Equipment Review and Discussion :: FX6 - Perplexed

[tbirdie]

We recently got a new FX6. The first installation and run, it seemed like it was getting a lot of air in it... bubbling a lot when it did that turn over twice a day, and making a lot of racket otherwise. So hubby took it apart, cleaned it, checked all the connections, and then started it back up again. It ran for a couple of months without issue. We never heard bubbling anymore... the water was crystal clear... and then suddenly, it wasn't. The water has been foggy and we can't seem to figure out why. We have cleaned it out twice since then, and still we haven't had a single bubble when it turns over twice a day... seems strange, right? Shouldn't there be SOME bubbles? And why wouldn't the water be clearing up after cleaning it TWICE? It did get a little better after this last time, but it's still pretty cloudy and we cleaned it out four days ago.

Scratching my head on what's happening here..

[steve]

Most of it sounds like normal operation. I'd imagine there would be less bubbles caught in the filter over time. Is the water agitated/aerated? As for the cloudiness... was it white, green or brownish? What's the media layout like?

[ljapa]

Did you replace your old filter and media with the FX6?

I ask because a possible stage in the establishing of the nitrogen cycle is cloudy water.

If you removed enough active filtration that you effectively restarted the cycle, this may be the reason for your cloudy water.

As to the lack of air when it stops every 12 hours, I don't know. Mine always burps a bit. It could just be that all your seals are good and you aren't getting air leaks. Obviously water is flowing through the filter.

I'd be tempted to test for nitrites and ammonia to see if a cycle is restarting, and if so, leave it for a few days to see if the cloudiness clears.

[Kansasslider]

I woud agree, sounds like your tank is cycling. As for no air comming out when it turns off to purge, mine both let air out. How big is the tank. As Steve asked do you have any air stones or anything agitating the water surface? What media are you useing? Sounds like your filter itself is just fine. I wish mine didn'tpurge so much air. Kinda loud sometimes.

[tbirdie]

It's a 75 gallon tank, and the filter was set up in mid January. The filter is set up as per the recommendations posted here, but I can't find the image on my cellphone. No aerators. It's still cloudy though maybe slightly clearer... I guess brownish. It just looks like dirty water.

I'll try to remember to test the water in a bit and see what it says. Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm talking not a single bubble when it turns over. Kind of makes me think that it's not doing it anymore?

[Kansasslider]

Stupid question, are you sure its running/pushing water?

[tbirdie]

Yes, water is coming through the outtake.

[tbirdie]

Tested the water parameters today, and I'm reading at:
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
PH: 6.0 The PH of my tap water is 7.6.
Nitrate: 10ppm

I had an unopened unexpired bottle of API Stress ZYME so I went ahead and added just a little.

I suspect it's cycling, and maybe I should have done a water change this week to help it along. Maybe I will do that later today and oh well about the stress zyme stuff.

[tbirdie]

Well, I feel like filter performance is sub par. There continues to be no bubbles releasing when the filter is supposedly turning over, and I'm having to change the water and clean the filter than I had to with the XP4, which seems insane. Water changes are happening every couple of weeks to keep the water clear. Otherwise, it's cloudy and disgusting looking again.

Any suggestions? How often do you honestly do water changes and how often do you clean the filter with your FX6?

[Kansasslider]

I clean my filter once a month and do a large water change once a week ir I remember. The fx is a brute of a filter. It filters close to 500 gallons per hour. I suspect either there is something wrong with the filter or your set up? It should purge a fair amount of air everytime it shuts off. Even if you just unplug it. If not something is wrong but I have no clue what?

[Starscream]

Cool one I can finally help with because I have 2 of them. Okay so the auto prime function on these is a little whishy washy. Sometimes after cleaning them you will plug them in and you get a rattling racket. Drives me crazy and scares me to death, but generally all you have to do is unplug it for 5 minutes, that resets the autoprime and it ususally fixes itself. The blowing bubbles out every 12 hours is absolutely the normal function of this filter. it auto releases any buildup of air, that is what it is doing.

As far as the cleaning goes, We used to clean both of ours every month. ! filter is only bio and phisical filtration. The other FX6 has 1 half tray of Purigen and the rest chemical and physical media. The trays are chemical media and the physical is only what is built into the unit. So my first question would be what media are you running in yours. You will generally need purigen or charcoal, chemical media to clear up the water. There are others on here way smarter than I on that issue. I did post my set up and my water isways crytal clear.

On the note of crystal clear water, so I got way lazy and busy with school. Calculus sucks. So I did not change the water or clean the tank or filter for 3 - 4 months. No water changes nothing. Just caught it up 2 months ago, 30 percent water change, and filters cleaned. When I turned the filters back on, both blew out huge clouds of black stuff. Maybe from the pipes no idea but they had never done that before. I assumed that it was due to lack of cleaning. REmeber to clean the pipes too, not just the filter, they get crud build up too. Anyways, the 2 FX6's has the 250 gallons of water crystal clear in about 4 hours. If you aren't cleaning the pipes that could be your issue.

And Kansas is right bout the making sure they are pushing water. Sometimes they dont when you plug them in, or they will stop the pump to prevent damage. I pointed the output vent towards the top of the water so I can just look and quickly see if they are pushing water. I also use a dedication circulation pump to mae sure that the water is all getting mixed properly. That is my setup and experience with these filters, been using them for almost 2 years now with no issues and I love them.

[tbirdie]

It is are pushing water but it never blows out the bubbles anymore. Not a single one.

[Kansasslider]

How far below the water surface is the top of the filter? How deep in the tank is your output nozzle? If it's too deep in the water and your filter is too close to the waterline the water pressure from the tank won't let your filter purge air. I don't know why I didn't think to tell you this sooner. I ran into this problem with my tank. Both my filters output nozzles about 3" below the waterline.

[tbirdie]

The filter is on the floor next to the tank, which is on a standard size aquarium cabinet. The outtake is about an inch or two before water. I like to be able to see pushing water when I walk past. It blew out bubbles when we first got it, but then it stopped and never started again.

[Kansasslider]

Hmmmmmm?