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My FX5 seems to have a problem

Enkay

Enkay

Members
Hello all,

I have had a 125 with and FX5 for several months now. I have been cleaning the filter regularly and until a couple weeks ago, the water used to be crystal clear. For some reason, it is not so anymore. I see a lot of fine debris suspended in the water. The filter is clean and I had changed water (50%) a month ago. That was the first time i changed water since March. I regularly check the water parameters and they have been fine. The suction and the outlet flow seem to be fine. I also have a film of debris on the surface that I have never seen before. No dead fish in the tank and no food left behind. The water quality seems to be deteriorating a bit too quickly as compared to in the past. The floor of the tank looks very clean, nothing rotting on the bottom or elsewhere visibly.

I thought before I start poking around and do trial and error, maybe get some input from the learned and wise to see if anyone had any ideas as to what might be going wrong. Any ideas, suggestions, adivse? Where do I start looking? Has anyone had such an issue before?

Thanks!
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
I know you said you cleaned it good but did you clean the 6 sponges (really really really :D)good? you can also saok them in water with bleach. second those ribbed hoses catch and hold alot of debris as well. run them under the water hose or shower and clean it. as far as the film goes try using 2 powerheads. hope this helps ya out ;).
 
Reel Addiction

Reel Addiction

Members
I would make sure you have a up to date kit and double check the water paramiters. Keep a eye on the fish and make sure they are not struggling or breathing heavy in any way.
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
Reel Addiction said:
I would make sure you have a up to date kit and double check the water paramiters. Keep a eye on the fish and make sure they are not struggling or breathing heavy in any way.
Click to expand...

Well, that's the issue. The water has gone bad in a month with the same fish. They are not very happy and tonight is water change night. But the issue seems to be with the filter. Because, the water had not gone bad for 7 months before that. I don't change water if the parameters are good.

P.S. The kit is fine. It shows the parameters gone bad in other smaller tanks in which I change water regularly.
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
Reel Addiction said:
If I understand correct you have only did 1 water change in 7 months?
Click to expand...
WHY no water changes since MARCH? with a tank that size id take out a minimum of 25% weekly depending on whats in it. you may need larger changes. personally i prefer 50-75% for larger tanks.
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
UNCLERUCKUS said:
WHY no water changes since MARCH? with a tank that size id take out a minimum of 25% weekly depending on whats in it. you may need larger changes. personally i prefer 50-75% for larger tanks.
Click to expand...

I have always been a non water changing fish keeper. usually if the water quality goes south, the fish behave differently and that's when i change water. I usually depend on them to tell me when to change water.

Has worked well for me so far.
 
YSS

YSS

Members
Not sure how many fish you have in your tank, but doesn't sound right that you are only changing water once every few months and your water parameters are good. What are your water parameters? Also, if your fish are showing signs of bad water, that's too late for a water change. You would need to change water well before that happens.
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
YSS said:
Not sure how many fish you have in your tank, but doesn't sound right that you are only changing water once every few months and your water parameters are good. What are your water parameters?
Click to expand...

I have 0 ammonia, with a little bit of nitrites and nitrates. The pH usually is stable at 6.8 or so. Changing water messes it up.

I have 1 - 5", 1 - 4" and 4 smaller discus in the tank. Also have half a dozen cardinals and 2 albino ancistrus. Have a couple amazon swords in there as well. I seldom feed dry food. mostly frozen blood worms, Hans frozen beef mix or live black worms.
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
The real question is why is there suspended dirt in the tank now. The water used to be crystal clear all these months.

i will probably clean out the serrated tubes which go to and from the filter tonight as UnleRuckus suggested. There is probably dirt in there which is causing it. I really hope that fixes the issue. If it does not, I am going to be at a loss at what's causing it.
 
Reel Addiction

Reel Addiction

Members
Nitrites are the problem they should be 0. Your fish are getting bigger and producing more waste, hence the need for more water changes. That should take care of the problem.
 
