# FX4 on 55G?



## Aquahollics (Feb 1, 2011)

Ended up scoring a Fluval FX4 for free and wanted to swap it for my junky old canister filter... Would the FX4 be overkill on my 55 gallon tank? Wouldn't think you could over filter, but I watched Tim the Tool Man Taylor growing up.


----------



## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

It might seem like a lot. You can split the output with a T fitting, throttle it back slightly with a ball valve, build / buy spray bars to help bring it down some. 

I have a filter rated 350 gph on a 25 gal with no issues.


----------



## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Two extra thoughts on this:

1. might make a difference in which fish you keep. River fish would love it, more sedentary fish would struggle. I'd avoid things like angelfish, discus, or long finned fish. They'd likely cower in low flow areas, limiting their domain quite a bit

2. aiming the output(s) left to right, or right to left would cause less turbulence than back to front


----------



## psychofisho (Jul 21, 2018)

Eheim 4005310 Spray Bar Set (2)
Eheim 594 Hose (1)
One spray bar on left, one spray bar on the right, nozzles facing each other.
You'll need 2 sets. At almost $40 each, they aren't cheap, but versatile and well made.
The hose - I had to order from an Eheim parts specialty shop in the UK. I couldn't even order them from Eheim direct.


Fluval's hose ends are 1".
These spray bars are for 16/22mm hose.
The T splitter can be 1", with the side outputs reduced and fitted with 5/8" plastic barbs. It'll be a loose fit until you install shrink tubing on the 5/8" barbs to bring them up to 16.5mm to fit the eheim hose. Even if you find 16mm barbs, you'll still need to use shrink tubing or else the hose will fall off.


----------



## OreoP (Aug 12, 2016)

If you are using pressurized CO2, the FX4 will easily feed a reactor too

Spraybars: a cheaper option is Sun Sun. 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...ium-External-Canister-Filter/32828389496.html


----------



## psychofisho (Jul 21, 2018)

Another option is to use a spray bar in one direction, and a Lily Pipe in the other direction.

If you use a Lily Pipe, and mount is properly, you can keep the water surface clean without the complexities/drawbacks of a skimmer intake.


----------



## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

I think it's fine to throttle down the FX4 a little. As Quagulator you could split the output. You can get a second FX4 output nozzle from Amazon for less than $15 and put one in each back corner. If you change to a spray bar you can drill larger holes if necessary to cut down flow or mount the spray bar on the back and point it backwards towards the back glass.


----------

