Is an fx4 overkill in a 55 gallon? Prefilter sponge suggestions please!

[Goldie Blue]

After a stressful night of my Eheim 350 classic filter leaking all over the place, I am done with this thing once and for all. The connector pieces on it have broken not once, not twice, but SIX times now in the year and a half I have had it. I picked up a Fluval fx4 today, I knew they were big, but unboxing this thing is making me question if it's too much for my 55 gallon? 

I have white clouds, ember tetras, a pleco, a ton of cherry shrimp, and a lot of snails. 

The filter intake on this thing is massive, and it will suck everything up if I don't get a prefilter sponge or something on it. I am seeing some stuff on Amazon and Etsy, but please chime in if you have ideas for me. Since my Eheim is literally on life support sitting in a bucket, I'd like to try to either go buy or rig something today if possible!

[anewbie]

FX4 is probably ok for a 55 but on the high end; depending on socking you could just use sponge filter. You don't really have much esp if your pleco (species) is one of the smaller ones - of course if he is a common that is 2 feet long it will be a different situation.

 

Your embers might object to the fx4 current; they are not really swimmers. The pleco will love the current esp if you get it near the bottom (you would have to mod it as sold most of the current is upper 1/3).

Edited May 29, 2023 by anewbie

[Colu]

If a remember rightly using the aquastop valve turn  half way on your fx4 you can reduce the flow by 50% I wouldn't go below 50% that could damage the pump @Goldie Blue

[DeadStang]

I know you already bought the FX4, but I think an FX2 might be a better size. I just put an FX2 on my 75, along with my sponges and Ziss. I bought this so I wouldn't have too much flow in the tank -- that might be "underkill" vs the FX2 in a 75, but it's better than the HOB. Could you put the FX4 on something bigger and get the FX2 for the 55?

[nabokovfan87]

@Goldie Blue There is an FX spraybar kit for that filter.  Start there.... This will tame the output a little bit and give you much better circulation across the 55G.

Let me break it down...

For me I am often in the range of 6-10x turnover.  Pump rating is 450 GPH and as @Colu mentioned you can lower the flow.  This is on the fluval website, but should be detailed in the manual.

450GPH ---> 8x turnover.  I don't think it will be too strong.  Especially with the distributed output of the spraybar.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Aquarium-Filter-Aeration-Accessory/dp/B09WJGBKBY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fx+spray+bar+kit&qid=1685427286&sr=8-1

On 5/29/2023 at 1:39 PM, Goldie Blue said:

The filter intake on this thing is massive, and it will suck everything up if I don't get a prefilter sponge or something on it. I am seeing some stuff on Amazon and Etsy, but please chime in if you have ideas for me. Since my Eheim is literally on life support sitting in a bucket, I'd like to try to either go buy or rig something today if possible!

Marineland or the ACO Prefilters would be my choice.  Below I will link the larger of the two Marineland ones.  Just let me know the DIA of the tube you need it for and I can verify it'll work for you.

https://www.amazon.com/MarineLand-PGUIN-Foam-Filter-Model/dp/B07ZV64V5R/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=marineland+prefilter&qid=1685427412&sprefix=marineland+prefil%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-1

[anewbie]

 

On 5/30/2023 at 1:14 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Goldie Blue There is an FX spraybar kit for that filter.  Start there.... This will tame the output a little bit and give you much better circulation across the 55G.
 

I have the spray bar for my fx6 and found it made the current intolerable for my angels (on a 120); while I like the spray bar a lot it does increase the current and you don't have any top dwellers that would enjoy that extra current. 

 

I would be careful about turning hte flow down on these units. Fluval does state it won't harm the motor as long as flow is > 50% but it does stress the motor imho and there are other things that will reduce flow (such as gunk in filter) and if you use a pre-filter. The motor it self just turns but maget that turns the propeller but less water will be flowing through the unit and my understand is the 'smarts' in these units will try to compenstate; though I'm not 100% sure here. 

