Fluval Fx5 Vs Rena Filstar Xp4

[jgray152]

I ordered the FX5 and forgot to call the LFS to tell them not to order the Filstar Xp4 so now im going to be stuck with two filters I got for the same price brand new, $200. $400 comparison. YIKES.

I guess im going to do a bit of comparison and take some pictures of the two units side by side. Im going to run both and see which one seems better. I know the Fx5 is a monster and I am most certainly going to keep that and sell the filstar Xp4 for 200+ shipping.

If anyone has idea of what type of comparison you want me to try and do then let me know. I don't have any way of measuring the flow although the FX5 has been measured at around 500-600G/PH with load.

Fx5 will be here 12/21 and the filstar will be here 12/24

 

[adamgreen240]

i love my FX5, nevere had a rena however,

good luck with the testing, look forward to seeing the results.

Adam

 

[jgray152]

Well I got the Fluval Fx5 in yesterday and my mouth dropped when I opened up the box to see how LARGE the filter is!

I couldn't take a close look at that time but today I may pick up the Rena and give both close looks. I hear on the Rena that the impeller breaks due to the torque of the motor. I wonder if impellers from different makers of a better design will fit?

The FX5 seems like it a good design. One issue right now is I have sand in my tank and the impeller is at the bottom of the pump. Although sideways which may reduce any harm from sand being picked up, this is one issue I need to look into. I must look at the flow of the water in the pump to see if the sand can be trapped anywhere or if I can put a polishing or fine foam pad in to stop the sand. Seems the water may have to snake through the filter media instead of going in one direction (up) like the Rena so this may be a reason why the flow is drastically reduced from 900+ GPH with no media to under 600 GPH with media. The multiple changes in direction of flow may be a good thing to reduce harmful sediments from reaching the impeller.

The Rena has the impeller on top which is great for protecting it from the sand. Also that water doesn't have to "snake" its way through the filter like it seems the it has to on the Fx5. I have to look harder on this though before comming to conclusions. Assumptions are never good.

I have a Fluval 304 on my 55 Gal right now which can't keep up but I have had that for maybe 7 years and never had bad luck with it. The o-ring is starting to leak when you put it back together and start it up for the first time but seals up a while later and the impeller is starting to not start up right a way when you plug it in. You have to plug it in and unplug it a few times to get the impeller to start spinning. No big deal, it has never stopped working on me in the whole 7+ years I have had it.

Thumbs up to Fluval

Im going to look into the bypass of the FX5. I hear the rena has virutally no bypass but I need to study the Fx5. My 304 at first had a lot of bypass. I reduced it by using some fish safe silicone and creating a little gasket between the top cover and the cover of the media basket. Creating gaskets on all the baskets would have been even better.

 

[jgray152]

Fluval Fx5 Short Term Review

The fluval Fx5 is quite the machine. Well designed in many aspects. There has been some question weather or not the Fx5 is bypas free, I can say that it is about 98-99% bypass free. I say 98-99% because there is a small area near the output where flow could bypass but I don't see this happening especially when you tighten down the lid. (Pictures soon of this)
The Fx5 incorperates rubber o-rings to seal off each chamber and to seel the bottom chamber to the bottom of the filter housing. The top chamber also seals to the top lid, while not with an oring, the spunges get pressed against 2 raised grooves under the top cover. The top lid also seals with even pressure all the way around with many nuts in plastic easy to grab housings to provide a leak proof seal.

The impeller is well deisgned as well. Not using small brittle teeth but instead using another design, I don't know the specific name of the type of design. I do have pictures and will host them soon. The Shaft magnet and impeller are one unit not 3 seporate units like most filters. There is a plate the seals the impeller to the bottom of the housing which is a seporate piece on the impeller assembly. They could get warn if sand got some how got to it. They way the impeller is designed, I can't see sand ever getting to that point. Again, pictures help with descriptions and will host soon.

The water flow has to change direction atleast 3 times in the filter housing. First the water comes into the Fx5 housing and is released into the bottom most outer area of the housing, the water then moves up and through the spunges and travels further up to flow into the center portion of the chambers where biomax is usuall kept, then the water moves down toward the impeller and then gets shot back up into the tank.

