Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

Fluval Evo 13.5 Owners Thread


Smitten4Witten

Recommended Posts

I figured out that my tank weighs about 130 pounds: most stocky-looking tables would have no issue with 2 or 3 times that.  If you really want to go nuts you could jump on whatever you want to use as a table a couple times, that should tell you something! 😂

  • Like 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, NaturallyKait said:

It’s less that I worry about the kids tipping the tank or something (the tank is going to live inside a baby jail gate, where we can control access but the soon to be 4 year old “owner” of the tank who has no concept of breakable things can still see when he wants to) and more just that if something happens then glass, water, rock, livestock etc everywhere is no fun if it happens with all 3 kids awake and in the room. Maybe I’m being overly cautious though, that’s definitely pretty typical for me. 

lol, I hear you.  Sounds like you need something large enough for it to sit in middle of with at least two feet on either side and solid 

 

This is 30x30x15 large but still under 100 bucks, and looks amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/Altra-Furniture-Laguna-Aquarium-Espresso/dp/B01IY7RSXC/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=aquarium+stand&qid=1555369305&s=gateway&sr=8-4

1 hour ago, bomerst said:

I figured out that my tank weighs about 130 pounds: most stocky-looking tables would have no issue with 2 or 3 times that.  If you really want to go nuts you could jump on whatever you want to use as a table a couple times, that should tell you something! 😂

lol

Link to comment
Isaacthedev

New to the hobby. I just got my tank, it’s cycling now. The plan is mostly coral and inverts. Maybe one fish... I got the InTank Media Basket, can someone recommend if I should buy the PS2 Skimmer if I do water changes every two weeks 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
2 hours ago, Isaacthedev said:

New to the hobby. I just got my tank, it’s cycling now. The plan is mostly coral and inverts. Maybe one fish... I got the InTank Media Basket, can someone recommend if I should buy the PS2 Skimmer if I do water changes every two weeks 

ive got 3 fish, inverts and corals, and my parameters stay in great shape with my weekly 2g water change.  I would think that with one fish you could easily go 2 weeks between water changes

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Isaacthedev
31 minutes ago, bomerst said:

ive got 3 fish, inverts and corals, and my parameters stay in great shape with my weekly 2g water change.  I would think that with one fish you could easily go 2 weeks between water changes

yeah, it seems majority of people here are saying just do a little water change instead. Might add a refugium in two months (I want to be sure the cycle is over)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
NaturallyKait

I decided to say screw it and order the side table above and hope for the best haha. I needed something in our budget that could arrive before the holiday weekend here. Ordered our refractometer too. Those should arrive Thursday, and either Thursday night or Saturday we’ll run to the LFS for salt and rock (they carry the Caribsea Life Rock, we’ll see how that goes) and hopefully be up and running this weekend. I guess it’s just about time to start a build thread! 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
31 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

I decided to say screw it and order the side table above and hope for the best haha. I needed something in our budget that could arrive before the holiday weekend here. Ordered our refractometer too. Those should arrive Thursday, and either Thursday night or Saturday we’ll run to the LFS for salt and rock (they carry the Caribsea Life Rock, we’ll see how that goes) and hopefully be up and running this weekend. I guess it’s just about time to start a build thread! 

Sweet! def start a build thread.

Link to comment
NaturallyKait

Ok the table fell through, the courier got delayed and it won’t be here until Tuesday, so I said screw it and bought something else locally. Setting the tank up tonight to water test. 

 

I just opened everything up in the box though and it didn’t come with the tubing to connect the return pump to the nozzles. I thought it was supposed to? Can I just replace that with standard tubing I’d find at the LFS or Walmart? 

  • Wow 1
Link to comment
NaturallyKait

Well crud, the skimmer plate is missing too. Was anyone else missing parts? I guess I’m going to have to contact fluval but hopefully I can find some replacement return tubing to at least get this cycling for now. 

Link to comment
24 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

Well crud, the skimmer plate is missing too. Was anyone else missing parts? I guess I’m going to have to contact fluval but hopefully I can find some replacement return tubing to at least get this cycling for now. 

Thats terrible, first the table and then your tank is missing parts. Sorry to hear that. 

Link to comment
NaturallyKait
3 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

Thats terrible, first the table and then your tank is missing parts. Sorry to hear that. 

The table isn’t the end of the world. It ended up costing more this way, but it’s more stable so that’s not a bad thing. 

 

The missing parts are a pain, but I’m hoping I can still cycle without them. Surely the skimmer plate can go on later if I start cycling without it? And I’m sure I can find something to replace that return hose temporarily. Just really frustrating. Now hopefully it doesn’t leak lol. 

Link to comment
1 minute ago, NaturallyKait said:

The table isn’t the end of the world. It ended up costing more this way, but it’s more stable so that’s not a bad thing. 

 

The missing parts are a pain, but I’m hoping I can still cycle without them. Surely the skimmer plate can go on later if I start cycling without it? And I’m sure I can find something to replace that return hose temporarily. Just really frustrating. Now hopefully it doesn’t leak lol. 

Do you mean the water level thing or the actual plate on hood to the left.

Link to comment
NaturallyKait
4 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

Do you mean the water level thing or the actual plate on hood to the left.

The little plate that goes on where the overflow is. 

