment. Bigger equipment means more water being turned over and obviously the pipes have to get bigger to cope with it. You cant put 3500litres down a tiny tube or else the output would be like a whirlpool.