Jaxxnz Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Hey guys, Iam planning to beef up my filteration in my community tank.. I was juggling wheather to go for the FX5 or the uv pond filter.. So i brought the pond filter to try it out.. I am thinking with pond filter they come with uv treatment + filteration, as to the FX5 its can only filter.. Has some1 here used a pond filter before, or what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 most of the pond filters need a another pump to power them so take hat into account. although it would work it could be a false economy and having a large pump in your tank may not be ideal. id look at the price of an aqua one nautilus 2700uvc its almost as big as an fx5 has uv and can be bought brand new for less than $400 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Also, do consider if you actually need UV sterilisation. From what I've heard/ read, UV bulbs need to be replaced after a certain time to maintain their effectiveness (can someone confirm/ deny this?). As Spoon mentioned, using more than what you need would work out to be false economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 yeah they need to be replaced at least early as there output drops a lot . a lot of people dont consider them necessary but hey if a cheaper filter has one thats not a bad thing :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 yeah they need to be replaced at least early as there output drops a lot . a lot of people dont consider them necessary but hey if a cheaper filter has one thats not a bad thing :dunno: Yeah, I suppose you could just run the UV bulb until it stops working haha.. The water would still flow through fine, it's just that you'd have a white elephant in the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 cheap pumps use 3 to 4 times the power. the money you initially save will be dwarfed by the power you use in a year. just keep tha tin mind. 100w over 24 hours, 7 days a week is about $4 to $5 depending on where you are. $4 x 52 weeks, thats $200. so keep that in mind! (ally07 knows full well of my obsession with the power details lol) also, the pond filters are mech, not bio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 UV is good when your facing a particular problem. Excessive Algae, Parasites, Infection etc can all be AIDED by adding the U.V element. Remembering the actual amount of sanitation that is achieved is reliant on: The amount of U.V being produced by the bulb (as already stated, drops considerably over a fairly short perod of time - actual times will vary with manufacturer) Watts is a good general guide when NEW! The surface area of exposure - The flow rate through the U.V section - these last two will give you the "exposure length" or "exposure time" - a high surface area is worthless if the water is barrelling past at a rate of knots... similarly, you could slow the flow through a smaller surface area of exposure, but at a point it becomes un-economical. In fact, there are some mega-U.V units that aquariums use, with one main centre light, and glass tubing spiralled along the outside to increase the exposure time. different tanks can have seperate "coils" around the bulb. How clear the water is - higher turbidity, lower effective exposure The size of the organism that you are trying to zap - bigger organisms require more exposure and number one - you can't zap what isn't inthe water column. That fat blob of algae that is on your rocks ain't going to worry about the U.V on the other side of the tank... BUT! in saying that, spread of algae is reduced by the use of the U.V, as spores/ free floating cells will be zapped. All in All, U.V treatment is a useful tool that we have in our arsenal. Is it a fix-all? -No. But it can help in particular circumstances, And even then, You'd want to run it continuously for about a month (again, depending on what your trying to zap) and then turn it off. If you are not using it for a particular purpose, then you're wasting your bulb-life. :thup: If you cannot turn off your U.V seperately, Don't bother with the unit. :sage: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 also, the pond filters are mech, not bio. There is always going to be a bio element in every mech filter, regardless... You can make it a "bio-filter" by the addition of suitable media... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 yeah i forgot about the power aqua one nautilus 2700 (no uv) 35w ,22l filter volume fx5 50w 20l filter volume too be fair about filter volume both are what the maker's state and likely to measured in different ways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxxnz Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 There is always going to be a bio element in every mech filter, regardless... You can make it a "bio-filter" by the addition of suitable media... At current iam still running my sump system, this pond filter things would be a additional.. My tank are heavy stock as well so uv would be super dupper help.. was thinking uv filter would be a anitiboitic for my fish.. or maybe it me who need to be on anitiboitic hehehe :digH: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Do also keep in mind that most pond filters (to my knowledge), use a pump inside the tank to push the water to the filter box. This is fine, but if there is a lot of waste/ uneaten food, it will get clogged in the pump's prefilter before actually making it to the filter box. This is not only unsightly but makes your filter box's mech filters a bit moot. In my experience, canister intakes have more gaps than pumps, so the food/ waste gets trapped for a little while but it does break down and get sucked into the filter. On the other hand, pumps clog very easily because of the filter sponge behind the gaps, protecting the motor blades from small stones, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 you hae to select the right pond filter. because pnd filters a lot of them do not have compartments for bio media! i have seen them. make sure it does, then yes, that is no problem, media can be changed. but to be honest, the amount of money you are spending on a pond unit and another pump (buying a cheap pump will cos tyou more in the longrun in power) you might as well buy a fx5. they are extremely efficient. i would put fx5 ahead of a pond pump anyday. for UV, gotta ask the question, 'how good is the uv in a pond pump' ? rather buy a dedicated uv unit i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellymeat Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Yeah, I suppose you could just run the UV bulb until it stops working haha.. The water would still flow through fine, it's just that you'd have a white elephant in the filter. I have a uv filter on my pond and the bulb lasted 3 or 4 years and worked just as well as it did when we got it And my pond is in the sun most of the day. yeah i forgot about the power aqua one nautilus 2700 (no uv) 35w ,22l filter volume fx5 50w 20l filter volume too be fair about filter volume both are what the maker's state and likely to measured in different ways I too have been researching about an fx5 filter for my new tank. The fx5 is a great filter but how ever as i have been reading that it is mostly mechanical filtration 25 litres and only 6 litres of biological media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 it has a lot of foam in it most people call this mechanical filtration which it is however its also effective biological media Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 I too have been researching about an fx5 filter for my new tank. The fx5 is a great filter but how ever as i have been reading that it is mostly mechanical filtration 25 litres and only 6 litres of biological media. The FX-5 may not seem to hold a lot of bio-media, but once you fill up all the trays, it actually is quite a bit. I filled my trays with AquaOne Ceramisub and there's quite a bit in there, so I'm OK with the capacity. What I like BEST about the FX-5 is the turnover. It churns water like nothing I've ever seen. Not only is this good from a mechanical perspective, but more turnover means that more water is being passed through the bio-media more often, which is a good thing. As per Henward's advice, I put some fine filter wool on the top tray and I replace that every week during WC because it's ALWAYS clogged - so it does a really good job of keeping the water clear. In comparison, the filter wool in my sump only gets as dirty every 3-4 weeks, possibly more. Bottom line, it is a slight investment at first, but so far I'm very impressed by the FX-5. All the parts are very sturdy and it's POWERFUL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris b Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I run a pond filter on my 6ft tank with the pump in tank and its a pain!! id go a fx5 or any other canister filter if i was to do it again, it dosnt have taps so makes a mess everytime i remove it,it weighs a lot as it holds about 20L, and reconnecting the hoses and getting them to seal is an art in itself. The steraliser works a treat tho i havnt had a sick or dead fish since i got it and that was about a year ago now (touch wood) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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