Very efficient operation Kaity! I haven't kept fish since I was a teenager, but enjoy your content . My filter cleanings were way more messy. Used to have 7 aquariums in my room, largest was a 1.2m that I built myself for one Oscar, also had 3 ponds in the garden that I built & landscsped. Had to sell everything when the family moved to the UK in 1986...we were back in South Africa within 6 months as things didn't work out, fishless. Then photography beckoned...now living in Cusco, Peru & enjoy watching wild fish when visiting the rainforest 😊
When I was 18 still living at my mum's house I had a massive aquarium in my room. Full of Cichlids and too many to list. I can't wait to get back into it. 😍
Love the fact that you have taken the time to run through your process, and your tank looks great (I may well move into Mbuna's myself). Im running a 500 ltr tank with the same FX6, but when I come to water changes I let the FX6 do most of the work for me. I have one long hose conected to the purge valve, this runs out into a garden water tank (we use the water on the garden plants). I then turn off the power, close the 'output' valve then turn the power back on, and run the filter until approx a quarter to a third of the water has been drained. Turn off the power and close the purge valve. Changing the hose to a shorter one I place a 30 ltr plasteres bucket next to the filter, fill the bucket with 30 ltrs of treated water, adjust the output valve to just less than 50%, fully close the input valve, turn the power back on and the pump re-fills the tank for me, while I keep the bucket topped up. Cleaning the filter (approx every 2 months), Im doing much the same as you, but I drain the filter using the big hose to outdoors. I cut large pond filter panels to create my internal sponges, but I sandwich a coarse and a medium together in all 6 spaces in the three trays with bio medium through the centre and pads top centre. Refitting the filter, I simply re-attach the input hose and gravity fill the FX6 from the tank, and again re-fill the tank as above once the filter is full.. This filter certainly saves me a lot of humping about with buckets, syphones and steps!!!
Hi Kaity. I have small tip to avoid that the filter is leaking: You should really cross-tighten the white lid fasteners to ensure an optimal flush seating on the edge of the bucket. First close all 8 fasteners and then tighten the one closest to yourself. Don't fully tighten, but reserve perhaps 1or ½ final rotation for later. Then tighten the one directly opposite and again reserve the last rotation for later. Then you go back to one of the fasteners on the side (90 degrees from where you began) and tighten that one and then the one opposite. Continue around the lid, always cross tightening the fasteners. Then lastly you go around again and tighten the missing last bit, you left off, the first time round. It might sound a little involved, but it really ensures that you get an even pressure on the lid and a lot lower risk of leaks 🙂 And this not only goes for pumps, but everywhere you need to tighten something round...
@@Kaityscichlids another issue that can happen is that junk gets clogged in the bottom valve when you close it after draining all the dirty water out, not leaving a 100% watertight seal. A good idea is to rinse clean water through the bucket (11:33), with the valve open. Make sure nothing but clean water is flowing out, and THEN close the valve. Nothing sucks more than being totally done...and watching a drip come out of that valve. LOL
I don't have a fish tank. I have never watched a video on fish tanks. I don't even eat fish. Yet, YT brought me here. But I enjoyed the beautiful fish and the video just the same. I would LOVE to see YT's algorithm.
Hi Kaity, thank you for spending the time to respond to me in your previous video, much appreciated. In relation to Cyan Bacteria, I used the black out method. Towels over the aquarium for 4 days to prevent all light and post blackout reduced my lighting duration haven't had it return in over a year. Good luck with it 😊
To stop the crud from the pipe from rushing into the tank when you turn the filter back on I place a net over the outlet for around 20 seconds, helps to capture most of it.
Good video Kaity, I love the FX6. It’s a beast and hard to clean but you don’t have to do it as often as smaller filters. I use the duel filters like you do and alternate cleaning. Does a great job! I enjoy you videos from the USA. Nice to see fellow fish keepers point of view from all over the world
Thank you so much Brian :D I agree, dual filters is the way to go! It is really nice peace of mind too that if something happens to one of them there's always a back up
Great video, your voice is really soothing to hear while i did my water changes. Pro tip: clean those gunky filter pads in the grass or near the plant roots, that gunk is filled with nutrients which plants will love to get!
Great Job!!!! I wish I could have a tank like you do!!! Beautiful Tank!!! I just don't have the space! 20 years ago I had a a 75 Gallon and 2 55 Gallon tanks of African Cichlids! Love them!! They have personality's! Now I just have a small 29 gallon Fresh water planted community tank.
Hi Kaity, You should always clean your propeller if you have access to it. I find it helps keep the magnet free of slime and buildup allowing it to spin freely. This will also keep it from wearing out from debris causing impellor to work harder or get unbalanced from gunk. I few paper towels to clean outside of magnet and also the inside cavity it is seated in. As always your tanks look marvelous.
Thank you so much Kodi!! For some reason RUclips didn't show me your comment until now, so apologies for not replying earlier! I really do need to clean it, I don't have a screwdriver at the moment which is why I've been avoiding it, but I need to just go buy one lol
You have a great looking aquarium, very healthy. But hold on, 80% a week? Thats over kill to the 10x power! Its your tank and do what ya like. I've been in the hobby for over 50 years and have managed a successful Pet shop. I cant began to remember how many aquariums I have had. So I think I know my stuff on aquariums fresh and salt. 20% a week is more than enough. You have really good filtration on your aquarium. Unless you have some way to match the parameters of the new water first you are subjecting your fish to sudden changes and we all know thats not good for them. Good luck , love your videos. very pleasant to watch.
Thank you so much!! The reason is because my nitrates were going through the roof because of how heavily stocked the tank is and with no plants in it aside from the algae
It has obviously been working for her, but I would have to agree with you. I'm just about to get back into fish on a smaller scale. Have a custom tank on order & can't wait!!!
40+ years of fish keeping and I totally agree, 20% to 40% if triggering breeding response. 80% would only need done in emergency if you done something or added something toxic but weekly,,definitely not recommended because of the shock that it creates to the fish. But everyone has their own ideas.
