# Broke Fx5 Filter?



## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

My Fluval Fx5 has been blowing bubbles again. I took it apart and made sure it wasn't clogged, all the seals seem perfect, and even cleaned the impeller area. Whats worse is now it is just barely pushing any water from the output nozzles, theres next to no flow at all. The pump sounds perfectly normal, but I do hear a constant swishing/gurgling noise coming from the canister area. Could it be an air leak in one of the seals that would cause the loss of output? I emailed Hagen but have yet to hear back from them. The filter is only 7-8 months old, and I have always followed the maintenance of it. Thanks as usual for any help.


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## a_c_arnold (Mar 7, 2008)

With low flow and a swishing sound, it sounds like pump cavitation. Make sure that your inlet tubing is not clogged. Make sure that you are not sucking in a lot of air bubbles at the intake. I'm not familiar with the priming mechanism on this filter, but it may not be fully primed. Prime the pump, and turn it off. It its not leaking, then I doubt you are sucking in any air through the seals.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Did you fill it with water before you set it back up and plugged it back in?

If not, do that. If you did, sorry for telling you what you already know!

Other than that, check to make sure your valves are fully open!

Sometimes it's the obvious things we miss?

Good luck.


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

I didn't check the tubing yet, and there are no bubbles near the intake ever. I did prime it following the manuals directions, but am going to have another go over it today before I pick up an Eheim. I loved this thing at first, but has been a pain for awhile now. I should of just stuck with Eheims from the start, I have 2 of them and they are much easier to deal with. By the way Hagens customer service stinks, they haven't returned my calls, or email. Thanks for the replies


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

I'd say a air leak in the tubing, if no clogs. I think I remember reading on here abput a pinhole in a tube on one of these....


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

spotmonster said:


> I'd say a air leak in the tubing, if no clogs. I think I remember reading on here abput a pinhole in a tube on one of these....


Wouldn't a pinhole in the tubing allow water to drip out? I checked and there is no water anywhere. I took it apart again today and did a very thorough search again to no avail. I've had it, and am getting the Eheim ordered. Going to go with the Eheim 2260, it holds a ton of media and I know they will stand by their product. By the way the idiots at Hagen are still ignoring my emails and calls. They can take their products and stick them you know where. :x


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

After taking a break from dealing with this thing I took one more stab at it. This time I unhooked every clamp and fitting it has. I also took out the intake strainer and boy was the backside of it covered in a sheet of algae. I also noticed that the clamps were a bit looser then should of. But the main culprit I believe was that when I was pouring the 2 gallons of water into it to do a main prime, the water wasn't going down into the baskets. The blue media pads were plugged up, even though I always squeezed them out in tank water to clean them. So I lifted up the pads and stretched them apart a bit to let the water flow through them until I can get some replacements. As soon as I did that the water sucked right down into the baskets as it should. So I have to say that it's partly my fault, but there customer service still stinks, as they never responded to my inquirys. At least I saved $300.00 for now, but I am still going to get another Eheim next spring.


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

Not to single you out, and I can't say I would have acted any differently, in fact I probably wouldn't even have put in the last effort I just would have bought a new filter, but I would like to take this opportunity to point something out.

This is a good example of why so many things on this site regarding equipment don't make any sense. In other words, how many times have we seen a thread where half the people swear XXX filter is just awful and the other half swear XXX filter is the answer to world peace. Imagine if bones06 had not made his discovery in the last post? How many people would have come across this thread thinking that his filter is not reliable? I'm glad all was made right.

I wonder how often something like this happens where the equipment is blamed when it really was user error/interpretation. I'm sure I have been guilty of this myself more than once.

The take away message is to take all posts with a grain of salt.


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

boredatwork said:


> Not to single you out, and I can't say I would have acted any differently, in fact I probably wouldn't even have put in the last effort I just would have bought a new filter, but I would like to take this opportunity to point something out.
> 
> This is a good example of why so many things on this site regarding equipment don't make any sense. In other words, how many times have we seen a thread where half the people swear XXX filter is just awful and the other half swear XXX filter is the answer to world peace. Imagine if bones06 had not made his discovery in the last post? How many people would have come across this thread thinking that his filter is not reliable? I'm glad all was made right.
> 
> ...


I would hope that anyone would take anything said on the internet with a grain of salt. However I still feel that this filter is not as great as I used to think. No filter should be clogging up this way, especially with an intake screen as big as this. I clean My Eheims maybe 2 times per year, and they still have perfect flow with no microbubbling. The FX5 needs to be cleaned at least 1 time per month. I don't think that a filter in the $300.00 price range should be clogging up this fast and blowing bubbles as much as it does. I have only had this filter for 7 months and the o-rings already need replacing, no filter should need all the o-rings replaced this soon. I think that is due to the constant opening and closing of the unit to do the monthly service. People do not want to deal with a company that doesn't return calls and emails to their customer service/tech support. All in all I hope no one on here takes my experience as the gospel, but I do hope you learn something from it. After all, this post and all others like it are here to help guide us through issues. I definitely agree with you though that alot of times people will criticize a piece of equipment when it was really an error of theirs that was causing the issue. Unfortunately people these days refuse to accept their fault in anything that goes wrong. I say buy what you need, can afford, and if it works for you great, if not move on to something else.


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## dww-law (Jun 1, 2007)

I currently run 2 FX5's on my 180 along with an Eheim Pro 3e. My FX5's run perfectly and do not clog. However, the Eheim has had some problems. The first one I got leaked upon initial set up. It was determined that the top head was cracked. The company I bought it from gladly replaced it. The replacement worked fine for 3 months, then the primer pump broke. Eheim's only contact in located in Canada. It took three weeks to finally get someone to answer the phone. When they did, it took another week of run around before they replaced the pump. I do not expect this type of service or performance in a $400 filter. My point being that I will never buy another Eheim based on my experience. However, I would buy another FX5 in a heartbeat. You can get them on Ebay for under $200 including delivery so it is a much better deal and a much better value.

The Marineland c360 is also a much better deal than an Eheim. Great filter. The only downside is that you would need a couple of 360â€™s to do the work of one FX5. Although some people prefer several smaller filters over one large one.


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## demillso (Feb 4, 2008)

I think it boils down to the fact that every product is going to have some issues here and there. You typically only hear the bad experiences on forums but if you do some research before you buy you should end up with a decent product. 
I can't speak for Hagen yet as I haven't had any problems that require support, but I can say that Marineland has excellent customer support. They are now in the process of sending me my fourth C-360 due to leaking and bubbling problems. If they had not been so helpful they would not be getting a fourth chance.


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