Fluval Evo 13.5 - Crazy SPS growth after lighting upgrade!

[Aquacrazed]

23 hours ago, hyoib said:

Following this thread with interest. I am also looking at upgrading stock lighting on my Fluval EVO 13.5 whilst keeping the hood. How is the growth under your LED hood mod?

I guess it's a bit too early to tell, but seems like there is a bit more growth (SPS & LPS) but no improvement to coloration. I love the control I have now though. I have actinics only times, sunrise, sunset, dawn, dusk, moonlighting all setup through the ramp timers.

[Aquacrazed]

21 hours ago, M-A-T-T-Y said:

You seem to be getting pretty great growth with the stock, excited to see how it goes adding those 2 LED strips!

I'd love to keep the hood on mine but was concerned light may not be good enough, and also the water gets about 2-4 degrees to warm with the hood on. Have you noticed the USB fans making much difference in temperature?

The USB fan works great actually. I got a Inkbird Aquarium Dual Stage Temperature Controller + NTC Sensor ($35.99) and mounted the fan on the hood pointed towards the top of the light and the fan keeps my tank temps within 2 degrees:

[ServingAces15]

This is an awesome thread! I've been reading up for months about keeping BTA under the fluval stock light but I have yet to purchase one because my rock work is covered in xenia and I have no place to put it plus I'm hesitant that I'll kill it.

 

As for the hood, I had the same tank temp issue over the summer. I lost my cleaner shrimp, some snails, and my entire GSP colony as my tank got up to 87 degrees F. This was my solution. I cut out a T top shape in the hood to create an open top while still being able to keep the stock light. I then installed a 2 piece fan system. This helped tremendously with tank temperature control! 

[Aquacrazed]

I'm getting some crazy SPS growth after just 4 months since the lighting upgrade! Take a look:

 

 

[dandelion]

Wow that’s some really nice growth! Is that a purple porcilopora? I’d have to go get one. I only have the dull and regular green ones. I have 2 frags of that that grew out of nowhere.

 

how thick are the actinic light bars? I want to put a couple strips of that into my mesh lid but not sure if it’ll touch water. My clowns can be asses sometimes splashing water around. 

[Aquacrazed]

Yup, that's a purple porci, it's colored up nicely with the new lighting. Take a look at this post for the lighting upgrade: 

 

 

[Aquacrazed]

Posted video of the tank: 

 

[Tamberav]

Looks great!! I love all the baby nems

[Bribear]

I just updated my light with a 453nm Actinic Blue strip.  Did you add these to the existing lighting for the EVO? I just mounted this under the hood along side the existing light. Did you say that you added two Actinic strips and a blue and white one.  Really trying to get my on a timer to get the corals happy. 

[Aquacrazed]

On 5/14/2018 at 7:40 PM, Bribear said:

I just updated my light with a 453nm Actinic Blue strip.  Did you add these to the existing lighting for the EVO? I just mounted this under the hood along side the existing light. Did you say that you added two Actinic strips and a blue and white one.  Really trying to get my on a timer to get the corals happy. 

2 actincs, 2 whites

[hinnenkm]

This tank looks great - cool to see all of that growth!

[dandelion]

I wish I have an easy way to add an led strip. Since I ditched the hood and went with a “net” cover, the only spot for me to put a strip would be underneath the frame. But the last thing I want is having saltwater splash onto the led causing a short and a fire. 

[Bribear]

Thank you Aquacrazed! gonna see if I can add to the existing light.

 

Dandelion, the one I got is water resistant and just glued up under the hood nest to the original light.

 

[Aquacrazed]

4 hours ago, dandelion said:

I wish I have an easy way to add an led strip. Since I ditched the hood and went with a “net” cover, the only spot for me to put a strip would be underneath the frame. But the last thing I want is having saltwater splash onto the led causing a short and a fire. 

They are more or less water resistant, water splashes are ok. Just make sure they don't drop into the tank.

[dandelion]

4 hours ago, Aquacrazed said:

They are more or less water resistant, water splashes are ok. Just make sure they don't drop into the tank.

Not the soldered joint though? That’s what I worry.