I used to have a large cichlid tank with two filters. I was using a two pre-filter (one each) with sponges. I never cleaned by filters. I only cleaned the small pre-filters which was very convenient, easy and fast to do.
I really love your videos. I used to own a 40 and 55 gallon tanks but were I live now,I can't have fish tanks but I still love the hobby. I came across your video and I thought this is going to be interesting and guess what, I was right! Lol , Thank you for sharing your videos I find them interesting and educational. ❤❤❤
I would put a sponge on the FX strainers so you don't have to clean the FX too often. You're brave! I'm afraid of leaks so I haven't cleaned my FX6 for a year or two. LOL. Great videos as always. Keep up the good work!
Hey Kaity...gr8 video...very formal and easy to understand, I really enjoyed most of it. However, not the time and effort it takes to clean up the FX6. I have noticed a lot of fish keepers prefer cannisters over sump filtration, and to be honest, I don't understand why because sump filtration requires far less maintenance and effort to clean, it only takes me about 10 minutes weekly to change my filter floss, and rinse out my medium and coarse sponges, the bio media(MATRIX) is rinsed out 1ce a year, and thats purely because my mech filtration does such an awesome job trapping all the gunk,the options and benefits of a sump filtration system is endless, I would like to suggest you consider changing to a sump setup, than carrying your cannister to your backyard every 3 months lol...These cannisters are so expensive, yet u are so limited with the filter media space. The only tricky thing about a sump filtration is setting up correctly. You must have a good and safe overflow system coupled with structured plumbing and a good reliable return pump to turn water effectively in your tank.
I have a sump on my other freshwater tank and there's definitely lots of benefits to it. I don't think I would ever have a sump on this tank though because I wouldn't want to drill the tank, especially with the glass being so thick. There is something I also like about canister filters, even though they're harder work to add media to and more effort to maintain, they're nice and "neat" and compact which is satisfying in a weird way 😂
It really surprised me to see how much work it takes to clean the FX6. I currently have an Oase Biomaster 350 and it's soooooo much easier to clean it. For starters, you can pop out the pre filter while the canister is in its place. Opening and closing back up is also super easy, barely an inconvenience. If I'm only cleaning the pre-filter, it takes me about 5 minutes total. If I'm cleaning the whole thing, maybe 15 minutes. But yeah, it was very interesting to see how other filters work and to also see your maintenance routine. Thanks for the video!
Great video! For the crap that gets trapped under the rocks, I just give it a good waft with an old store card. Seems to get most of it out so that the pump can suck it out with the water.
thank you for sharing your process. I'm a reef keeper and I'm surprised that the freshwater hobby hasn't adopted overflows, sumps, auto filter rollers and reactors. Less maintenance much more effective then trapping detritus in a canister for 3 months.
I ran a sump on my 75gal community for a couple of years. It didn't do as good of a job at picking up the fish waste and detritus as most canisters I've used. I tried various flow setups but just couldn't seem to get it doing a great job. I always had to spend more time siphoning crap than I should have needed to. The sump was also significantly noisier than the canisters which required me to sound proof the cabinet. one thing the sump was great for was becoming a home for any fry. They usually all found there way there.
Another great video Kaity! This is why I prefer filter-less tanks. 😂 When my tank was up, plants, algae eaters and shrimp. Best natural tank filters ever! I miss it! 😂
Filterless Aquariums can also be hard work in a different way. Very limited in what you can stock and you must be very specific in the set up and absolutely regimented in the maintenance. Shrimp don't consume fish waste so you gotta have a good planted set up and even then don't overstock. Definitely not for amateurs.
would love to see another tank scaping video! it's like an art form that i still can't quite seem to perfect, so i'm always looking for more inspiration!
Great video! When I restart my FX4 I put a fine mesh bag over the outlet nozzle so it catches some of the larger crud that comes out and stops it getting back into the tank.
Kaity, thanks for your video on the Hagen FX filter. Just a quick comment about decorating. I have found that angling the substrate towards the back can serve two purposes. First, it creates "depth" in your aquarium causing the aquarium to look bigger than it actually is. Second, I find that a great deal of fish waste "rolls" forward towards the front of the aquarium where it is easy to siphon out during water changes.
Cool Laila has made an appearance !!! 🥰 I serviced my FX's today too, but I do mine every 4 months (Chemi-Pure Green 4 month life). NICE you're using pre-filters, they really help and make filter service day allot less messy 😉👌
With 30 years of keeping fish, i made my cleaning really quick as it always took ages, normally, for cleaning filter media, i suction vac hand water out using a hand started fluval vac rather than sucking through a vac to start the flow, out from the aquarium into a large bucket, and squeeze the sponges in that water, it cleans them really well to where they look nearly new, same with the bacteria stone medium, i move it vigorously in their trays in the bucket. Works a treat. You can also use the fluval gravel vac and it connects to your FX6, seach it on fluvals youtube page. To me, an 80% waterchange each week when you're running 2 FX6 seems like excessive waste of water. Thats 28,000 liters of water a year. The cost of that would add up over a year, with water additives, heating etc and not sure if you have to pay for your water. A Fluval gravel vacuum that you plug in, not the battery one, would save a lot of water and time, and a high water flow for an hour turned on, so that the filters catch all the waste from the heavy stocking. I think you've added loads of extra steps for yourself and it looks like an unnecessary drawn out chore. Great video though, its a lovely tank and lovely fish too 😊
Another great video. I really don't think that you can make a bad one. I've heard those fx6 filters are a beast. I'm already excited for the next video.
I usually connect the hose runnin in the garden to the small bottom valve on the fx6 and open up the inlet valve of the filter. Leave the retour closed. No pump needed.
@@Kaityscichlids sadly where i am in NY every shop has pretty much the same boring selection.. have to resort to online or driving somewhere... thanks for the reply!!
Thanks for giving us so much informations about your filter system. Here in Germany the state of art of the filter system are the systems from Oasis. They have good quality, are easier to maintain than your system and they cost real money.