Malawimania

Malawimania

Members
The FX5 is beast, but it doesn't matter what kind of filter you have, 7 months w/o water change is going to be trouble. I have two FX5's on a 220 and if I don't change the water every 3 to 4 weeks I notice a difference in water quality. I would do a water change of 50 % and throw some accurel water clarifier in after the water change. I would also try doing more frequent water changes in the future.

-Steve
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Am I missing something?

UNCLERUCKUS said:
I know you said you cleaned it good but did you clean the 6 sponges (really really really :D)good? you can also saok them in water with bleach.
Click to expand...

First of, I know squat about Fluvals but unless they're completely different animals than other filters, do not bleach or wash or rinse your sponges in anything except water from the tank under any circumstance unless you are trying to eradicate a disease, parasite or something else that disagrees with your fish. Those sponges are incredible biological filters once they get colonized with bacteria and if you sterilize them you kill the greatest part of their utility. Just squeeze/rinse them in successive batches of tank water until they come up clean. Same goes for other mechanical and biological media.

Second: Could be something in your tank or filter is breaking down (as in composting or eroding) and creating some hitherto non-existent condition. Possible but sounds a bit thin to me since cloudiness is in my experience associated with bacterial blooms as in 'new tank' syndrome before the right bacteria get established.

Third: Could be that something inside the filter is preventing the water flow from interfacing with the filter media so that it's just flowing in and out of the filter in essentially a straight line without contacting most of the media. Might get out the manual and double-check to ensure you reassembled it correctly and check to see that there aren't any blockages anywhere that might be messing with the normal flow pattern.

Fourth: Rogue variable. Anyone live with you that unbeknownst to you might be helping 'feed' the fish? I've heard stories about children, pets and even malicious or well-intentioned life partners playing h*ll with tanks.

Fifth: It's hopeless - get out now. DJ and I will be glad to come break down and collect your tank for rehoming to someone deserving. I call heads.

Luck. And on a side note, if the filtration is really good and your water parameters are stable, a tank can indeed run for a really long time without water changes. Seven months is a long time, but I've seen worse with little or nothing in the way of consequence; the caveat is that if something does happen it's likely to be acute. But if you have a good solid empathy thing going on with your fish and they indeed let you know when they're unhappy, that can work. I've done it for years with houseplants.
 
YSS

YSS

Members
Enkay said:
I have 0 ammonia, with a little bit of nitrites and nitrates. The pH usually is stable at 6.8 or so. Changing water messes it up.

I have 1 - 5", 1 - 4" and 4 smaller discus in the tank. Also have half a dozen cardinals and 2 albino ancistrus. Have a couple amazon swords in there as well. I seldom feed dry food. mostly frozen blood worms, Hans frozen beef mix or live black worms.
Click to expand...

Yea, your bio-load is relatively small for a tank that size. As others have mentioned, ammonia and nitrite should always be zero. If you have ammonia or nitrite, you have issues. Usually, water quliaty is measured by nitrate. What is your nitrate level? I have 12 large discus in my tank but I also have tons of other fish. I change my water every 4 to 5 days up to 80% each time.
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
Ok, so I come home and one of my discus is near death. First thing I do is 70% water change. I also took the filter apart and was surprised to see NO dirt on the sponges. That tells me something is wrong with the filter FOR SURE.

I put everything back together and plug the beast in. Starts revving up as usual, then stops (as usual). Then starts revving up again. But after 10 mins, NO water flow from the outlets. BAD BAD BAD. Maybe something didn't get set properly. So I do it all over again. NO LUCK!!!!

Now, I am panicking (STILL AM). Because, the filter has NO SUCTION what so ever. NONE. What is worse is I am going out of town tomorrow for the weekend. So I have to get the **** thing working tonight.

PLEASE HELP! What could be wrong? Have very little experience with a FX5 or for that matter ANY FILTER. I am also not quite a DIY guy.

ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Thanks!
 
Enkay

Enkay

Members
I have never filled it up before. It usually starts up in 2 or 3 minutes. I have left it on and if it doesn't start doing its thing in another 10 mins, that was the next thing I was planning on trying.
 
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