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How many boxes of 500g biomax would I have to buy to fill 2 and a half baskets in the Fluval FX5? Also, should I buy the fluval brand or can I just get any brand of ceramic rings? is there any difference?

This might help (from: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30267&p=301556#p301556):

VeipaCray wrote:I'm glad you find my posts helpful. How much media to use in the FX5...

Top basket: 1 blue sponge pad, 1x 100mL package of Purigen, and a small media bag full of carbon. Fill the rest of the top basket with bio media
Middle Basket: Fill entirely with Bio Media
Bottom Basket: fill entirely with bio media.

To fill a FX5 basket, you need TWO of the fluval bio max packages.. Fluval BioMax, 500g (17.63oz) - so to setup the FX5 properly with all Fluval media, you need 5 of those 500g boxes.
That's expensive. The cheaper way is to use the link I posted in the deals section about the odyssea generic media... 4L for $20.

Ended up getting a Fx5 myself. I would have gotten smaller but since I plan on keeping 5-6 turtles in one tank I will be upgrading to a 125 gallon within a year as my 55 gallon will be too small to house that many.

The 125 is appropriately sized for ONE adult female. The fx5 is a good match for that tank with the ONE adult turtle.

For 5 turtles, you might be better suited with an indoor pond or large stock tank with a pond filter setup.

Hmm. That raises my eyebrow for sure. There is logic to it though assuming my turtles will reach 10 inches a piece.

So the smaller of the two (male vs female) is the male. Adult males go from 7-9". Two SMALL males would be 14" of turtle.... or roughly 140 gallons of water. 5 small male turtles @ 7 inches = 350 gallons of water (IF they're all small and IF they're all male) More likely is the fact that you'll need to separate them to stop aggression. Then you're looking at multiple habitats.

What kind of time frame is needed for them to grow to the 7-14 inches.

It depends on the turtle. We don't really have a good record of their average growth rates. There's a member on this forum collecting data and trying to build & analyze a data set. Some turtles can get that big in two or so years (7inches) , some take longer. The aggression however can start at anytime.

Hello there! I've got an FX5 media question as well (well...a couple really) and felt this thread was perhaps a good place to start. I've performed a search, but have not immediately found the answer.

1) what (if any) media does the fx5 come with? Does it come with the sponges that are shown in the media thread to line the outer rings? If not, these must be the "block sponges" that I see listed out on various sites. How many packages do I need to buy to fill the outer rings?
2) in the top media basket, the blue sponge that is referred to is actually a fine particle filter and looks like so, correct?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but this should at least get me going!

Thanks.

The FX5 only comes with the outer sponges. The center media baskets are empty. You don't need to purchase any of the outer block sponges. Those sponges can be cleaned and reused until they fall apart - many many years before that happens.

Yes that is the infamous blue sponge for the top media basket that you have shown. It's a 3 pack and you only need one in the filter. The pad is able to be cleaned and reused many times over before it starts to fall apart so that 3pack will last you a really long time.

You will need a lot of ceramic rings to fill up the baskets. This is probably the best deal that provides enough rings to fill the baskets. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-1L-Odyssea-Glass-Bio-Ring-Filter-Media-Pond-Reef-/380223250752