Thoroughly enjoyed this video, I love your knowledge and the confidence with which you address your tank maintenance . I had my own aquatic business for over 25 years here in the UK and although retired still have 3 tanks in my home. I see people giving you tips and advice which is good, but I get the feeling if something needs addressing or if there's a better way, you'll soon have it remedied. Keep up the good work, your tanks are amazing, love it.😍
I love the tips you have received & the best advice I have received from others who have already been successful with whatever it is and to see it in a visual demonstration that is the biggest problem solver / saves a lot of potential problems 🚫 I'm willing to bet that Kaity has already gotten better results from a generous person that is the way RUclips has been fairly consistent with for years . Take care Kaity and be on the lookout for a great opportunity for a new video 😗
You would benefit greatly from having some ceramic rings or other bio-media in the bottom of the filter. The Fluval FX line has a very deep channel under the media baskets/trays where the water initially comes into the filter. Add some media there and it will catch a lot of the larger waste before it has a chance to clog your sponges up like you had this time. 😊
That is a lot of work, I feel like a wash sink would make it easier. Nevertheless, great video, I enjoy listening to you very much. Have a great day Kaity. 😁👍
Great video. I have an fx6 I bought in 2018 for $550 Canadian dollars. 1USD=1.37CAD. Filter works great however in hindsight I should have just purchased a 40 gallon breeder, a pond pump, pvc pipes and build a sump for less. I had to replace one O-ring and for some reason I couldn't find just that piece to purchase and had to settle with a repair kit that includes a pump and other pieces for $100. I have an eheim that I purchased in 2003 that is still running like it's brand new.
I've always used a pump both ways for my water changes. I'm always surprised at how rarely I see others do it. I also have vibration pads under mine. I went a little farther and did some sound-proofing inside the cabinet.
Hey there. Wanted to let you know you were a tremendous help with how to clean the filter. I was having so much trouble with mine, I put it out in the garage. Maybe I'll give it another try.
Kaity. Thank you for an awesome video. I'm using An FX6 on 150 gallon stock tank for my koi pond quarantine. Then, if I have a new fish, or if I have a sick fish, I can put them in the quarantine tank. So to keep it biologically active, I have three beautiful goldfish in the quarantine tank. It sits outside, and it has a heater so maintains about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It had it for about three months, and I've struggled with getting the biological balance since I've had it. And it's not doing very well. Pneumonia nitrate and nitrate all continued to be too high.. it does not seem to bother the Goldfish as they are thriving and growing and eating well. But I would not want to put koi in there with them. I've loaded bacteria with superstart from microbe lift. And then I've used night-out II quite often also from microbe lift, but none of that's working. So I watched your video and I cleaned it very thoroughly. I put it all back together. And I started using the superstart again. I'm just wondering if you can give us links to the chemical and coral products that you use in the bottom tray. When I set it up, I didn't have any of that, so I just set it up without anything in the bottom tray. And maybe that's part of my problem. Again, thank you for an incredible video, and I wish you the best with your aquarium work.
Most definitely!! The chemical stuff I used is called "Seachem Purigen". RUclips won't led be add the link, but if you google it it should come up. If the issue is nitrates the Purigen might help a bit, but I didn't find it reduced the nitrates an awful lot. For high nitrates the only real options I can think of are reducing the number of fish, increasing the water volume, bigger/more water changes, feeding less food, and adding lots of plants to help eat the nitrates up. Hopefully you can find a balance!
Hi Kaity other great video and I like the steps by steps of how you described the way you pulled your filter apart to clean it love watching your videos Kaity 😊
awesome video as always. a star pattern for tightening the lid bolts is recommended for an even seal. much the same with car wheels. not required but highly recommended.
Love your content Kaity. I also have an fx6 on my discus tank. I run all sponge in my fx with a prefilter sponge. Works amazing like a huge sponge filter. 🧽
Hi Kaity, great video ! Here a few unsolicited advices. You should put you media in a media bag for easy cleaning and removing. You can also fully pack your basket with media. These basket can hold 4 liters of Seachem matrix media... You also only need a red basket on your top tray for your mecanical filtration and it allow you to put more media in your basket. Keep up your good work, you bring something different to the RUclips aquarium content creator that is really enjoyable.
Jesus!!!! 2 of those fx6 is soo crazy overkill in this tank.. also 80% water changes is insane. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. 30% is most I would ever do and with your filter setup you should be doing 20% at most as you have double filtration. Crazy. I’ve had my 220 gallon with 1 fx6 with 24 peacock cichlid for 5 years and it never has a speck of anything in the tank and I do a 30% water change 2 times a month. These filters do such an amazing job that you can do less water changes.
Ok. A few things. You are an amazing woman! You’re doing an amazing job with a beautiful tank. It’s made me want a tank again! Here’s a few suggestions. Never walk away from a syphon at the bottom of a tank. It could be disastrous. Use a hand clamp to secure the refill hose to the tank when refilling. Try to find inline heaters. Good choice in Eheim heaters but I hope you are using a controller too. Those UV modules need to be replaced with an inline UV system to get them out of the tank. Way too much equipment in the display. Way too much. Consider cutting down those AI light hangers or suspend them via a wire kit. The arms are a distraction on the back of the tank. Check out the work by Aquarium Design Group in the USA. Overall the scape is beautiful your knowledge of how to clean those filters is spot on and you teach well. Great job.
Hey um. For refilling since your using the tank water try refilling your tank and while it's filling up connect the in and out and let the suction on the hose fill the filter without turning it on 😊
Back flushing is really the way go. Once you remove the valve from the filter, just open it and let the water dump into a pail for a few seconds. Works great!
Great video as always. I have my two sided fighting fish tank set up and running. I'm going to let it run for a week before picking up my fish which are already paid for, just to make sure it's perfect as both fighting fish cost over $100 each lol but they look extremely awesome!