Link to comment
9 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

The little plate that goes on where the overflow is. 

Shouldn't need it -- I ran my cycle without using it!

I use it now, but I actually have it on the inside of my first chamber helping to put a small gap between my poly fill and the slits of the overflow. Found it helps promote more water to get through the overflow and keep water volume up in the back chambers. I actually found that when I use it the way it's "intended", that my back chamber water volume dropped significantly.

 

One thing I wish I'd done while my tank was still dry -- plug that hole in the center back wall. I used some epoxy to plug it, but was a pain to get it fully sealed off while the water was in the tank.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
NaturallyKait
9 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Shouldn't need it -- I ran my cycle without using it!

I use it now, but I actually have it on the inside of my first chamber helping to put a small gap between my poly fill and the slits of the overflow. Found it helps promote more water to get through the overflow and keep water volume up in the back chambers. I actually found that when I use it the way it's "intended", that my back chamber water volume dropped significantly.

 

One thing I wish I'd done while my tank was still dry -- plug that hole in the center back wall. I used some epoxy to plug it, but was a pain to get it fully sealed off while the water was in the tank.

Yeah, that was something I was planning to do I was just trying to decide how to do it. I may have to price some epoxy while I’m at the LFS tomorrow. 

Link to comment
3 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

Yeah, that was something I was planning to do I was just trying to decide how to do it. I may have to price some epoxy while I’m at the LFS tomorrow. 

Can get it cheap at any hardware store, too! It's often marked up a bit at LFS that I've seen.

 

Generally, anything marked safe for marine or underwater use works. JB WaterWeld has worked the best from what I've tried -- think it was $3 bucks at Home Depot.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

^^ I ran a pc of airline tubing around my pump. kinda like the rubber bumper on a bumper car at the fair LOL. dampens the vibrations against the glass and sides. im using the tunze pump in my evo. only 8 watts so hopefully wont heat up the tank in summer months

Link to comment
6 hours ago, popek said:

Does anybody here run a Sicce syncra1.0 in their EVO ?

The pump is a snug fit and is producing noise through vibration, any ideas on how to dampen it ?

I have the syncra 1.0 as well. Couldn’t believe how noisy it was when I added it - especially compared to how quiet the stock pump was for me.

 

It’s been about a month since I upgraded (I think) and the noise has gone down significantly without any mods or cushioning — it is still noisier than the stock though and think eventually I’ll try to cushion it similarly to @gooner‘s idea 🙂

Link to comment

Anyone convert a back chamber to a macro algae refugium? Curious to hear how you’ve set it up. I have an egg crate media basket in first chamber, heater in the second and pump only in chamber 3. I’m thinking about adding some macro algae and refugium light to chamber 2 with my heater.

 

Questions that keep me up at night...

- is it ok if macro algae touches my heater?

- will the heater over heat if the refugium light is hitting it?

- will the algae receive enough circulation and actually provide desired benefits?

Link to comment
10 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Anyone convert a back chamber to a macro algae refugium? Curious to hear how you’ve set it up. I have an egg crate media basket in first chamber, heater in the second and pump only in chamber 3. I’m thinking about adding some macro algae and refugium light to chamber 2 with my heater.

 

Questions that keep me up at night...

- is it ok if macro algae touches my heater?

- will the heater over heat if the refugium light is hitting it?

 - will the algae receive enough circulation and actually provide desired benefits?

Its not a very common mod, but ive seen some people do it here.  I have seen some really slick setups where they attached a light directly to the glass back of chamber 2, seemed like a really neat idea. It doesn't look like I saved the links, but im sure you could dig them up with a search.  As for your questions:

 

-I dont see why it would be an issue, but also I keep the heater in chamber 3 with the pump in my tank.  Is that not an option for you?

 

-In a word, no.  You would need to have a pretty impressive laser to start to need to worry about that, the amount of heat put out by a light is nothing to worry about.

 

-A lot of people here run refugiums with converted AC70 filters, and even our stock pumps can match their circulation.   If you are really worried about it you could add an air stone at the bottom of chamber 2, but I really don't think even that would be necessary.

 

Here are some links from others who have done something similar:

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/i2gG5

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
2 hours ago, bomerst said:

Its not a very common mod, but ive seen some people do it here.  I have seen some really slick setups where they attached a light directly to the glass back of chamber 2, seemed like a really neat idea. It doesn't look like I saved the links, but im sure you could dig them up with a search.  As for your questions:

 

-I dont see why it would be an issue, but also I keep the heater in chamber 3 with the pump in my tank.  Is that not an option for you?

 

-In a word, no.  You would need to have a pretty impressive laser to start to need to worry about that, the amount of heat put out by a light is nothing to worry about.

 

-A lot of people here run refugiums with converted AC70 filters, and even our stock pumps can match their circulation.   If you are really worried about it you could add an air stone at the bottom of chamber 2, but I really don't think even that would be necessary.

 

Here are some links from others who have done something similar:

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/i2gG5

 

 

 

 

Sweet, I’ll take a look!

 

So I’d originally planned to keep my heater in same chamber as my pump, but I saw a few warnings that it can cause some major issues... pump motor overheating or heater explosion. Knowing my luck + my added levels of anxiety... imma steer clear lol.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...