# Sand vs Gravel & the type of Canister Filter Needed



## MarkyMark75 (Apr 24, 2012)

Hello,
I am considering a 125 Gallon African Cichlid Tank.
Doing my research and it seems that using *sand* or *gravel* is really personal preference, BUT:

Many ppl have stated if you use sand, be sure to buy a filter(s) with the mechanics on top instead of the bottom of the canister b/c the sand will get stuck?

How does the placement of the motor dictate this? 
Is this true from anyone's experience?

Also, when doing a gravel/sand vacuum clean, how do you prevent sand from being sucked up?

tks.

NOTE: I was thinking of getting the Fluval FX5 and understand the motor is at the bottom of the canister.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Your filter is turned off when vacuuming...no problem.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

MarkyMark75 said:


> Hello,
> I am considering a 125 Gallon African Cichlid Tank.
> Doing my research and it seems that using *sand* or *gravel* is really personal preference, BUT:
> 
> ...


As for the FX5 it does filter top down however it filters through the sponges on the side on the baskets then down through the top so it is not necessarily just a top down filter meaning it will filter BEFORE it reaches the impeller. However with that being said anything that does somehow drop through can get down to the impeller. Basically you are looking for a canister filter that will filter out the sand before it reaches the impeller. An example would be my aquatop cf500....it filters before it reaches the impeller and on top of that the impeller is at the top of the filter so no chance of media falling down into the impeller. I have heard of people having issues with small pieces of biomedia breaking off and falling down into the impeller chamber of the FX5 so they place a coarse sponge in the bottom of the bottom media basket.

Also....when doing a vacuum over my sand I just turn the water pressure down a bit and that helps. I usually use a swirling motion with the siphon bell forcing the poop off the sand in order to vacuum it up. Regardless I do get a bit of sand every now and again.


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## ryans125g (Jul 18, 2011)

Yea I have a jebo canister filter in a 125 with sand sub and my impeller is fine but the shaft is withered down my guess from the sand it was very quiet before that but it's definitely doing damage to my impellers I even have them raised up off of my substrate a good 8 " and there still damaged. Turns out my cichlids do a lot of night time digging I guess cause I go threw impellers like I go through paper towls


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

I have sand, and an FX5 (impeller on bottom.)

I have had it up and running for 5 years, no impellor issues yet. Everytime I clean the filter, I find sand on the bottom of the canister, but it does not affect performance.


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## MarkyMark75 (Apr 24, 2012)

Frank1rizzo: Good to know!
btw....do you like the Fluval FX5....that is one of my contenders for a canister filter.

tks.


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## AulonoKarl (Mar 9, 2012)

Just a little tip on "vacuuming". If you make sure your tank has proper circulation, by either using multiple filters, or adding a couple of powerheads working in conjunction with your one filter, you can GREATLY reduce the amount of waste in the sand substrate. I can hardly ever find anything to vacuum up.


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## theoryguru (Oct 11, 2011)

MarkyMark75 said:


> Frank1rizzo: Good to know!
> btw....do you like the Fluval FX5....that is one of my contenders for a canister filter.
> 
> tks.


I have 2 FX5s and really happy with them.
Main reasons are water quality and noise. Its an ultra silent mini pool filter.
They've gone down in price in the last year and the go one sale every few months.


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