Very informative video. You have a great idea to use the water coming from the hose used to siphon out water during the water change to clean the filter media and sponges. I was just putting aquarium water in a 5 gallon bucket and then rinsing😁 the media and sponges in it, but I will try your method as it seems to be more efficient and takes less time.
Thank you John 😊 I used to use the bucket to clean the media too! It's definitely much easier doing it this way. I think someone recommended it on my last filter cleaning video
I love Hang-on filters because they are simple to install and maintain. Some of them have Bio-Wheels which look great. Please tell me your opinion and if possible set it up and do a video. Thank you. 🐠
I think hang-on filters can be great, the only problem is they don't tend to have very large pumps or hold a lot of media, so they're normally better for smaller tanks
That's a nice tank you have and some very nice filters and don't worry about what people said when you were rinsing them in the tub I used to do the same thing but if you do it with the hose outside it's a lot easier and less cleaning lol I have big Oscars with Koi's and Comets in the same pond LOL
nice tank young lady ... top tip for you as i see this tank has sand in it when you clean the glass be very careful that there is not any sand on the mag glass scraper as it will scratch the glass . always check this before you do the glass clean .... as we all know how it feels to get a scratch on the glass.. beautiful tanks well done
Hello My Friend….your Videos are a beautiful & enlightning.. Thing to see…my electric bill was so high every month, I took the Fish to my local Fish store & My last 3 aquariums are for sale… I can’t Afford this Hobby…All my Fish went to New Homes.. Im Still Keeping your Channel.. I can look at your Fish from Afar” from Time to Time” Your doing a Awesome Job in this Hobby & your aquariums are a Joy to look at..good🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀😀✌🏾
I agree. Mesh bags really make rinsing the media easier. They would also help so she could immediately throw the bio media into a bucket of tank water after taking off the lid while she cleans the rest of the filter.
@@Kaityscichlids I know what you mean. It’s like putting a square or rectangular bag into a circular tray. You just have to find the right sized bags to make it work.
Obviously I love the information especially on African cichlids, but I just have to say you literally have one of the sweetest voices out there.
So true
And she's very pretty, just like you miss Riona. I saw some of your videos, you are just as amazing as Kaity.
@@below_average_student True
Awwww, thank you Riona! I really appreciate it 😊
I like how she says "here " but it's like "Heah" lol the Australian agent is nice
What a beautiful aquarium. Your fish are very lucky to have you as an owner.
Very efficient operation Kaity! I haven't kept fish since I was a teenager, but enjoy your content . My filter cleanings were way more messy. Used to have 7 aquariums in my room, largest was a 1.2m that I built myself for one Oscar, also had 3 ponds in the garden that I built & landscsped. Had to sell everything when the family moved to the UK in 1986...we were back in South Africa within 6 months as things didn't work out, fishless. Then photography beckoned...now living in Cusco, Peru & enjoy watching wild fish when visiting the rainforest 😊
When I was 18 still living at my mum's house I had a massive aquarium in my room. Full of Cichlids and too many to list. I can't wait to get back into it. 😍
That used to be me too!! I had a 6ft fish tank in my bedroom when I was a teenager 😂
Give you a lot of respect.
Taking care of those huge tanks & delicate fishes.
Is hard dedicated work.
Beautiful fishes & tank. 👌!
Thank you so much :)
👍👍👍
Love the fact that you have taken the time to run through your process, and your tank looks great (I may well move into Mbuna's myself).
Im running a 500 ltr tank with the same FX6, but when I come to water changes I let the FX6 do most of the work for me. I have one long hose conected to the purge valve, this runs out into a garden water tank (we use the water on the garden plants). I then turn off the power, close the 'output' valve then turn the power back on, and run the filter until approx a quarter to a third of the water has been drained. Turn off the power and close the purge valve.
Changing the hose to a shorter one I place a 30 ltr plasteres bucket next to the filter, fill the bucket with 30 ltrs of treated water, adjust the output valve to just less than 50%, fully close the input valve, turn the power back on and the pump re-fills the tank for me, while I keep the bucket topped up.
Cleaning the filter (approx every 2 months), Im doing much the same as you, but I drain the filter using the big hose to outdoors. I cut large pond filter panels to create my internal sponges, but I sandwich a coarse and a medium together in all 6 spaces in the three trays with bio medium through the centre and pads top centre.
Refitting the filter, I simply re-attach the input hose and gravity fill the FX6 from the tank, and again re-fill the tank as above once the filter is full..
This filter certainly saves me a lot of humping about with buckets, syphones and steps!!!
Hi Kaity. I have small tip to avoid that the filter is leaking: You should really cross-tighten the white lid fasteners to ensure an optimal flush seating on the edge of the bucket. First close all 8 fasteners and then tighten the one closest to yourself. Don't fully tighten, but reserve perhaps 1or ½ final rotation for later. Then tighten the one directly opposite and again reserve the last rotation for later. Then you go back to one of the fasteners on the side (90 degrees from where you began) and tighten that one and then the one opposite. Continue around the lid, always cross tightening the fasteners. Then lastly you go around again and tighten the missing last bit, you left off, the first time round.
It might sound a little involved, but it really ensures that you get an even pressure on the lid and a lot lower risk of leaks 🙂 And this not only goes for pumps, but everywhere you need to tighten something round...
Ooooo, thank you!! That is good advice. It's like changing a tire
@@Kaityscichlids another issue that can happen is that junk gets clogged in the bottom valve when you close it after draining all the dirty water out, not leaving a 100% watertight seal.
A good idea is to rinse clean water through the bucket (11:33), with the valve open. Make sure nothing but clean water is flowing out, and THEN close the valve. Nothing sucks more than being totally done...and watching a drip come out of that valve. LOL
Exactly right, just like you said, changing a tire. I have 5 of these fx5 and fx6 filters and that's correct.
Oi 💓
That´s alot of water you change..I´we been told 15-25% at max.
The FX-series also have large O-rings that needs to be replaced after time..