Every time water has to change direction, there is a pressure decrease causing restriction in flow. This is probubly one of the reasons why the filter will not flow 900PGH with media and only around 550GPH instead. The water flow coming out of the filter at full is pretty intence. My Fluval 304 didn't even create any current in half of my 55 gallon tank. This can create current in the entire tank.

The filter comes with more then enough hose I think. I didnt use about 4-5 feet of hose. Setup was very easy and the pump circuit does remove air quickly especially after it shuts off in the 2 minute time period after the inital start. There is a small tube on the top cover that leads to the OUTPUT tube so when air is trapped and the filter does shut off, the air can quickly move out of the filter housing. After the air is gone, the filter is near SILENT. I have heard many times that the filer is very loud, I have to largly disagree. The air in the filter can make a lot of noise so maybe this is what people were complaining about?

The output 2 way variable direction nozzel set is great. Direct the flow to exactly where you want it. The intake strainer is a 2 piece design as well. I like this feature incase I need to disolve medication tablets. I can put them in the strainer and let them disappear.

I will add more as time goes in. Maybe in a few weeks or so.

The Rena review wil come soon as well, I may not run this one since I love the Fx5. The Rena does not use orings to seal off each chamber nor does it use orings to seal the cover plate of the top chamber to the top lid. Although I can't see much of any gaps, I would say the Rena is about 99% bypass free.

 

[jgray152]

Today I decided to remove the filter from the tank and put in some more filter media. I noticed this was not going to be as clean as the 304 I had before. Well It seems you need to open the drain at the bottom with the hoses still connected but with the valves closed and allow as much water as posible to escape to bring the water level down below the top cover so water doesn't spill out when disconnecting the valves. Once one valve is disconnected, the filter will drain quickly and easily to allow better handling.

I suppose this is one of the cons of the Fx5.

One thing that was MUCH easier on this than the 304 is the self priming. After adding more media, I hooked the filter base back up to the hoses and valves empty, no water. I than opened the valves and watched as most of the air escaped the unit. I than plugged it in and the filter when through its start up phase and got rid of all the air. Amazing!

Cleaning the Fx5 seems it would be easier the my 304 overall. May take longer because of the incerase in filter media but seems it would be pretty easy.

The 2 way adjustable nozzels can limit the flow to a point if you move them in one direction to much they way they are designed. So try not to adjust them to their limits as this will restrict flow. One more con about the Fx5. So far that is only 2 out of the many PROs.

Cross-sectional surface area is limited in them center of the baskets but I don't see this being a problem. 2 baskets of biomax and one polishing basket which consists of filter fiber, fine partical pad and micron poishing pad. I think its 10micron I forget.

I am going to hook the Rena up to my 29 Gallon so I can do a better comparison of the two. Unfortunatly I can't put it on the 55 cause I noticed the tank has Ick which im now treating.

 

[jgray152]

Here are some pictures. All pictures are from my cell phone which are surprisingly good for a cell phone.

This picture is of my 304, Fx5 and Xp4.

Fx5 and Xp4 side by side

Fx5 and Xp4 top view

304 and Xp4 cross sectional surface area comparison. This disapointed me very much. My old fluval 304 had over twice as much surface area for the foam but the xp4 did have more surface area compaired to the trays in the 304. There is absolutly no comparison to the Xp4 and Fx5 when it comes to surface area of the foam. The Fx5 is slightly more cross sectional surface area in the center of the baskets compaired to the xp4. I forgot to take pics of this. I will do so though in a couple weeks.

My 304 couldn't keep up with the load, how could the Xp4 do any better? I can see why the Xp1-3 have had great results. They should have increased the size of the baskets and the unit its self to increase the cross sectional surface area.

 

[jgray152]

Here are the Fx5's trays stacked on top of each other. The middle tray I removed the foam from for the picture. Water Flow around the outside of the foam, travels through it and move UP in the gap between the foam and the inner basket housing as seen in the next picture.

Gap for the filtered water to flow UP and then in to the center of the baskets and down to the impeller to got shot back up again.

All trays have an o-ring to seal against each other for bypass free circulation.

The bottom tray's oring seals against the inner ring on the bottom of the filter housing while the o-ring on the outer ring at the bottom of the filter housing seals against the bottom of the tray before the foam so the water has to pass through the foam in order to circulate through the filter.

This is to show you the increase in space there is between on tray in the 304 and the Fx5. The 304 tray was topped off with biomax (not pictured) while transfering the biomax to the fx5, I could fit a fair amount more in the same tray.

