I have several 15g fluval flexs and a 55g normal square tank. I recently ordered a 32.5g and its associated stand. Then I saw your video. I added some special filter boxes which properly forced the flow in the 15g versions. Its true that the filter mechanism and accessiries are not as good as large cannisters or HOBs at filtering. But I also have a chassis nibbler for plastic and can cut the lids open more for accessories to add. Unless people have tools to do it, these Fluval Flexes are difficult to mod. But what the intention was is to build up beneficial bacteria on those sponges and use other material for physical filtering. They only minimally physically filter. I did learn to provide lots of ways to force the filters to flow right by DIY. I also used black tape and paint on the back walls and put a heater and UV light in there. Learned the hard way not to rely on the grating to keep inquisitive fish out of the filters. In one of my 15s I had 5 kuhli loaches. Every one of them disappeared shortly after putting them in the flex 15. I vacuumed gravel and moved rocks and didn't find them. I figured something else killed them and ate them. Months later, I screwed up and dropped an accessory clear to the bottom of the filter box. The dropped in part rattled like crazy as it fell near the pump and would be difficult to get out. I went in and removed all my trays and media to retrieve it and thought I saw something move. Got a flashlight and shined into the filter box. All 5 of those Kihli loaches had been living for months in the filter box and apparrently eating quite well. They were triple their original size and couldnt get out to the tank because they got too big to pass through the grates. I 3D printed more narrow grates and forced them to live in the tank. I gave them all kinds of hiding places in the normal living area of the tank. But all day, every day the 5 of them would try to get back into the filter. Seemed I ruined their favorite spot for them. Luckily I hadnt put a UV light in that one, or they would have all died in the filter area. A few months later I moved 3 of the adult Kuhlis into a 55g tank and now only see them when cleaning the gravel as they burrow into it. One day I got a shock when I saw what I thought were worms darting in and out of the 15g flex filter area. Thought I had predator worms. Upon closer look, there were dozenss of tiny baby Kuhlis now also taking up residence as my grates were not stopping them from entering rhe filter. I decided to let them use it for a while as I couldnt figure out how to get them out. They actually ended up destroying the propeller blades on the pump motor as many were forcing themselves through there. I finally had to completely clean out all gravel and decorations and water just to flush them out. Took many hours to find all of them I could. As a result, I ended up introducing hundreds of black Kuhli Loaches to people as pets for free for months to come. I still have several of them from that batch. They never bred again. But now I know better than to put them in anywhere with open filters or pumps. The 15g version needs lots of mods to make it fully functional. As it is, there a lots of changes to get them to be as good as I wanted them to be.
I have the Flex 15. The filter chamber has slots on the top half on one side forcing water in through the top. The other side of the chanber has a slot at the bottom pointing towards the pump. I would imagine the 32 would work the same but ive never looked at the 32's design.
I have several 15g fluval flexs and a 55g normal square tank. I recently ordered a 32.5g and its associated stand. Then I saw your video.
I added some special filter boxes which properly forced the flow in the 15g versions. Its true that the filter mechanism and accessiries are not as good as large cannisters or HOBs at filtering. But I also have a chassis nibbler for plastic and can cut the lids open more for accessories to add. Unless people have tools to do it, these Fluval Flexes are difficult to mod. But what the intention was is to build up beneficial bacteria on those sponges and use other material for physical filtering. They only minimally physically filter. I did learn to provide lots of ways to force the filters to flow right by DIY. I also used black tape and paint on the back walls and put a heater and UV light in there.
Learned the hard way not to rely on the grating to keep inquisitive fish out of the filters. In one of my 15s I had 5 kuhli loaches. Every one of them disappeared shortly after putting them in the flex 15. I vacuumed gravel and moved rocks and didn't find them. I figured something else killed them and ate them. Months later, I screwed up and dropped an accessory clear to the bottom of the filter box. The dropped in part rattled like crazy as it fell near the pump and would be difficult to get out. I went in and removed all my trays and media to retrieve it and thought I saw something move. Got a flashlight and shined into the filter box. All 5 of those Kihli loaches had been living for months in the filter box and apparrently eating quite well. They were triple their original size and couldnt get out to the tank because they got too big to pass through the grates. I 3D printed more narrow grates and forced them to live in the tank. I gave them all kinds of hiding places in the normal living area of the tank. But all day, every day the 5 of them would try to get back into the filter. Seemed I ruined their favorite spot for them. Luckily I hadnt put a UV light in that one, or they would have all died in the filter area. A few months later I moved 3 of the adult Kuhlis into a 55g tank and now only see them when cleaning the gravel as they burrow into it. One day I got a shock when I saw what I thought were worms darting in and out of the 15g flex filter area. Thought I had predator worms. Upon closer look, there were dozenss of tiny baby Kuhlis now also taking up residence as my grates were not stopping them from entering rhe filter. I decided to let them use it for a while as I couldnt figure out how to get them out. They actually ended up destroying the propeller blades on the pump motor as many were forcing themselves through there. I finally had to completely clean out all gravel and decorations and water just to flush them out. Took many hours to find all of them I could. As a result, I ended up introducing hundreds of black Kuhli Loaches to people as pets for free for months to come. I still have several of them from that batch. They never bred again. But now I know better than to put them in anywhere with open filters or pumps. The 15g version needs lots of mods to make it fully functional. As it is, there a lots of changes to get them to be as good as I wanted them to be.
I have the Flex 15. The filter chamber has slots on the top half on one side forcing water in through the top. The other side of the chanber has a slot at the bottom pointing towards the pump. I would imagine the 32 would work the same but ive never looked at the 32's design.
Did you upgrade the filter system yet 🤷🏼♂️✌️🇨🇦🙏
@@gk9417 sadly I decided to focus on my 125 gallon saltwater so I sold this setup and live stuff
Awesome Tank. It's like a bread bin from the 90's. The lights look excellent. 👍
Thanks! :)
For those upgrades
ditch the carbon and replace with bio media then you have no bypass as you have bio media top and bottom of the sponge
Nice tank
more fish tank content is going to be great