[Floundering_Around]

Super excited to see someone else using the stock lighting to keep anemones and corals. I definitely noticed other people absolutely trashing the light and immediately upgrading it. However, this evo 13.5 is my first saltwater tank so I'll stick to corals that can do well under the light anyways. Plus I transport the thing back and forth with me to college. No need to upgrade the light only to stress out hundreds of dollars worth of corals, IMO. Definitely following this thread to see where this tank can go. (If I was any closer, I'd be glad to take one of those nems of your hands, lol 😉)

[Aquacrazed]

On 6/8/2018 at 9:18 AM, Floundering_Around said:

Super excited to see someone else using the stock lighting to keep anemones and corals. I definitely noticed other people absolutely trashing the light and immediately upgrading it. However, this evo 13.5 is my first saltwater tank so I'll stick to corals that can do well under the light anyways. Plus I transport the thing back and forth with me to college. No need to upgrade the light only to stress out hundreds of dollars worth of corals, IMO. Definitely following this thread to see where this tank can go. (If I was any closer, I'd be glad to take one of those nems of your hands, lol 😉)

Yeah it's a decent light for LPS and even bubble tip anemones. My anemones did just fine for a whole year with the stock lighting.

[Floundering_Around]

1 minute ago, Aquacrazed said:

Yeah it's a decent light for LPS and even bubble tip anemones. My anemones did just fine for a whole year with the stock lighting.

Perfect, thank you so much. I'm planning on seriously looking at anemones at reefapalooza in a few weeks. Thinking about either a BTA or RFA...or both

[Aquacrazed]

New wavemaker pump! Aqamai KPS. I'm absolutely blown away by this pump, this is quite possibly the closest thing to an MP10 without the huge price tag. Wave customization is pretty much endless, smooth waves and finally I am able to get that natural wavelike action in my tank now. Made by Hydor, so you know it's got to be reliable.

 

 

[SWnewbie84]

On 1/18/2018 at 4:54 PM, Aquacrazed said:

Retrofitted the tank hood with some Current USA LED bars/strips, 2x 12K whites & 2x actinic blues. Also added the new Current USA eFlux  660 wave pump:

 

That's a total of 40.2 watts.

 

 

 

Tank seems to be getting a bit warm so I am using a small USB fan pointing at the hood.

 

 

 

 

 

On 1/18/2018 at 4:54 PM, Aquacrazed said:

Retrofitted the tank hood with some Current USA LED bars/strips, 2x 12K whites & 2x actinic blues. Also added the new Current USA eFlux  660 wave pump:

 

That's a total of 40.2 watts.

 

 

 

Tank seems to be getting a bit warm so I am using a small USB fan pointing at the hood.

 

 

 

 

Hi! This thread is wonderful. I have been struggling as a new saltwater tank keeper. You are a wealth of information. I have a couple questions regarding your lighting upgrade. It says you added two of each lighting. I only see 2 added strips total in the picture? How did you attach the new lighting?

[Aquacrazed]

On 7/8/2018 at 1:50 PM, SWnewbie84 said:

 

Hi! This thread is wonderful. I have been struggling as a new saltwater tank keeper. You are a wealth of information. I have a couple questions regarding your lighting upgrade. It says you added two of each lighting. I only see 2 added strips total in the picture? How did you attach the new lighting?

The truth is in the details my friend 🙂 If you look closely you will see two 10" LED strips.

[McCune]

Would you recommend the in sterilizer in this tank thinking about putting it in my fluval evo

[Aquacrazed]

3 hours ago, McCune said:

Would you recommend the in sterilizer in this tank thinking about putting it in my fluval evo

Yup, helps with algae control. 

[vereef]

Hi Aquacrazed! I'm new here and this is very inspiring and encouraging, especially since I have a 1.5 month old evo 13.5 and I'm looking for ideas. Thanks for sharing!

 

Just curious, how many hours are you running your lights?

 

[GOBRAVES]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 6:54 PM, Aquacrazed said:

Retrofitted the tank hood with some Current USA LED bars/strips, 2x 12K whites & 2x actinic blues. Also added the new Current USA eFlux  660 wave pump:

 

That's a total of 40.2 watts.

 

 

 

Tank seems to be getting a bit warm so I am using a small USB fan pointing at the hood.

 

 

 

 

Hey I'm going to upgrade my existing evo light the same way you did yours.  I'm having trouble finding the exact strip lights shown on yours.  Do you mind sharing a link to where you bought them from?  Thanks!

 

Also, do you have to buy a separate power supply for each additional light strip?  As in 4 extra power supplies??

 

Tanks looking amazing btw