Fluval Evo 13.5 Owners Thread

[lambogriffin]

I have kept the heater in first chamber for years with no issues. Also, just want to share my low tech ATO for this tank.. I've had the tank for a while, but I just set it up saltwater recently, as knew I was going to be moving around and didn't want to invest in salt knowing I would have to tear it down. I've built an ATO before but this design works really well, is easy to use, and IMO not bad aesthetically. 

[Reefanatic24/7]

Whoa! How does it work? And how do you make it? I need an ATO but I'm to broke to buy one lol

[lambogriffin]

4 hours ago, Reefanatic24/7 said:

Whoa! How does it work? And how do you make it? I need an ATO but I'm to broke to buy one lol

Gravity feeds.. when the water evaporates below the bottom of the center tube, it breaks the airlock in the reservoir, and let's water flow thru the air line tubing into the pump chamber. Materials were.. a spray bottle from a pet store.. turkey baster from Dollar store.. airline tubing.. super glue. I did drill a 1" hole in the cover, it's a snug fit for a standard plastic bottle cap which supports the whole thing nicely. Building it was pretty straight forward. They key points are, the bottom of the tube sets the height of the water.. the top of the tube should be all the way to the "bottom" of the bottle.. the airline tube is the only way for water to escape the reservoir, and the end of it shouldn't be in the tank water. I used a lot of super glue and cured it instantly with baking powder. I also added a tab you can see at the top.. the end of the airline tubing tucks into it, holding it above the reservoir water level so it can't run out while filling, or if you have to take it out before it's empty. A valve on the airline tubing would be nice too.

[Reefanatic24/7]

59 minutes ago, lambogriffin said:

Gravity feeds.. when the water evaporates below the bottom of the center tube, it breaks the airlock in the reservoir, and let's water flow thru the air line tubing into the pump chamber. Materials were.. a spray bottle from a pet store.. turkey baster from Dollar store.. airline tubing.. super glue. I did drill a 1" hole in the cover, it's a snug fit for a standard plastic bottle cap which supports the whole thing nicely. Building it was pretty straight forward. They key points are, the bottom of the tube sets the height of the water.. the top of the tube should be all the way to the "bottom" of the bottle.. the airline tube is the only way for water to escape the reservoir, and the end of it shouldn't be in the tank water. I used a lot of super glue and cured it instantly with baking powder. I also added a tab you can see at the top.. the end of the airline tubing tucks into it, holding it above the reservoir water level so it can't run out while filling, or if you have to take it out before it's empty. A valve on the airline tubing would be nice too.

How did you insert the airline tube into the spray bottle? And did you drill the spray bottles cap to insert the Turkey baster tube?

[lambogriffin]

24 minutes ago, Reefanatic24/7 said:

How did you insert the airline tube into the spray bottle? And did you drill the spray bottles cap to insert the Turkey baster tube?

Drilled hole for a super tight fit for airline tube. And I the cut the spray nozzle off, and there was already a hole in the cap(which perfectly fit the baster tube.. lucky).. could drill it as well if hole isn't already there. Just make sure everything is a tight fit so the superglue is just a seal. 

[ayobreezie]

After a few years out of the hobby.. Finally time to start up again..

[LilReefLady]

On 11/23/2018 at 3:40 PM, ODLeon said:

Hello. Heres my 1 month old, new to me 13.5. Its an upgrade from a 6.25g bow front. 

WOW, where do you get your corals from?  They're gorgeous!

[LilReefLady]

Hello All,  I just joined yesterday.  I found a 13.5 Evo for FREE locally.  Got it all moved and set up a few days ago.  Everything is looking good and all parameters are excellent.  We also ahve a 139g Red Sea Max 525 downstairs, but I'm super excited for the smaller tank.  I'll post pics soon.

Current Inhabitants:

2 blue legged hermits

3 margarita snails

2 nasarrius snails (spelling?)lol

1 black ocellaris clownfish

1 cleaner shimp

1 yellow clown goby

1 scissor tail goby

 

Everything came with it except the clown goby and snails.

Corals:

Goniopora and a few zoas.  Can't wait to add more softies!

 Definitely starting a wish list already - lighting, upgrading to a media basket instead of the sponge, and maybe an ATO.

Any suggestions on ATOs?

 

Also, previous owner had about a 2" sand bed and that's deep to me, but I'm pretty sure I can't remove any of it.  UGH.

They had it up and running for about 6 months.

[Garf]

@LilReefLady -

 

You can remove some of the sand, I'd simply suction some of the sand up while you do your vacuuming during a water change. If you are concerned about a mini cycle, do it over a few water changes.  Enjoy the little tank, they are fun little slices of the ocean.

