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Fluval Evo 13.5 Owners Thread


Smitten4Witten

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Hi,

 

I have just received my intank media basket for chamber 2.

 

What filter media are people using? 

 

Im thinking:

 

filter floss

carbon 

GFO

 

any recommendations or changes? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I upgraded return pump to EHEIM with 265 gph I think I’m using intank media basket chamber 1. Chamber 2 empty and the water level in the back are only half full.

 

i need to have tank almost overflowing to get back 3/4 full

 

what am I doing wrong.

 

with stock setup I used no skimmer plate so it filled even front and back with the intank and skimmer plate it stays about 50% or a hair less

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4 hours ago, ducati1212 said:

I upgraded return pump to EHEIM with 265 gph I think I’m using intank media basket chamber 1. Chamber 2 empty and the water level in the back are only half full.

 

i need to have tank almost overflowing to get back 3/4 full

 

what am I doing wrong.

 

with stock setup I used no skimmer plate so it filled even front and back with the intank and skimmer plate it stays about 50% or a hair less

how are you doing your water changes?

 

I noticed this issue when I first set up my 13.5 .

 

If I filled with water to the required level then switched the pump etc on, the level in the rear chambers dropped and the tank level shot up. The important thing to remember is that you need to do the last part of your filling with the pump on. A good rule of thumb is to fill so that you're just on the bottom of the hatched part of the glass at the top of the tank, then switch the pump etc on, then fill the middle rear chamber to the desired level. This should increase the rear chamber level but keep the main tank level almost constant.

 

apologies if that's not the best worded explanation :)

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So if I turn the pump off to feed.  Reduce flow so my food does not scatter to much.  The back fills up to level with tank.  Turn the pump on it goes to 50% in the last 2 chambers.  Its hard to tell what chamber 1 does because it has the media basket in it.  

 

I will take pics tonight. 

 

the tank level is almost to the very top if I put my arm in to upright a snail it overflows its so full.  the back is 50%.

 

Without the media basket in chamber 1 I had no issues because I did not use the skimmer part so lots of flow into the back. 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, afcajax73 said:

I can’t view the video at work but I’ll look later 🙂

 

out of interest, what filter media is everyone using in their setups?

 

10 hours ago, afcajax73 said:

I can’t view the video at work but I’ll look later 🙂

 

out of interest, what filter media is everyone using in their setups?

Just using filter floss and red sea reef spec carbon, supported with 30% water change once a week.

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11 hours ago, hyoib said:

 

Just using filter floss and red sea reef spec carbon, supported with 30% water change once a week.

nice :) I like a weekly water change :)

 

also @ducati1212 I had a look at the video ...

 

what pump are you using? (apologies if you've already stated and I've missed it). I was wondering one of two things.

1) did you plug the hole in the rear wall?

2) is your pump too powerful - i.e. pushing water out of your 3rd chamber quicker than it gets back in through 1 and 2. 

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On 1/18/2019 at 4:10 PM, ducati1212 said:

Here is a quick Video assuming I uploaded to you tube correct

 

https://youtu.be/lmZPMjA5qQw

 

Thoughts

 

 

Well the problem is restricted flow through chamber one. What's in the media basket? You need to either remove the restriction In the basket or slow the flow of water down going into chamber one.. 

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its a Eheim compact 1000 its about a 265 GPH pump.  I turned it down to 75% capacity.   I got the back chamber to be in better shape but I have to fill the tank so much to do it it just feels wrong to me.  For media I have Filter floss pad -> ChemiPure bag (not blue I actually want a little algae ) -> some bio balls.   all in chamber 1, chamber 2 I just tossed in the ceramic bio stuff that came with the tank rather than throw them out.  I did plug the chamber 2 hole.

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I had the same problem. 

 

I have ps2 chamber 1, intank chamber 2 and same pump as you. 

 

I turned down the pump flow rate at it seems to have worked.

 

anyone know why you block the hole? When I tried it just dropped the rear water levels massively. 