Top cover with the rings that seal against the foam. You can see at the top right where the rings end. They continue on the other side of the tube. ONly about a 3/8" gap. This can be filled in with aquarium silicone if you want to make sure there is no bypass.

This shows you have a possible bypass in the Fx5. Although unlikly when the housings are pressed together, there is a gap in the top cover rings that seal against the foam. This is done to allow a tube to be present which travels from almost the middle of the top cover to the output tube to release air bubbles.

The impeller has been drastically changed. The impeller, shaft and magnet are one piece. I can see this being very reliable.

Top view of the impeller. Hollow with fins and channels to force water in one direction.

Crappy picture of the Fx5 in my cabinet.

I have pictures for the Rena and those will come soon.

 

[adamgreen240]

great review so far!

Have to ask you what one do you prefer out of the two?

i love my FX5 , however , never had a rena.

Adam

 

[jgray152]

great review so far!

Have to ask you what one do you prefer out of the two?

i love my FX5 , however , never had a rena.

Adam

Thanks for the compliment

I prefer the Fx5. Looking at the water flow from the Fx5 it is very good but at the same time disappointing to go from 900 GPH to 500-550 GPH. O well. Its the design of it and the design is great so far. The Rena is more efficient at fluid dynamics but won't touch the filtering capacity of the Fx5.

I did have to modify the Fx5 output nozzel so that when I have the nozzel moved all the way in one direction, the inner housing doesn't restrict water flow. Design flaw for fluval but easy to fix. So far the Pro's still out weigh the Cons.

I suppose if you have 2 Xp4s on a large tank to distribute the load then they would be fine. The design of the Xp Series is great.

 

[jgray152]

Continuing my post above....

Price is a big effect on which filter I would prefer over the other. I got both for almost the same price, and actually I looked and the Rena I got for $190 and the Fx5 I got for $180 both new. Considering the Fx5 usually goes for $250-300 and the Xp4 goes for about $180, the xp4 I may prefer over the Fx5 if I was in a jam for money and actually the only reason I got the Fx5 was because I could get it for so cheap. Otherwise, I would stay with the Xp4.

I know above I said the Xp4 may be a step in the wrong direction but I want to change my opinion on that. The Xp4's increased water flow and pressure should help to superceed any restriction caused by the clogging of the foam blocks. My 304 only had about 200gph im sure MAX and the rena would have twice that with little less cross section surface area for the foam but with lots more compaired to the trays in the 304. So it may capture more faster but the increase in negitive pressure the pump is able to provide may be enough to keep the filter efficient longer then my old 304. So in actuallality terms, the Xp4 may not be that bad. I really wish I could eat the cost of the Rena so I could run it for a few months in my 55 alone to see how it performs but I just can't do that. So I may just run it without fittings to see how the water flow is with only the bottom foam spunges and to see how the self priming performs over the Fx5.

Fluval has always seemed to get the most used out of the foam sponges in any of their filters. The is a HUGE thumbs up to them. No canister filter from what I have see, could ever touch the surface are of the foam on any fluval series from x04,x05 to the Fx5 especially. Where the filters compete seems to be in the the size of the media baskets, maximum flow and easy of cleaning including disconnection of hoses. Fluval Fx5 seem to be on top for max flow even compaired to the Ehiem 2080 and the surface area for the foam blocks. Ehiem 2080 I believe can hold a lot more media then the Fx5. I'll take some measurements to see how many liters the Rena Xp4 has for media over the Fx5.

I know I mentioned this before but it should be noted if you are looking for a filter that can be disconnected easily and clean without a drip anywhere. The Xp series seems to have this down packed while the Fx5 is a bit messy when disconnecting and a bit tricky to get enough air inside the canistor to bring the water level down below the input and output connections so that water wont spill out.

I can probubly take a few pictures of this problematic area as well on the Fx5.

A large filter with a large motor like the Fx5 you would think would be a bit noisy running. Still near silent. Can only hear it if your head is a couple feet away.

 

[jgray152]

Pictures from the Rena Xp4

The Xp4 seems to be a great machine from the looks of. I have not hooked it up yet. I suppose if no one buys it on Ebay I will hook it all up. So the review is short and simple for now.