 

ATOs, I have had good luck with the XP Aqua Ultimate ATO. It is a bit pricey, but the form factor is nice, it fits right in the 3rd chamber out of the way.

[LilReefLady]

32 minutes ago, Garf said:

@LilReefLady -

 

You can remove some of the sand, I'd simply suction some of the sand up while you do your vacuuming during a water change. If you are concerned about a mini cycle, do it over a few water changes.  Enjoy the little tank, they are fun little slices of the ocean.

 

ATOs, I have had good luck with the XP Aqua Ultimate ATO. It is a bit pricey, but the form factor is nice, it fits right in the 3rd chamber out of the way.

Thanks Garf-what do you use as the reservoir?  also, did you upgrade your lights?  If so, which do you use?

[LilReefLady]

Here's a pic of the tank and the algae on the very top rock. Any suggestions on getting rid of that fast??

[smirkis]

@LilReefLady

 

tunze 3155 or smart ato micro are solid choices. All atos have the potential for a mishap it seems tho as you’ll find mixed reviews on all atos across the web. I’m personally using an ato from reef Breeders but plan on swapping it out eventually. 
 

for the algae, could be a number of factors. High nutrients from heavy feeding, too much light, bad water chemistry. I’d probably pull the rock and scrub it and do a large water change and cut back on lighting schedule to not feed it. Swap the light soon if you can also. The spectrum of the stock light isn’t that great and could be feeding the algae

[Garf]

3 hours ago, LilReefLady said:

Thanks Garf-what do you use as the reservoir?  also, did you upgrade your lights?  If so, which do you use?

Red Sea ReefLED 50 with the ReefLED mounting arm, the "middle" sized one. You want the light at the middle when mounted from the back glass behind the sump. I had to shim it (as I had to when I tried the universal mount).

 

I got a 5Liter IceCap dosing reservoir, works well. You can get a similar one for around 30$ on amazon.  I do have to fill it every week or so, but it is a decent enough size that it fits under my desk and isn't taking up leg room.

 

You can get the dual sensor version of the ATO, and save a bit. I splurged for the 4 sensor, but really I think a dual one would work just as well. with a small reservoir, you wont really have to worry about the tank flooding your space. 

[LilReefLady]

On 11/30/2019 at 6:18 PM, Garf said:

It really depends on your tank, the amount and type of liverock, bio load, lighting schedule, ambient light, and your maintenance routine.  

 

Why are you running chemi pure blue? Do you know what is in it?  What params are you chasing?

 

I have two clowns and a tail spot goby in my tank, certainly not a low bioload in a 13.5 gallon tank. I started with about a 1:1 ratio of lbs of rock to water, with high quality live rock and sand from my established 5gallon.  I run only charcoal, and filter pad, which I change at least twice a week.  My nitrates and phosphate has always measured consistently low, which I find odd because I feed a lot, pellets every day, frozen twice a week, and Fritz AZOX, KZ LPS amino, and KZ coral vitalizer at least every other day.  I haven't performed a water change in over two weeks, and all I have is some light algae on the glass.  I am actually trying to get some algae on the rocks/glass for my tail spot to eat.  

 

You also have to realize people take pictures and show off their tanks at their best, Here is my tank in its current state, you can see it needs the glass cleaned and the gravel vacuumed.  The new pixel phone messes with the color (this was taken through a orange filter), so it looks dirtier than it actually is.  

 

 

Edit:

 

Next day after maintenance and water change.

 

 

HI Garf, where did you get your lid?  This tank is great.  Do you get your rock flowers locally?  Im trying to find someone that sells them, but will probably ahve to purchase online.  Also, that green coral on the right that looks like flowers is beautiful.  What is it?

[LilReefLady]

18 hours ago, smirkis said:

@LilReefLady

 

tunze 3155 or smart ato micro are solid choices. All atos have the potential for a mishap it seems tho as you’ll find mixed reviews on all atos across the web. I’m personally using an ato from reef Breeders but plan on swapping it out eventually. 
 

for the algae, could be a number of factors. High nutrients from heavy feeding, too much light, bad water chemistry. I’d probably pull the rock and scrub it and do a large water change and cut back on lighting schedule to not feed it. Swap the light soon if you can also. The spectrum of the stock light isn’t that great and could be feeding the algae

Thanks.  I've only had it a few days, so I'm not sure how much the previous owner was feeding.  I've cut down on the light schedule and new lights will come in end of next week!

[Garf]

5 hours ago, LilReefLady said:

HI Garf, where did you get your lid?  This tank is great.  Do you get your rock flowers locally?  Im trying to find someone that sells them, but will probably ahve to purchase online.  Also, that green coral on the right that looks like flowers is beautiful.  What is it?

