Fx5 Draining Question...

[MikeO]

I need to do a full water change as I am the end of my fishless cycle.

I have just gone to do it and realised I dont have any pipe that fits the purge valve on my FX5. I also dont have a spare hose. Is there any other way I can drain it? I was going to just close the inlet hose and pump all the water back into the tank (obvisouly having removed some to avoid a flood!) but wasnt sure if this would damage the pump once it empties, or if this would even work? I assume this method would also mean it would need to be re-primed.

I cant go to get any pipe until next week either as my daughter has chicken pox, so cant take her out really!

 

[Realtree]

I need to do a full water change as I am the end of my fishless cycle.

I have just gone to do it and realised I dont have any pipe that fits the purge valve on my FX5. I also dont have a spare hose. Is there any other way I can drain it? I was going to just close the inlet hose and pump all the water back into the tank (obvisouly having removed some to avoid a flood!) but wasnt sure if this would damage the pump once it empties, or if this would even work? I assume this method would also mean it would need to be re-primed.

I cant go to get any pipe until next week either as my daughter has chicken pox, so cant take her out really!

One way of draining your tank would be to syphon it using the fx5 pipework
Shut off the aquavalve connecter on your outlet pipe - remove pipe from fx5 and aim over bucket or suitable container open aquavalve and it will syphon - close aquavalvce when bucket full and repeat process till tank is drained.
This way you will not need to mess about with the filter when tank is refilled and the Fx5 will reprime itself as normal

 

[MikeO]

I should have said I also need to clean the filter media and also have media to add, so deffo need to drain the FX5.

Been to two pet shops, B&Q and the plumb centre this morning but to no avail. Didnt want to have to go to the fish shop because its out of town but looks like i may have to

 

[always4lora]

If you want to drain the filter just turn of the valves and take the connections off, the filter is fairly heavy full of water like but not unmanageable. Take it to the sink and empty it there.
Get a couple of towels handy though as little bit of water will come out (less than say half a cup of water)

Don't worry about repriming it as it does it automatically.

If you want the tank emptying and dont have any hose just switch of the two valves pop the outlet which normally go's into the tank into a drain or bucket and switch it back on.

 

[MikeO]

Thanks - I wasnt sure if I could just close the hoses and take them off - i was under the impression it had to be drained.

I have found some of the size pipe to fit the purge valve off a website now for 49p a meter, so ordered 10m so I can attach it and send it straight to the outside drain. I have a seperate hose to drain the tank with which i just use suction for, but presumably you can use the purge valve to fully drain the tank... i imagine it might take a while to do 260l tho!

Cheers for the help.

 

[always4lora]

Thanks - I wasnt sure if I could just close the hoses and take them off - i was under the impression it had to be drained.

I have found some of the size pipe to fit the purge valve off a website now for 49p a meter, so ordered 10m so I can attach it and send it straight to the outside drain. I have a seperate hose to drain the tank with which i just use suction for, but presumably you can use the purge valve to fully drain the tank... i imagine it might take a while to do 260l tho!

Cheers for the help.

Yeh using the purge valve for the tank would take forever! lol
Just a hose pipe and gravity is best for emptying the tank, i've managed to get some hose that fits on the outtake of the filter and emptied it that way , doesnt take long at all to empty the tank but im quite clumbsy and normally ended up with water on the floor.

 

[MikeO]

Well I did what I needed to with the media. Added some crushed coral and a polishing pad.... will be posting again to try and identify what my tray 2 media is as I did not buy it, but now there seems to be so much air in it.

I re-primed it and no joy, so started again and primed again.... still loads of air in it, yet when I took the lid off it seemed full.....where is the air getting stuck and is there any fast way of getting it out other than turning it off / on to push it through repeatedly? I didnt have this problem when I set it up!

 

[always4lora]

you don't turn it off and on it does it itself, turn it on leave it for 5 minutes or soo and it'll turn off, leave it off it'll automatically start up again pushing alot of air out, it can do it a few times all by itself

 

[MikeO]

you don't turn it off and on it does it itself, turn it on leave it for 5 minutes or soo and it'll turn off, leave it off it'll automatically start up again pushing alot of air out, it can do it a few times all by itself

It does the 2 minute stop then wait then start again, but does not push all the air out. I can hear it inside. More air then escapes if I turn it off and run through the start up again... each time the amount of air coming out lessens. I just dont see where it is coming from.

 

[always4lora]

you don't turn it off and on it does it itself, turn it on leave it for 5 minutes or soo and it'll turn off, leave it off it'll automatically start up again pushing alot of air out, it can do it a few times all by itself

It does the 2 minute stop then wait then start again, but does not push all the air out. I can hear it inside. More air then escapes if I turn it off and run through the start up again... each time the amount of air coming out lessens. I just dont see where it is coming from.

Is their any leaks in the pipes? or is the intake slightly out of the water, might be worth checking the connection between the intake pipe and the tubing as ive noticed it sometimes comes a little loose.

Another thing you can try is gently rocking the filter side to side this normally help to remove any trapped air.

 

[MikeO]

No leaks that I have noticed. I will try pulling the pipes off again and cleaning up the connections in case thats it and will do the rocking thing too. Thanks