Fluval EVO 13.5 Lighting

[k4ndyk1ng]

IF you are on the cheap I used 2 par 38 bulbs on mine and my SPS grew fine including a few acros. Then I upgraded to an ebay 165w tile and ran that at thje lowest power on the whites and 40% on the blues and everything stayed the same.

[RasmusJ]

On 10/4/2018 at 8:48 PM, McCune said:

I put the same light on mine and I am very happy with the results. Not much light spill into the room either 

Hi!

Old topic but hope someone is still here. Does the correct orbit marine fit in the stock fluval light spot? So I can keep the lid and just slide the new light in?

Cheers, Rasmus

[keedy18]

On 11/20/2017 at 12:20 PM, diehardsaint said:

So I just set up a Fluval EVO 13.5 this weekend. it has about 10 or 11 pounds of rock, 10 pounds of sand and about 11 gallons of water in it currently. I have 2 other nano set ups that I've had going for 6 and 8 years so I am not relatively new to the saltwater addiction. My questions is about the lighting on the EVO. The lighting is very white compared my other tanks. My other 2 tanks are both bio cube and I have removed the tops and retrofitted them with CREE LEDs. I know the Fluval box says this thing is suppose to be reef ready but I am worried about the amount of blue in the factory light set up. If you don't think the factory lighting is sufficient, what have you  used and what would you recommend as a reto for this tank?

 

Also, If the factory set up is sufficient to grow SPS and softies, do you think it would be possible to add a blue LED accent bar under the top to give the tank the blue sparkly effect that my other tanks have with out messing up the light PAR? It would be an LED bar like you would find at PetSmart to use to jazz up a kids fish tank.

So I just bought the 15 to 24 inch fluvel Marine 3.0 fits on on the top with the stock lighting removed. There is a little over hang but a huge improvement in lighting.  

[Tiggerbug98]

On 8/6/2020 at 9:46 PM, keedy18 said:

So I just bought the 15 to 24 inch fluvel Marine 3.0 fits on on the top with the stock lighting removed. There is a little over hang but a huge improvement in lighting.  

How do you like it so far? What’s your settings? I got one but can’t seem to get the setting right. 

[Daniel Nguyen]

On 8/10/2020 at 2:18 PM, Tiggerbug98 said:

How do you like it so far? What’s your settings? I got one but can’t seem to get the setting right. 

How does the light fit the cover ? Secured and not wobble? Any issue with heat since the feeding hole is now covered ?

This light is probably the closet one that works with the cover.

[05XRunner]

On 11/20/2017 at 11:11 PM, Boogie145 said:

DO NOT TAKE THIS ADVICE...A160 looks nice and gives that kessil shimmer, but will not grow sps or even maintain them long term. No offense ronix, just trying to prevent someone from learning the hard way.

 

I currently have a fully stocked SPS dominated evo 13.5. From day 1 until about 6 months ago, I ran a A160 on it. Loved the color, the ease of being able to move around the goose neck, shimmer effect, etc. over the 10 months or so that I ran the kessil, It did well with zoas, but SPS is a no no.. I lost multiple pieces and the ones that did ride it out showed next to zero growth (other than a monti cap that was directly under the spotlight). This was not due to any water parameters, new tank, etc. Tank technically was not "new". It was setup with sand and rock from a 3 year old 90 gal mixed reef that I have that is immaculate... I was pretty bummed and almost scrapped the build all together.

 

About 6 months ago I went with the ecotech XR15... Although those are the only 2 lights i've used on a nano, I did do pretty extensive research before I pulled the trigger and from what I gather, there isnt even a close 2nd place. Its crazy. I put frags in there and see acros growing off the plug onto my rock within a week. I found it used on reef2reef and talked the guy down pretty easily to $250...Spend the extra $100 and save yourself the headache... If you are trying to go cheaper, dont buy the reeflink or the rms hanging kit..  If you are looking to keep SPS, you will lose more than the cost of the more expensive light in coral by going with the kessil.

 

Again, not trying to rip on ronix or kessils, but that particular model is not going to cut it if you are looking to keep anything other than leathers, zoas, and maybe a few fleshies...

Please dont take this advice.

You oretty much gave 100% WRONG information. Please do some actual research

a Kessil a160 will absolutly grow SPS in a fluval 13

I use to run them way back in the day on a 40breeder and had no issues with SPS.

Get the Aquaknight LED

its about $65 and it will grow anything you want. I haveone on my Fulval 13 and the par readings I have seen it will pull 25-300 towards the top of the tank for SPS and get 100 on sandbed perfect for LPS and softies.

Dont waste your money on a XR15. TOOOO much light for this tank and they are overpriced. I have had them and always end up ditchng them.

If you want something more powerful then the aquaknight get the Noopsyche K Pro II light. It is about 250 for the full setup with light controller and arm and puts out about the same or tad more power then the XR15 at hald the price and light years better shimmer.

 

[geekreef_05]

Its interesting how various pieces of different advice has been provided on this thread. 

 

Well, here is my two cents. What your really trying to do is grow corals. For that you need to ensure you have the right spectrum, par (intensity) and of course you want a reliable and programable fixture. 

 

Ive also got an Evo13.5 and I didnt want to break the bank on mine. I choose the current USA Orbit Marine, as its longer sleek design (vs spotlight), covering the full length of the aquarium, it also has the right spectrum and PAR output for corals Id like to keep, given the depth of my tank. Here is the PAR chart from the company: https://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Orbit-LED-PAR-1.pdf

 

The only negative I have with this fixture is that you cant custom program the length of sunrise/sunset. Its defaulted to 1.5hrs from the company. 

 

So, its key to understand the depth of your aquarium and the PAR values you have from top to bottom. This will allow you to understand where various coral species will be comfortable. Any lighting fixture that is able to meet appropriate PAR and spectrum for the corals you want to keep, will work.