I don't have a fish tank. I have never watched a video on fish tanks. I don't even eat fish. Yet, YT brought me here. But I enjoyed the beautiful fish and the video just the same. I would LOVE to see YT's algorithm.
Men's culture lol
Hi Kaity, thank you for spending the time to respond to me in your previous video, much appreciated.
In relation to Cyan Bacteria, I used the black out method. Towels over the aquarium for 4 days to prevent all light and post blackout reduced my lighting duration haven't had it return in over a year. Good luck with it 😊
That is great to know!! Thank you so much for the tip 😊
Wow thanks for that concise tutorial on tank cleaning and valuable information regarding the looking-after filter media.
Wave maker to dislodge muck... I've not seen that before. Clever!
To stop the crud from the pipe from rushing into the tank when you turn the filter back on I place a net over the outlet for around 20 seconds, helps to capture most of it.
That's a great idea, thank you!
Or you can clean the tubes out!!!
Put a bucket beneath the outtake hose and let it reverse flush by opening the valve. It will take care of 90+% of the residue issue.
Oh my gosh
Never watched a tank maintenance video before..
With this much interest ❤️❤️
Thank you 😊❤️
Good video Kaity, I love the FX6. It’s a beast and hard to clean but you don’t have to do it as often as smaller filters. I use the duel filters like you do and alternate cleaning. Does a great job! I enjoy you videos from the USA. Nice to see fellow fish keepers point of view from all over the world
Thank you so much Brian :D I agree, dual filters is the way to go! It is really nice peace of mind too that if something happens to one of them there's always a back up
I agree and disagree. The fx6 is relatively easy to clean In my opinion
Great video, your voice is really soothing to hear while i did my water changes. Pro tip: clean those gunky filter pads in the grass or near the plant roots, that gunk is filled with nutrients which plants will love to get!
Ooooo that is a great idea!! The plants would love that. Thank you 😊
As a beginner iv'e found this an extremely informative video. Your explanations are invaluable. Thanks you 🙏🏻🙋🏻♂
Love the detailed explanations. Very informative. Doesn't assume we are all experienced aquarists.
Thank you so much 😊🙏
Great video….your love of the hobby really comes across on screen. I have a FX6 & you showed perfectly how to clean it… 👍
Thank you so much 😊🙌
Great Job!!!! I wish I could have a tank like you do!!! Beautiful Tank!!! I just don't have the space! 20 years ago I had a a 75 Gallon and 2 55 Gallon tanks of African Cichlids! Love them!! They have personality's! Now I just have a small 29 gallon Fresh water planted community tank.
Thank you so much Ed 😊
..
.a
@@soshiakter997 ??
Your tank is beautiful with cichlids and well maintained 👍
Hi Kaity,
You should always clean your propeller if you have access to it. I find it helps keep the magnet free of slime and buildup allowing it to spin freely. This will also keep it from wearing out from debris causing impellor to work harder or get unbalanced from gunk. I few paper towels to clean outside of magnet and also the inside cavity it is seated in. As always your tanks look marvelous.
Thank you so much Kodi!! For some reason RUclips didn't show me your comment until now, so apologies for not replying earlier! I really do need to clean it, I don't have a screwdriver at the moment which is why I've been avoiding it, but I need to just go buy one lol
You have a great looking aquarium, very healthy. But hold on, 80% a week? Thats over kill to the 10x power! Its your tank and do what ya like. I've been in the hobby for over 50 years and have managed a successful Pet shop. I cant began to remember how many aquariums I have had. So I think I know my stuff on aquariums fresh and salt. 20% a week is more than enough. You have really good filtration on your aquarium. Unless you have some way to match the parameters of the new water first you are subjecting your fish to sudden changes and we all know thats not good for them. Good luck , love your videos. very pleasant to watch.
Thank you so much!! The reason is because my nitrates were going through the roof because of how heavily stocked the tank is and with no plants in it aside from the algae
It has obviously been working for her, but I would have to agree with you. I'm just about to get back into fish on a smaller scale. Have a custom tank on order & can't wait!!!
40+ years of fish keeping and I totally agree, 20% to 40% if triggering breeding response. 80% would only need done in emergency if you done something or added something toxic but weekly,,definitely not recommended because of the shock that it creates to the fish.
But everyone has their own ideas.
Highly informative. Also great colection of cichlid fishes. Simply amazing
Thank you so much 😊
I used to have a large cichlid tank with two filters. I was using a two pre-filter (one each) with sponges. I never cleaned by filters. I only cleaned the small pre-filters which was very convenient, easy and fast to do.
I really love your videos. I used to own a 40 and 55 gallon tanks but were I live now,I can't have fish tanks but I still love the hobby. I came across your video and I thought this is going to be interesting and guess what, I was right! Lol , Thank you for sharing your videos I find them interesting and educational. ❤❤❤
Awwww, thank you so much. That is so lovely to hear
I would put a sponge on the FX strainers so you don't have to clean the FX too often. You're brave! I'm afraid of leaks so I haven't cleaned my FX6 for a year or two. LOL. Great videos as always. Keep up the good work!
Oh my goodness!! 🤣 I have done the same before with other canister filters though so I feel you
Hello Kaity this was a real pleasure to watch
Hello 😄👋 Thank you for watching 😊
Your fresh water tank and fish look very beautiful.👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you so much 😊
Hey Kaity...gr8 video...very formal and easy to understand, I really enjoyed most of it. However, not the time and effort it takes to clean up the FX6. I have noticed a lot of fish keepers prefer cannisters over sump filtration, and to be honest, I don't understand why because sump filtration requires far less maintenance and effort to clean, it only takes me about 10 minutes weekly to change my filter floss, and rinse out my medium and coarse sponges, the bio media(MATRIX) is rinsed out 1ce a year, and thats purely because my mech filtration does such an awesome job trapping all the gunk,the options and benefits of a sump filtration system is endless, I would like to suggest you consider changing to a sump setup, than carrying your cannister to your backyard every 3 months lol...These cannisters are so expensive, yet u are so limited with the filter media space. The only tricky thing about a sump filtration is setting up correctly. You must have a good and safe overflow system coupled with structured plumbing and a good reliable return pump to turn water effectively in your tank.
