Replacing Noisy Fluval Fx5 With 2 Penn Plax Cascade 1500's? Or 2 1200's?

[Jrad]

Hello,
I have a used fx5 that I have been running on my 135 gallon. It filters great, but it is very loud and a huge pain in the butt to service. I have replaced o-rings, hoses, clamps, etc. I am running Pen Plax cascade filters on 3 other tanks (cascade 1000 on my 30 gallon long, cascade 1000 on my 37g, and a cascade 1200 on my 55 gallon). I love the cascades. The maintenance is really easy. and they filter those tanks great. I'm thinking about replacing the fx5 with 2 cascade 1500's. or would 2 1200's be enough? Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Cichlidude]

The general rule of thumb is your fish tank should turn over your water volume at least 4x per hour for best efficiency. All manufactures rate their pumps at the head level only. This means their ratings do not include head pump lift (canisters typically 3-4 feet: 7-13% head loss alone), filter media baskets, filter media itself, tubing length, U bends from the input tube and output tubes or even the 90 degree bend for your spray bar. All this alone will reduce the flow by at least 25% right out of the box.

Now add all your media which is jam packed with course, medium, fine pads, bio ceramic rings, porous large surface area media like Matrix, Biohome or Marine Pure Media and now it gets dirty and clogged in weeks. This adds another 25% reduction. So now you have a 50-60% restriction in water flow. Which now leaves you at 2x your flow rate and you need 4x to run correctly. This is why you should get a filter with at least 8x-10x flow rate (manufactures specification) because of this 50% reduction will bring you to the 4x recommended flow. Canister filters hold more media than a HOB, so they can have a little less flow if you want (5x-6x) but 8x will cover both types of filters. Always best to have slower water flow over your media than more, so the water stays in contact with the media longer to promote maximum bacteria growth/filtration and still keeps good water movement in your tank. This is for normally stocked to heavily stocked tanks.

Tanks with less fish or lightly stocked will do just fine with a smaller filter than mentioned above.

With that said…

Your 135 gallon would have the best efficiency at about 1000-1350 gph. I would suggest 2 525gph filters from 4 star rated Polar Aurora/Sunsun at about $68 each. So easy to maintain and work great.

Amazon.com: 525 gph filter

 

[Jonmott]

Is it a rattling sound? Tried lubing the impeller?
I owned a PP 1000 about ten years ago, the thing had major bypass issues, have they fixed that yet?
If I were you I wouldn’t spend more on a new can but that’s just me.

 

[Jrad]

Canister filters hold more media than a HOB,

The cascade 1500 is a canister filter. The flow rate between 2 of them is 700gph. I also have 2 penguin HOB's on there. One 350 gph and one 200 gph. I mostly have them there for polishing (filter floss purchased by the roll) they have bio wheels for additional biological filtration (I don't know how well the wheels work though, not really relying on them). So, would that be a grand total of 1250gph? Also, there is a 50 gallon sponge filter (mainly to be used in an emergency hospital tank if necessary). Would this be sufficient for a pretty well stocked 135? Here's the most recent update video:

Stocked with:
1 red severum
1 Uaru
5 blue acara (2 electric blue, 3 'regular' blue)
1 school of 6 Denison barbs

Is it a rattling sound? Tried lubing the impeller?
I owned a PP 1000 about ten years ago, the thing had major bypass issues, have they fixed that yet?
If I were you I wouldn’t spend more on a new can but that’s just me.

I have not trieed lubing the impeller..... I just purchased a new impeller O-ring that I was going to replace on the next water change (later this afternoon) I do have some silicone grease that I have been applying to the o-rings as I replace them as well as to the existing ones. Should I lube the shaft of the impeller?

The cascades do have some space between the inner wall and outside of the baskets, but so does every other canister filter. The only difference is that the container is transparent so you can see it. If the fx5/6 had a transparent canister people would say the same. I think too much has been made of that.

I prefer the cascades because they are quiet, easy to maintain, and do the job. The fx 5 has awesome flow rate though. But it's a beast to disconnect the hoses, move out from under the tanks. I am constantly replacing something, removing the whole motor assembly is a pain and needs to be done frequently. I get it quiet for a few days, then it gets loud again. I'm hoping to tame the noise, but it is still very labor intensivr=e compared to the cascades. They just don't compete with the fx5 for flow. I would really need 3 to match its flow, but hoping 2 would be enough.

 

[Cichlidude]

So, would that be a grand total of 1250gph?

Oh, you have more filters than you said... OK that would be fine.

 

[Jrad]

Oh, you have more filters than you said... OK that would be fine.

Sorry, I think of the HOBs as polishers. I appreciate your input. thanks.

 

[Jonmott]

Absolutely try and lube the impeller, the shaft might not benefit the lube but I don’t think it would hurt, the magnet and the inner wall where the mag sits is where should help, I’ve had noisy impellers and lubing definitely helps.
I might have to disagree with you on the bypass of the cascade, I had a heavily planted tank with that canister and I had to stuff floss on the sides to keep the detritus from just going out back into the tank. Compared to every other canister I’ve owned the cascade has the worst bypass I’ve seen. They are made well and have a nice strong pump, intakes and out are sturdy so it’s got its pros it was just the bypass thing for me.
But looks like you should have plenty of filtration for the tank.

 

[Thor555]

I say always go with the 1500's, pretty much no matter what. The volume of filtration is just massive and you really don't have to cut corners on either mechanical or biological media. There's crazy room for as much as you want for both.

 

[Jrad]

After replacing the o-ring & lubing the impeller, it is much quieter than it was. Not as quiet as I would like, but now at least tolerable. Thanks for the suggestion Jonmott! I'll probably hold off on purchasing another canister for now. I will probably still get the cascade 1500's but one at a time. I'll get one, hook it up. then after a while get another and hook it up and remove the fx5. My local fish store takes just about anything in trade. (I bought the used fx5 from them for $150) I had to replace the hoses,nozzle, several locking clamps, two rI'm connectors and the o-rings. I't's better than when I got it so hopefully I'll get the $150 back in value. I will probably trade it towards a new (used) tank. I got my 135 & stand from them for $200. I will be looking to upgrade my 55 gallon to something bigger. The 55 is home to a 7" green terror. When I go bigger I'll get him a girlfriend.

Thanks for the help everyone