Cost wise, the Xp4 is much more affordable then the Fx5 and seems it would do the job well. The Xp4 is well built and looks to be 99-100% bypass free. There are four media baskets so there is a lot of total surface area for biological media to house bacteria. Another plus is the Xp4 comes with media unlike the Fx5, you get different sizes of spunges and a polishing pad plus bio stars. The Fx5 comes with ONLY spunges.

The impeller is a 3 piece design. This can affect reliability as there are 3 parts to fail where as the Fx5's impeller is all one piece. I will be looking further into detail in this. I havn't had time due to the holiday and work.

The quick disconnect, no mess feature is great and seems to work like a charm on the Xp4. Unlike the Fx5 where you will always get some water spilling out, the Xp4 is mess free. Pictures of this below.

The cross sectional surface area for the spunges seems to be a little to small for my liking. Compaired to my old Fluval 304 (picture above) where there is almost twice as much area for the spunge and the Fx5 has about 10 times as much area.

I will add to the review more later. Here are some pictures...

Xp4 and baskets. Baskets seal up against each other for a bypass free seal. The Xp4 is taller then the rest of its partners but the small size will enable multiple filters to be used in the same location. I and many others advise to go with atleast 2 filters for large tanks for reliability of the tank setup, circulation of the water and to spread out the load for a longer running time before cleaning. I am wondering if I should use 2 renas instead of my one fluval which takes up the entire cabinet under my tank.

Quick disconnect and variable flow valve. I REALLY like how this works. My fluval 304 has something similar but its no where as easy as the rena has made it to be. 2 THUMBS UP!

Impeller.

Basket disassembled

Top cover which seals to the top basket. Cover upside down to expose spare plastic basket seporator.

 

[adamgreen240]

any update ? Great review by the way

 

[jgray152]

any update ? Great review by the way

Now im looking into giving reviews as time goes on..

Recently the filter has been injesting air from some where. Must have been a seal because there is no are bubbles near the intake and no exposed fittings except down at the filter. Every few hours I would have to unplug the filter, let all the air out, which actually was a lot of air, and then plug it back in. This wasn't an issue before so im thinking the very last time I put it together, maybe something didn't seal right?. I checked the gaskets except for two, the large oring sealing the cover and the small oring sealing the output pipe to the top cover. I check the 4 orings that are around the nozzels and found one oring to have a few dents in it. I don't know if this was the culprit since it was the top oring and the bottom o-ring seemed fine. Although, this was on the intake side.

When I closed the filter back up and hooked it up to the tank, I had another issue. The Fx5 was pumping out as much water as my 304 would. Something was definitly wrong. I heard of someone having the same issue. So I removed everything again, run the filter in the tub and I then removed all the media baskets and ran the filter on the tank without any media in it. This is where Hagen gets the 900 GPH from. Well the flow was back and was stronger then when it was working with the media baskets. So... ok.... I put the baskets back in and the water flow is fine now....

The only thing I did slightly different when installing the filter on the last time when I had the flow problem, was I slowed down the air coming out of the filter so it wouldn't scare the fish. This may have caused air to be trapped some where causing flow problems. I do believe this if the air at the top was not completly removed causing the flow of water up the baskets and over, down into the middle of the baskets to be drastically reduced.

At some point I may try get that problem to come back doing what I did before that may have caused it.

I have been working on drawings for PVC plumbing to make this filter a little more, user friendly So we will see what happends there. Won't happen for a while though.

Adam Green, how long have you had your FX5 and have you had any issues with it? A review from others woh have ran the filter longer then I would be great too

 

[cheesy feet]

Adam hasn't had it very long, but so far I've nly see great comments from him about it.

 

[jgray152]

Thanks

BTW, if you use any medications that have color to them such as Ick Clear from Jungle Labs. The spunges will soak up the color 100%

My spunges are now light blue hahah

One other thing, I now notice that when the filter shuts off, the air that moves out the tube at the top of the cover, will actually pull non micron filtered water through and out through the output. I say this because the water has already gone through the spunges but if you have micron filtration in the trays, the water that has not reached the micron filtration will be pulled out the output. I don't know how much junk gets loosened or removed from any filter media in the baskets when the air bubles move aggresivly back to the top of the filter after being pulled new the impeller before when the filter shuts off, but im sure a little does and also gets pulled out.

I havn't seen this a issue really, just something to know I suppose.

BTW, whats with the 4 fish in my avaitor on the left? What do those mean?