FX5 with HYDOR inline heater?

[greg y]

FX5 with HYDOR inline heater?

    ok, I'm contemplating buying this used FX5 for my 110 gal. but I also want to use my 300w hydor inline heater.

    Can I just buy 1" id vinyl tube and (1" to 3/4") reducers from home depo?

    I'm thinking it will go fx5 to 1" id tube to (1" to 3/4") reducer to green eheim 3/4" tube to heater to 3/4" green eheim tube to (3/4" to 1") reducer to stock output or make my own out of pvc.
    Does that sound correct?

    I currently have the heater hooked up to the green eheim 3/4 " tubing so I know that part is right.

[four_by_ken]

It should work. 

But, do I have it right that you are reducing the FX5 output hose size?  If so... it will reduce the flow of water slightly that the FX5 can output.

[greg y]

I have to reduce it down to 3/4 of an inch for the in line heater hook up

[four_by_ken]

That will reduce the volume of water that the filter can put out.  Not drastically, but it will reduce it some.

I am assuming that the heater has only a 3/4" inlet.  You would always make a "T" and have two 3/4" lines, one with the heater and one without the heater.

Kind of like this...

[Steve]

Reducers are fine to use. I actually just got mine in the mail last week from here http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23766&catid=551 found that place on a suggestion from a guy on C-F because it was hard to find them local in that size. You will need 1" to 5/8" not 1" to 3'4" (the 300w Hydor is a 5'8" nipple).  Some guys have done the "Y" design as mentioned above but everyone I spoke to that has done reducers have not noticed any noticable lack of flow so just use the reducers and you'll be fine.

If you can't find the 1" to 5/8" reducers local (I couldn't when I looked) Then let me know because when I ordered mine last week I ordered a few extra and you can have two of those if you need them.

[greg y]

Reducers are fine to use. I actually just got mine in the mail last week from here http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23766&catid=551 found that place on a suggestion from a guy on C-F because it was hard to find them local in that size. You will need 1" to 5/8" not 1" to 3'4" (the 300w Hydor is a 5'8" nipple).  Some guys have done the "Y" design as mentioned above but everyone I spoke to that has done reducers have not noticed any noticable lack of flow so just use the reducers and you'll be fine.

If you can't find the 1" to 5/8" reducers local (I couldn't when I looked) Then let me know because when I ordered mine last week I ordered a few extra and you can have two of those if you need them.

cool, your link is a lot cheaper than what I found too :-)
http://www.mcmaster.com/?orderview=new#standard-barbed-tube-fittings/=phou53

If you don't think you'll need them I would appreciate you selling a couple of them to me Steve,
I'm not too worried about reduced flow, as long as it doesn't hurt the motor, etc...

[Steve]

Yeah I for sure have extra. I only need four for my dual filter/hydors but I ordered 8 just to have some spare. So I can give you the two you need and still have a couple spare myself. Just let me know when you need them and I'll give ya a pair of them.

[greg y]

thanks Steve.

not to worry you but I just read this on another forum, not sure what to think of it. I doubt it's a problem.

and I quote the guy "I e-mailed Hydor prior to buying, the 300 watt model works best at a max. of 250 g.p.h."

FX5 full of media is at least twice that I would think

[four_by_ken]

I completely disagree... there will be a considerable flow reduction.

You are using only slightly more than half what the fx5 outlet size is.  It's physics.

Cover half the outlet of a hose... you get a little less water.

[greg y]

I have my eth 300w currently hooked up to my fluval 406 and it flows a whole lot faster than 250 gph,

why would hydor make a state of the art heater 300w heater that needs to be hooked up to a piece of junk filter?
and what is the concern Ken? Lots of guys reduce the flow using custom plumbing and I am not able to find any negative feedback from it.
Do you think it will wear down the pump prematurely or just reduce effectiveness?   

[four_by_ken]

I want the most filtration I can get.  I don't want yo reduce any flow if I can avoid it.
This situation is avoidable.

Why buy a big bad ass filter and then choke it down.  Doesn't make answer to me.

My guess if that this heater is dependant on water flow to heat the tank.  So, a 5/8 orifice is optimal for it's function. 

[Steve]

Ken I think your overthinking it. Guys do this every single day with the FX5, your rated flow and actual flow are two different things. By the time a filter like the FX5 has the flow going through the media /foam the actual flow output is much less than what is advertised. Going through the 5/8" heater is not restricting it to a point where it makes any noticeable difference/effect.

I currently have a 5/8" 300w inline heater on each of my 55g tanks that run Rena xp3 and xp4 filters, there is no problem with reduced flow. I made my spray bars where they are half the size of normal spray bars (mine are 11" on each side of the tank, when you reduce the size you also increase the pressure so it counter acts the effect. I'm no fluid engineer by any means but I know guys do this every day with the fx5 & inline heater and have zero issues with flow.

[four_by_ken]

I do calculations for water flow for welding robots all the time... reducing the orifice will reduce flow.  It's physics.  It can't be argued.

If you don't mind that... your good to go. 

If it was mine,  I would never reduce flow on a filter. 

I also do air calculations all the time too which is the same basic idea.

[greg y]

My problem is there just isn't a lot of room to work with these things, they are a lot bigger that you would think and they need to be mounted vertically so by the time you do all these reducing and Y lines etc, you end up with just a couple inches of hose line between the can and the hard plumbing, I have a metal stand so I can't really screw this stuff into a cabnet.
not my pics but you get the idea






see what I mean? the thing is bulky


I could do it like this but I believe this is incorrect:

[Steve]

Ken I'm not tryin to be a jerk to ya so don't think that, but I simply think your are missing the fact that just because it is a 1" hose...that does not mean there is not a reduction in the system even from the factory.

Case in point I just took the elbow off one of my FX5's to show you what I mean. This is actually 13/16" here in the pic, and as it makes the turn it actually looks to be a tad smaller than 13/16". So just because the adapter is 1" to 5/8" that doesn't actually mean we are cutting the flow by 3/8" because there are other spots in the filter/factory equipment that are less than 1" from the factory to begin with.

See what I am trying to say?



Greg you do want to keep them as vertical as you can. I have mine pretty much vertical on both my 55g tanks. They are maybe 20 degrees tilted but no more than that.