Need Advice On Fx5 And Setting Up My 125G

[Fishoutofwater]

Greetings. I am fairly new to this hobby/passion, but have always wanted to get in to this so here I am.
Anywho, My wife and I have just finished cycling our 29g tank successfully(boy that Ammonia spike lasted forever.)



My questions are about setting up our 125g:



We are going to do the live plant, real rock, and driftwood route. And plan on a community tank eventually fully stocked.



What would be the best filter for this setup? I've heard that with live plants, they actually help the filtration process and
also don't like a whole lot of flow rate. Is this true? We have been looking at the FLuval fx5 and I am wondering with the
flow rate of 526gph with full media, will that be too strong for the live plants and smaller fish such as Cardinals. Also will
this particular filter be able to handle the bio load of a stocked tank of this size? I read that the Eheim Pro has better bio
filter capacity but they're just so expensive.



Also, is the Fx5 a sturdy filter that will last me a while with minimal maintenace?



Anything else that I would need to know would be much appreciated by myself and our future fish.

Thank you.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll move this to the discussion sub-forum, you will probably get better help there.....

 

[ainsy]

I Have 2 FX5's on a 350L tank and they are brilliant IMO.

I used to be a dedicated Eheim fan but I don't think any Eheim that I have previously owned measures up to the FX5.

Very, very sturdy. Massive media capacity and great flow rates. It certainly won't be too powerful in 125.

As for maintenance - all filters will require periodic cleaning but the bottom drain valve on the fx5 means that it is very easy to empty it of water (if you get a suitable length of hose that will reach to your nearest drain!) making it light to move to wherever you do your filter cleaning.

HTH

 

[BigTuna]

I run the Eheim Ultra G160 on my 125G. Although I've only been 'live' for a short period of time its been great so far. Previously I was running a G90 on my smaller tank and it was great as well. I have never ran anything else, so my opinion is limited. I certainly loved the easy setup of the G160, its incredibly quiet (can't even hear it under my tank in the cabinet), and does a fine job for the volume I'm running using less power than the FX5. Like I said, I've only ran the Eheim, so I can't say much about other brands. Good luck.