 

To be honest I'm not overjoyed with my fx6 as it is a pia to remove to clean - the design makes it a bit of a pain to drain a bit of water out of the filter so it can be moved - anyway i also have an eheim classic and it has its own issues - but my new aquariums will have sumps - and I think i'll settle on mostly sumps and matten filters for my filtering solutions going forward. I was going to recommend a matten filter for your 55 - but i honestly think a pair of plain sponge filters will do the job given your stocking - i prefer swisstropical sponges but any brand will do - they are cheap and efficient. Just pick one that you can squeeze behind some plants - be sure not to put it against anything so water can freely flow around it. This is one of my aquariums with a matten filter if you want to see how that looks - the disadvantage of the matten filter is it takes up space in the aquarium:

[Goldie Blue]

On 5/30/2023 at 12:06 AM, DeadStang said:

Could you put the FX4 on something bigger and get the FX2 for the 55?

My 55 is (currently) my biggest tank. After a lot of thought, I am going to exchange it for a Fluval 407. I have the 207 and 307 on other tanks, and so far (knock on wood) have had no issues with it. It's much easier to maintain than this stupid Eheim I have. I borrowed a cycled second filter from a friend until I can swap this out later today.

On 5/30/2023 at 1:14 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

There is an FX spraybar kit for that filter. 

Yeah this was another reason I am deciding to just take it back, I'd have to spend more money just to get it to hopefully not be too strong in the tank. Once my friend said she had a filter I could borrow for a day or two it gave me more wiggle room. I was seriously not prepared for how giant this fx4 is!!! 

I appreciate all your help everyone! Why do tank emergencies always happen at night or on a weekend when everything is closed? 🤣

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/30/2023 at 8:08 AM, Goldie Blue said:

On 5/29/2023 at 11:14 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

There is an FX spraybar kit for that filter. 

Yeah this was another reason I am deciding to just take it back, I'd have to spend more money just to get it to hopefully not be too strong in the tank. Once my friend said she had a filter I could borrow for a day or two it gave me more wiggle room. I was seriously not prepared for how giant this fx4 is!!!

They have the same spraybar kit for the x07 series, just a heads up if you decide to try it out.

The FX series is definitely gigantic and I am not a huge fan of the tray design. 😞

Hopefully the 07 it works well for you and the tank is doing good!

[anewbie]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:08 AM, Goldie Blue said:

My 55 is (currently) my biggest tank. After a lot of thought, I am going to exchange it for a Fluval 407. I have the 207 and 307 on other tanks, and so far (knock on wood) have had no issues with it. It's much easier to maintain than this stupid Eheim I have. I borrowed a cycled second filter from a friend until I can swap this out later today.

Yeah this was another reason I am deciding to just take it back, I'd have to spend more money just to get it to hopefully not be too strong in the tank. Once my friend said she had a filter I could borrow for a day or two it gave me more wiggle room. I was seriously not prepared for how giant this fx4 is!!! 

I appreciate all your help everyone! Why do tank emergencies always happen at night or on a weekend when everything is closed? 🤣

There is a spray bar for the non-fx models sold by fluval; pretty cheap and well made. If you can't find it i can give you pointer via messaging system.

[Goldie Blue]

On 5/30/2023 at 5:55 PM, anewbie said:

There is a spray bar for the non-fx models sold by fluval; pretty cheap and well made.

I picked one of those up for the 307 in my axolotl tank, and like @Pepere have it pointing up. I have liked both my 207 and 307, so I think the 407 with spray bar is a much better fit for my tank. My white clouds like to swim in the spray bar I have with the Eheim that I am replacing, but the ember tetras hate it. I wasn't able to get it at the right angle like I can with the Fluval spray bar, so it kind of just blew things around on the right side of the tank, and everyone mostly hangs out on the left lol, so I think they'll be happier about the replacement as well.