 

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17 hours ago, ducati1212 said:

its a Eheim compact 1000 its about a 265 GPH pump.  I turned it down to 75% capacity.   I got the back chamber to be in better shape but I have to fill the tank so much to do it it just feels wrong to me.  For media I have Filter floss pad -> ChemiPure bag (not blue I actually want a little algae ) -> some bio balls.   all in chamber 1, chamber 2 I just tossed in the ceramic bio stuff that came with the tank rather than throw them out.  I did plug the chamber 2 hole.

Looks like there's a couple of things to try there.. try what @Weikel and @Jim80 have said and also, when you next do a water change; fill via the main tank to just below the hatched area at the top of the tank, then switch the pump on and fill up via chamber 2. See if that makes any difference. I know it shouldn't... but! if I fill the main tank then switch on and fill the main tank a bit more, my back levels are way off and take an age to recover.

 

also.. I did notice, if I attached the rear surface skimmer so that the plate faced inwards towards the back of the tank, my level in the rear chambers significantly dropped. If I put it facing into the tank, or removed completely... my levels were perfect throughout.

 

Hope you get it sorted :)

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I agree 100% without the skimmer water levels are great.  Problem is with the chamber 1 InTank media basket I need it in. 

 

I mean its not awful I just find it odd and a little frustrating. If thats my only problem with the tank ill be ok 🙂

 

 

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On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 2:59 PM, ducati1212 said:

I agree 100% without the skimmer water levels are great.  Problem is with the chamber 1 InTank media basket I need it in. 

 

I mean its not awful I just find it odd and a little frustrating. If thats my only problem with the tank ill be ok 🙂

 

 

why do you need it in specifically?

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44 minutes ago, ducati1212 said:

I have the chamber 1 media basket which like using a skimmer makes you put in the plastic skimmer bar that comes with tank. 

 

ah yes.. I had the skimmer plate in even when I was using my skimmer, but! I've seen no difference (performance wise) between having it in or not having it in, other than water levels of course.

 

I suppose what I'm asking is... is there a technical reason why it needs to be in with the InTank media baskets? the only thing I can see is that it will direct the water flow better?

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2 hours ago, ducati1212 said:

Yeah thats it.  The basket is cut higer than the lowest point of the overflow so you need that in to get water to flow into it correctly 

I also have the InTank basket for chamber 1 and noticed the higher water level required in the display area. It was creating lower water levels in the back chambers as well, because I was doing manual top-offs. I seem to remember someone here actually cut out some of the basket to lower the water level, but I wouldn't want to go that far. Have you tried wedging the the little plate behind the basket so it pushes up to the intake area? I had mine set up this way for a while with no issues. 

BTW, now I have the plate back where it's supposed to go since I set up an ATO. 

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Ahh yes, I see. 

 

I’m not sure why it would make a difference to the rear levels but, Its not so much of an issue if you have the plate facing inwards rather than out. Only issue is it half pushes the InTank basket backwards. I’ll get some pictures when I do my water change this weekend. 

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mekesterson93
12 hours ago, afcajax73 said:

Ahh yes, I see. 

 

I’m not sure why it would make a difference to the rear levels but, Its not so much of an issue if you have the plate facing inwards rather than out. Only issue is it half pushes the InTank basket backwards. I’ll get some pictures when I do my water change this weekend. 

It is supposed to do that. 

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Hey guys!

 

Been lurking here for months and have learned so much. Figured I’d finally sign up and share pics of my set up.

 

I’ve had aquariums of all sorts throughout my life but this is my first nano reef. Picked up this Evo for $80 on Craigslist and after many impulse buys and bad advice from local fish shops it’s finally stabilized and doing ok.

 

My goal was to keep everything stock. The tank came with the sand, live rock, a test kit, refractomer, heater, and a bunch of other things (first pic). I’ve read about lighting and filtration upgrades but I kind of want to see what this tank is capable of before dropping tons of money into it. 

 

I’m at week 8 now. I’ve since realized that the tank is way over stocked (bad advice from LFS) and probably not fully cycled (more bad advice from LFS) but my parameters are good thanks to weekly 30% water changes. Thankfully it only takes me 20 minutes. 

 

Anyways just wanted to introduce myself and thank you guys for all the inspiration. 

 

 

 

 

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