So i picked up my second hand FX5 on the weekend that i brought off someone on ebay. I got it for about half price and they say its only 4 months old! Sound good right? Well it is but the there is quiet a few part missing, all i got was the filter unit...

No hose, intake or output, valuve/taps to connect the hose to the filter and no rim conecters to hold the hose's in place. The seller did mention there was no hose's but i thought he just ment the was no actual hose and all other bits were there as he said "every thing else is complete" i guess he thought all those parts were one piece? I'd already paid for it on paypal so there want much i could do when i got the as he didnt have the parts any more:(

Now i have a kick arse filter but cannot use it yet. I had a bit of a look for parts on the internet (australian sites) and all the parts i need dont seem that easy to come by and the parts i can get come a price! about AUD$50 for the hose's alone. Now i was wondering if i could get a lot of the parts for a hardware store? I would probaly want to get original intake and out puts but thought it shouldnt be to hard to get taps and valvues that fit and do pretty the same job....any one done this before?

I pulled apart the filter and cleaned all the parts, it had a lot of sand in it but the impeller seemed fine.

As for media, the white sponges that come with it can just be washed and re-used over and over again right? Ist that all its needs for mechanical filtration? i seen some poilishing pad and fine filter pads for a fx5 for sale on the net, are they needed? One of the media basket was full of stones, just looked like river stone to me about 10mm in diameter, i know some people use thing like this for bio media, ist it worth it or should i replace the with bio balls or ceramic rings?

and the last thing i want to ask is how does the filtration work? all other canisters ive come in to conntact with filter from bottom to top which makes sense and makes arranging your media pretty easy. With the fx5 the filter pads are on the outside and bio media in the middle which leads me to think that the water spins around the side of the canister before exiting through the middle at the bottom? am i right?

thanks

hi have a look at this, sorry just realised it doesnt ansrew your questions, lol

www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk you could place an add on this web site, its pretty could, might find someone who is getting rid of a broken one

thanks kazzy60 i watched that video the other day. That site has lots of good stuff but i live in australia and would probaly be heaps to have stuff shipped here, buts thanks for the efforts

U cant send it back to that guy.

the guys was a bit of an idiot! i picked it up from his house an we had a small argument but there wasnt much i could do as i's already paid for it and he was saying that it clearly said i need to replace the hose which was true but my argument was that there was more then just the hose missing. i'll attach a link to the actuion cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte...geName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
he used the official description about the filter that you see on every web site selling it which mentions a clog free strainer in take, aqua stop valves,twin direction out put and dvd.....wasnt much i could do.....maybe he didnt know much about what he was selling and thought all that was missing was a simple hose?????
I'm just going to give him negitive feed back due miss leading info.....its not th end of the world got it cheap and it works just got to get some parts to get it running

Lol do you want to here something very frustrating. I have 2 spare valves, plus the input and output. all brand new and unused right here in the uk. sorry. I guess sending them to you on the other side of the world would be more costly than buying them new. its a bugger. but good news is you can get the parts also you can do without them and convert to plastic piping. there is a thread somewhere on this site. prob in the DIY?? i will try to find it. i think it was by BGH?

i would still report him to ebay, and oh yes give him a bad feedback, but wait till he leaves feedback first or he will give you a neg aswell hes an idiot, but as you said least it does work, you can modify it with a little thought, goodluck xxxx

here you go it was posted by necromancer
innovationlandscaping.com/fx5/

you can get the piping for the FX5 off ebay
for cheap
or just go to a hardware store and pick up some tubing even cheaper...both will work fine