Piranha Man Posted October 28, 2006 Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 Dabbling in the idea of buying an FX5 and selling my two XP3's. Just want to simplify my set-up. What are the pro's and con's? I already have thought of the variables but want to hear from you guys and gals. :smokey: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDFISHGUY Posted October 28, 2006 Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 I have nothing against the FX5, in fact I have 2 of them on my 228 G tank, but I think its always a mistake to replace 2 filters with one. The reason being is that if 1 is all you have ,and that 1 craps out, you are often left with a major dilemna and even a loss of some, or all of your fish. All of my tanks have at least 2 filters. My 150 has 2 AC/500 and an XP3 filter so I am familiar with both types of filter. The FX5 is a very quiet filter for the volume of water that it pushes. Even with 2 of them on my 228 gal you can barely hear them.My honest opinion is that you won't get better filtration from 1 FX5 than you will from 2 XP3 and and at a price tag of around $300 it'll take a long time to get your money back in energy savings . That's all I gotta say about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Man Posted October 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 I have nothing against the FX5, in fact I have 2 of them on my 228 G tank, but I think its always a mistake to replace 2 filters with one. The reason being is that if 1 is all you have ,and that 1 craps out, you are often left with a major dilemna and even a loss of some, or all of your fish. All of my tanks have at least 2 filters. My 150 has 2 AC/500 and an XP3 filter so I am familiar with both types of filter. The FX5 is a very quiet filter for the volume of water that it pushes. Even with 2 of them on my 228 gal you can barely hear them.My honest opinion is that you won't get better filtration from 1 FX5 than you will from 2 XP3 and and at a price tag of around $300 it'll take a long time to get your money back in energy savings . That's all I gotta say about that. Great post. Excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudy Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 I agree on the two filter post, however am a huge fx5 supporter. My issue (being an expensive fish keeper) is ammonia spikes. I don't even trust wet drys anymore and have moved to only canisters on my ray tanks. If you only have one filter and you have to clean it you have to be very aware of the potential ammonia spike as a result. With two you have less to worry about as you would only clean one filter at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 Pat, I'm in agreement with the others. Even in a well established tank, and even if using ClorAm-X to treat the water (which I know that you now do) there's always the risk of a nitrite spike if you only have one large filter, and clean it a bit too rigorously. A spike in nitrite will cause more immediate harm to your fish than an ammonia spike, so like many things in a tank set up, IMO redundancy is a good thing when it comes to filtration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 I have nothing against the FX5, in fact I have 2 of them on my 228 G tank, but I think its always a mistake to replace 2 filters with one. The reason being is that if 1 is all you have ,and that 1 craps out, you are often left with a major dilemna and even a loss of some, or all of your fish. All of my tanks have at least 2 filters. My 150 has 2 AC/500 and an XP3 filter so I am familiar with both types of filter. The FX5 is a very quiet filter for the volume of water that it pushes. Even with 2 of them on my 228 gal you can barely hear them.My honest opinion is that you won't get better filtration from 1 FX5 than you will from 2 XP3 and and at a price tag of around $300 it'll take a long time to get your money back in energy savings . That's all I gotta say about that. Hear, Hear. Gotta luv the comfort that redundancy gives you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williewonka Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 I'm going to have to go against all the other advice.... I think you should buy the new fx5 and sell the two xp3's to me for the 108 gal.. Pros-- you'd have a brand new filter for your tank I'd have two xp3's for my tank Cons-- you'd have the outlay for a brand new filter you wouldn't ask enough for the xp3's Pros..(for me) I'd get a really good deal on a couple of xp3s I may be wrong... but i think the pros outweigh the cons... (If I do happen to be wrong in my thinking... just ignore this post) Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Man Posted October 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 I'm going to have to go against all the other advice....I think you should buy the new fx5 and sell the two xp3's to me for the 108 gal.. Pros-- you'd have a brand new filter for your tank I'd have two xp3's for my tank Cons-- you'd have the outlay for a brand new filter you wouldn't ask enough for the xp3's Pros..(for me) I'd get a really good deal on a couple of xp3s I may be wrong... but i think the pros outweigh the cons... (If I do happen to be wrong in my thinking... just ignore this post) Fred Hey Fred! How are the fish coming along? You are a funny guy. If I sell you anything else you may get divorce papers. -roll- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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