I have a sump on my other freshwater tank and there's definitely lots of benefits to it. I don't think I would ever have a sump on this tank though because I wouldn't want to drill the tank, especially with the glass being so thick. There is something I also like about canister filters, even though they're harder work to add media to and more effort to maintain, they're nice and "neat" and compact which is satisfying in a weird way 😂
It really surprised me to see how much work it takes to clean the FX6. I currently have an Oase Biomaster 350 and it's soooooo much easier to clean it. For starters, you can pop out the pre filter while the canister is in its place. Opening and closing back up is also super easy, barely an inconvenience. If I'm only cleaning the pre-filter, it takes me about 5 minutes total. If I'm cleaning the whole thing, maybe 15 minutes. But yeah, it was very interesting to see how other filters work and to also see your maintenance routine. Thanks for the video!
Yes it's such a pain opening and closing the FX6, it takes a long time! The Biomaster sounds really good
Great video! For the crap that gets trapped under the rocks, I just give it a good waft with an old store card.
Seems to get most of it out so that the pump can suck it out with the water.
Thank you Andreas! That's a great idea too
thank you for sharing your process. I'm a reef keeper and I'm surprised that the freshwater hobby hasn't adopted overflows, sumps, auto filter rollers and reactors. Less maintenance much more effective then trapping detritus in a canister for 3 months.
I've got a sump on my other freshwater tank and am potentially getting a filter roller installed which I'm keen to try!
I ran a sump on my 75gal community for a couple of years. It didn't do as good of a job at picking up the fish waste and detritus as most canisters I've used. I tried various flow setups but just couldn't seem to get it doing a great job. I always had to spend more time siphoning crap than I should have needed to. The sump was also significantly noisier than the canisters which required me to sound proof the cabinet. one thing the sump was great for was becoming a home for any fry. They usually all found there way there.
Another great video Kaity! This is why I prefer filter-less tanks. 😂 When my tank was up, plants, algae eaters and shrimp. Best natural tank filters ever! I miss it! 😂
Thank you!! Yes filterless would be a dream 🤣 I would love to have a tank like that one day
Filterless Aquariums can also be hard work in a different way. Very limited in what you can stock and you must be very specific in the set up and absolutely regimented in the maintenance. Shrimp don't consume fish waste so you gotta have a good planted set up and even then don't overstock. Definitely not for amateurs.
Happy fishies. They really display your efforts ! 🙂
Thank you so much Michael 😊
Watching from Liverpool Englnd ,Plants help with the nitrates, love the tank oh and the accent .
Keep up the hard work.
I have two FX6 filters on my Mbuna tank as well. I love cleaning them 😁
I want to see all those upcoming videos, they sound interesting.
That's great to hear! Thank you 😊
Nice work, would definitely like to see the discus unboxing if you go I’m considering getting some for my empty 4ft tank.
Thank you 😊 I think it'll be a good video!
would love to see another tank scaping video! it's like an art form that i still can't quite seem to perfect, so i'm always looking for more inspiration!
Yes I'd love to do another one!! Jack is so great at aquascaping too. It would be great to do another step by step one, I learn so much from them
Great video! When I restart my FX4 I put a fine mesh bag over the outlet nozzle so it catches some of the larger crud that comes out and stops it getting back into the tank.
I love watching your videos. There's always something to learn. Thank you for sharing ❤️
Thank you Ryan! 😊
Love the irrigation setup 🌱🌿👏 Great video, ❤️ Your channel ‼️
Thank you so much Joey 😊
Your video is very helpful!! I've seen different video's but your the best Kaity 👍
Thank you so much James 🙌
Kaity, thanks for your video on the Hagen FX filter. Just a quick comment about decorating. I have found that angling the substrate towards the back can serve two purposes. First, it creates "depth" in your aquarium causing the aquarium to look bigger than it actually is. Second, I find that a great deal of fish waste "rolls" forward towards the front of the aquarium where it is easy to siphon out during water changes.
Another great video Kaity. Keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you so much 😊
I've been really enjoying your content lately. Keep up the Amazing videos. I would enjoy some more scaping and store tours.
Thank you so much Michael 😊 I've managed to lock Atlas in for the next one! I'm keen to go back there now I've got the good camera
Happy holidays Kaity! Much love all the way from San Diego, California USA!!! ✌🏾🎄
👍🏻😎 That'a a beautiful African Cichlid tank for sure. Very nice!!
Cool Laila has made an appearance !!! 🥰 I serviced my FX's today too, but I do mine every 4 months (Chemi-Pure Green 4 month life). NICE you're using pre-filters, they really help and make filter service day allot less messy 😉👌
Yes she loves being apart of it 😁 I haven't quite got a prefilter yet lol but I mentioned them with you in mind 🤣
Fantastic video, Kaity!
Thank you! 😄
With 30 years of keeping fish, i made my cleaning really quick as it always took ages, normally, for cleaning filter media, i suction vac hand water out using a hand started fluval vac rather than sucking through a vac to start the flow, out from the aquarium into a large bucket, and squeeze the sponges in that water, it cleans them really well to where they look nearly new, same with the bacteria stone medium, i move it vigorously in their trays in the bucket. Works a treat.
You can also use the fluval gravel vac and it connects to your FX6, seach it on fluvals youtube page.
To me, an 80% waterchange each week when you're running 2 FX6 seems like excessive waste of water.
Thats 28,000 liters of water a year.
The cost of that would add up over a year, with water additives, heating etc and not sure if you have to pay for your water.
A Fluval gravel vacuum that you plug in, not the battery one, would save a lot of water and time, and a high water flow for an hour turned on, so that the filters catch all the waste from the heavy stocking.
I think you've added loads of extra steps for yourself and it looks like an unnecessary drawn out chore.
Great video though, its a lovely tank and lovely fish too 😊
Another great video. I really don't think that you can make a bad one. I've heard those fx6 filters are a beast. I'm already excited for the next video.
Hahaha, thank you! I hope I never do 🤣
Yours so thriving and colorful!
I usually connect the hose runnin in the garden to the small bottom valve on the fx6 and open up the inlet valve of the filter. Leave the retour closed. No pump needed.
i used to run pretty much the same setup... pretty much the same fish also on my 125G.
Great Job!!
Thank you 😄
@@Kaityscichlids sadly where i am in NY every shop has pretty much the same boring selection.. have to resort to online or driving somewhere...
thanks for the reply!!
Thanks for giving us so much informations about your filter system. Here in Germany the state of art of the filter system are the systems from Oasis. They have good quality, are easier to maintain than your system and they cost real money.
Thank you Joachim! Someone else mentioned those filters too, they sound like they are quite good
So beautiful and calming to watch 🐠 thank you for this nice video! Love your channel. Girlpower!💪🏻
So good. I just did my canister yesterday. I dread it and look forward to it at the same time. Haha satisfying.
Your fish tank is gorgeous !
Thoroughly enjoyed this video, I love your knowledge and the confidence with which you address your tank maintenance . I had my own aquatic business for over 25 years here in the UK and although retired still have 3 tanks in my home. I see people giving you tips and advice which is good, but I get the feeling if something needs addressing or if there's a better way, you'll soon have it remedied. Keep up the good work, your tanks are amazing, love it.😍
Thank you so much 😄
I love the tips you have received & the best advice I have received from others who have already been successful with whatever it is and to see it in a visual demonstration that is the biggest problem solver / saves a lot of potential problems 🚫 I'm willing to bet that Kaity has already gotten better results from a generous person that is the way RUclips has been fairly consistent with for years . Take care Kaity and be on the lookout for a great opportunity for a new video 😗
You would benefit greatly from having some ceramic rings or other bio-media in the bottom of the filter. The Fluval FX line has a very deep channel under the media baskets/trays where the water initially comes into the filter. Add some media there and it will catch a lot of the larger waste before it has a chance to clog your sponges up like you had this time. 😊
Beautiful Kaity…. And the video is good as well.
Thanks for the great content, Kaity!
Thank you for watching! 😄
greetings from Chicago, Kaity! Dirty filters. Super Clean Aquarium!
Hello!! 😊👋
I love all you video ideas. Enjoying the channel very much.
Thank you so much 😊
That is a lot of work, I feel like a wash sink would make it easier. Nevertheless, great video, I enjoy listening to you very much. Have a great day Kaity. 😁👍
Thank you 😄 Yes, it's definitely a work out 🤣
Great video, I have an FX-6 and 4. Thanks for the pointers I will be cleaning the FX-4 tomorrow 😉Cheers!
Great video. I am currently running 8 FX6s and 2 FX4s on my tanks. It gives me motivation to clean mine.
Thank you 😄 And wowsers, that's a lot of FX6's. I think you will need the extra motivation 🤣
Great video. 🐟. I change my fx filter. Evory 3 months as well ✅👋
Thank you Mike! Great minds think alike 😄
That Tank is Awesome...
Your videos are always great! Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much 😊
Great video. I have an fx6 I bought in 2018 for $550 Canadian dollars. 1USD=1.37CAD. Filter works great however in hindsight I should have just purchased a 40 gallon breeder, a pond pump, pvc pipes and build a sump for less. I had to replace one O-ring and for some reason I couldn't find just that piece to purchase and had to settle with a repair kit that includes a pump and other pieces for $100. I have an eheim that I purchased in 2003 that is still running like it's brand new.
I definitely think there's some other great options out there. I've got an Aquaone filter that I've had for 10 years now and it's still working!
Great video Kaity!! You Rock!!! New Subscriber😊😊💜💜
Thank you so much Samantha!! And thank you for the sub 🙌
This looks really awesome! Great tank for the cichilds Kaity =)
Thank you 😄
I've always used a pump both ways for my water changes. I'm always surprised at how rarely I see others do it. I also have vibration pads under mine. I went a little farther and did some sound-proofing inside the cabinet.
Hey there. Wanted to let you know you were a tremendous help with how to clean the filter. I was having so much trouble with mine, I put it out in the garage. Maybe I'll give it another try.
Hi kaity. Absolutely stunning tank very well done for the Educational post.🥰🥰🥰
Kaity. Thank you for an awesome video. I'm using An FX6 on 150 gallon stock tank for my koi pond quarantine. Then, if I have a new fish, or if I have a sick fish, I can put them in the quarantine tank. So to keep it biologically active, I have three beautiful goldfish in the quarantine tank. It sits outside, and it has a heater so maintains about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It had it for about three months, and I've struggled with getting the biological balance since I've had it. And it's not doing very well. Pneumonia nitrate and nitrate all continued to be too high.. it does not seem to bother the Goldfish as they are thriving and growing and eating well. But I would not want to put koi in there with them. I've loaded bacteria with superstart from microbe lift. And then I've used night-out II quite often also from microbe lift, but none of that's working. So I watched your video and I cleaned it very thoroughly. I put it all back together. And I started using the superstart again. I'm just wondering if you can give us links to the chemical and coral products that you use in the bottom tray. When I set it up, I didn't have any of that, so I just set it up without anything in the bottom tray. And maybe that's part of my problem. Again, thank you for an incredible video, and I wish you the best with your aquarium work.
Most definitely!! The chemical stuff I used is called "Seachem Purigen". RUclips won't led be add the link, but if you google it it should come up. If the issue is nitrates the Purigen might help a bit, but I didn't find it reduced the nitrates an awful lot. For high nitrates the only real options I can think of are reducing the number of fish, increasing the water volume, bigger/more water changes, feeding less food, and adding lots of plants to help eat the nitrates up. Hopefully you can find a balance!
Hi Kaity other great video and I like the steps by steps of how you described the way you pulled your filter apart to clean it love watching your videos Kaity 😊
Thank you so much Noel 😊 I appreciate it!
awesome video as always. a star pattern for tightening the lid bolts is recommended for an even seal. much the same with car wheels. not required but highly recommended.
I will definitely do this next time! Thank you 😄
Yes to the collab videos!!!!!!
Great tutorial Kaity! I wish they did this well with other filters.
Thank you 😄
Hi Kaity
Very good video I enjoyed your video It's nice to see how you care for and raise fish, thank you for sharing your knowledge
Love your content Kaity. I also have an fx6 on my discus tank. I run all sponge in my fx with a prefilter sponge. Works amazing like a huge sponge filter. 🧽
Hi Kaity, great video ! Here a few unsolicited advices. You should put you media in a media bag for easy cleaning and removing. You can also fully pack your basket with media. These basket can hold 4 liters of Seachem matrix media... You also only need a red basket on your top tray for your mecanical filtration and it allow you to put more media in your basket. Keep up your good work, you bring something different to the RUclips aquarium content creator that is really enjoyable.
Thank you so much :)
Jesus!!!! 2 of those fx6 is soo crazy overkill in this tank.. also 80% water changes is insane. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. 30% is most I would ever do and with your filter setup you should be doing 20% at most as you have double filtration. Crazy. I’ve had my 220 gallon with 1 fx6 with 24 peacock cichlid for 5 years and it never has a speck of anything in the tank and I do a 30% water change 2 times a month. These filters do such an amazing job that you can do less water changes.
Ok. A few things. You are an amazing woman! You’re doing an amazing job with a beautiful tank. It’s made me want a tank again! Here’s a few suggestions. Never walk away from a syphon at the bottom of a tank. It could be disastrous. Use a hand clamp to secure the refill hose to the tank when refilling. Try to find inline heaters. Good choice in Eheim heaters but I hope you are using a controller too. Those UV modules need to be replaced with an inline UV system to get them out of the tank. Way too much equipment in the display. Way too much. Consider cutting down those AI light hangers or suspend them via a wire kit. The arms are a distraction on the back of the tank. Check out the work by Aquarium Design Group in the USA. Overall the scape is beautiful your knowledge of how to clean those filters is spot on and you teach well. Great job.
Thank you so much ❤️
Hey um. For refilling since your using the tank water try refilling your tank and while it's filling up connect the in and out and let the suction on the hose fill the filter without turning it on 😊
I like your selection of lighting
Thank you 😊
Would recommend watching the pond guru on here, his pimp my filter series, he does the fx6 👍🏻👍🏻
I have checked out his stuff before, his channel is great!
Great video, I have an fx6 and a fx4 on my 125g tank. One thing you can do is put a net over the output hose to catch all of the hose gunk,
Thank you 😊 That is an excellent idea
Back flushing is really the way go. Once you remove the valve from the filter, just open it and let the water dump into a pail for a few seconds. Works great!
I used to love cleaning out my old Fluval as it was always loaded with young shrimp 😁
Great video as always. I have my two sided fighting fish tank set up and running. I'm going to let it run for a week before picking up my fish which are already paid for, just to make sure it's perfect as both fighting fish cost over $100 each lol but they look extremely awesome!
Oh wow, they are expensive fighting fish!! I bet they look great though 😄 That's so exciting for you, I hope they go well in their new tanks 😊
Good presentation. Good information
Thank you 😊🙌
Beautiful tank!
Thank you ❤️
Very informative video. You have a great idea to use the water coming from the hose used to siphon out water during the water change to clean the filter media and sponges. I was just putting aquarium water in a 5 gallon bucket and then rinsing😁 the media and sponges in it, but I will try your method as it seems to be more efficient and takes less time.
Thank you John 😊 I used to use the bucket to clean the media too! It's definitely much easier doing it this way. I think someone recommended it on my last filter cleaning video
I love Hang-on filters because they are simple to install and maintain. Some of them have Bio-Wheels which look great. Please tell me your opinion and if possible set it up and do a video. Thank you. 🐠
I think hang-on filters can be great, the only problem is they don't tend to have very large pumps or hold a lot of media, so they're normally better for smaller tanks
That's a nice tank you have and some very nice filters and don't worry about what people said when you were rinsing them in the tub I used to do the same thing but if you do it with the hose outside it's a lot easier and less cleaning lol I have big Oscars with Koi's and Comets in the same pond LOL
nice tank young lady ... top tip for you as i see this tank has sand in it when you clean the glass be very careful that there is not any sand on the mag glass scraper as it will scratch the glass . always check this before you do the glass clean .... as we all know how it feels to get a scratch on the glass.. beautiful tanks well done
Thank you so much!
Hello My Friend….your Videos are a beautiful & enlightning.. Thing to see…my electric bill was so high every month, I took the Fish to my local Fish store & My last 3 aquariums are for sale… I can’t Afford this Hobby…All my Fish went to New Homes.. Im Still Keeping your Channel.. I can look at your Fish from Afar” from Time to Time” Your doing a Awesome Job in this Hobby & your aquariums are a Joy to look at..good🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀😀✌🏾
Oh no!! I'm so sorry to hear that Bernando 😭 Well I'm glad you can still live vicariously through my RUclips videos to enjoy some aquariums 😊
@@Kaityscichlids Thankyou.. I dont feel bad at all..The Fish can go to New homes And someone else Can enjoy them..😀
I also run two fx6 in my tank, and a good way to make cleaning the bio media more management is to keep them in mesh bags.
I agree. Mesh bags really make rinsing the media easier. They would also help so she could immediately throw the bio media into a bucket of tank water after taking off the lid while she cleans the rest of the filter.
Oh yes, I'm pretty sure the media is meant to be in bags actually 😬 I just find the bags so annoying because they don't sit properly in the baskets
@@Kaityscichlids I know what you mean. It’s like putting a square or rectangular bag into a circular tray. You just have to find the right sized bags to make it work.
I was doing this for some time but I fount the mesh was still detritus was finding its way into the bag and gathering there.