It is a custom ClearView lid for the EVO 13.5  (www.clearviewlids.com) 

 

The green coral is an Alveopora, sometimes called daisy or flowerpot coral. It is a close relation to the red one next to it, goniopora.  They have a reputation of being hard to keep, but that may have changed as more captive bred versions of these corals are available now.  

 

My rock flowers came from a local supplier (Chicago area), he has a great tank filled with them. I was hoping I would have had some of them spawn by now, but it looks like I have all the same sex. 

[Rastareefer]

My 9 week old evo 13.5, replaced stock lighting with an AI prime HD 16, added a Hydor Aqamai wave-maker and converted the middle section of the rear sump into a chaeto refugium using the stock light stuck to the back of the sump to provide light on an alternate schedule. Also added a micro ATO and kinda feel like it’s almost a requirement on a tank this size having tried to deal with salinity-management and water changes without one. 

Photo is from about a week ago and now the Duncan at the top of the rock on the right (the stump 😬) is now all alive and fabulous. I’ve also added a rose bubbletip anemone since then but he’s on the back-side of the left rock so not visible right now from the front anyway. 
 

Still using the stock pump, I cut down the original filter foam and use it to hold my small bag of GFO (which along with my CUC is beating back red turf and green hair algae) and below that I’m running a bag of activated carbon with a small amount of filter floss directly under the overflow to catch any bits of food.

 

I do a 2-3 gallon water change once per week, change the small pad of filter floss once every 5 days to a week depending on how brown it’s looking. So far besides a few algae issues which the GFO has got under control it’s all going great! Corals have only been in for 4 weeks and I’m already seeing noticeable growth on all of them except my candy cane which had hair algae growing on when it came to me so is still recovering. 
 

Parameters are spot-on and have been consistent for the last 2-3 weeks now, I’m manually dosing calcium, KH buffer, polyplabs polyp preparation and reef roids along with coral elements as per directions on the labels. I’ve also added about 8 100ml packets of live copepods to supplement fish feeding and help my CUC out a bit. 
 

Love this hobby so far, I’m finally getting past the stage where I’m constantly on-edge and assuming my tank will crash at any second, I’m starting to relax and actually enjoy it.

[afcajax73]

looking good there mate 🙂

[smirkis]

Here is an updated front shot of mine from today:

[reeferdrew]

Has anyone had any luck in removing the mesh film on the rims of the tanks? If so how did you do it?

[dvs1986]

Yeah. It’s really easy to remove with a razor. It’s super messy though. If your tank is wet, don’t even bother.

[cabezatuck]

This is my evo 13.5, 2 months in. First saltwater tank, plenty of freshwater xp. I upgraded the pump to the Eheim compactON 1000. I think the pump adds enough flow, I had a hydor 240 but frags seem happier without it. I have the PS2 mini but am currently using intank media baskets in chambers 1 and 2 with biomax, filter floss, purigen and chemipure elite in those. I got the Fluval timer for the stock light, it is garbage. All you can control is when sunrise/sunset occurs and the intensity of moon, but not daylight. Ramping is only 15 minutes and can’t be adjusted. Really shocked they would release such a dumbed down device with a $30 price tag. I want to upgrade the light but am at a loss. I want a lot of control, and happy corals. Also want a lid not a screen. I saw the custom one another member posted, looking for something a little more simple but might go that route. Any suggestions on lighting/lid would be appreciated.

[smirkis]

18 hours ago, cabezatuck said:

This is my evo 13.5, 2 months in. First saltwater tank, plenty of freshwater xp. I upgraded the pump to the Eheim compactON 1000. I think the pump adds enough flow, I had a hydor 240 but frags seem happier without it. I have the PS2 mini but am currently using intank media baskets in chambers 1 and 2 with biomax, filter floss, purigen and chemipure elite in those. I got the Fluval timer for the stock light, it is garbage. All you can control is when sunrise/sunset occurs and the intensity of moon, but not daylight. Ramping is only 15 minutes and can’t be adjusted. Really shocked they would release such a dumbed down device with a $30 price tag. I want to upgrade the light but am at a loss. I want a lot of control, and happy corals. Also want a lid not a screen. I saw the custom one another member posted, looking for something a little more simple but might go that route. Any suggestions on lighting/lid would be appreciated.

your tank looks great. the stock light is pretty bad especially when directly compared to the spectrum you can get with better lighting. when i changed from the stock light to the ai prime i was blown away with the look from better leds. if you really want to keep the hood, look at led strips to mount inside. i didn't want the open top at first but afterwards i love it and find myself staring top down pretty often.

[Rastareefer]

On 1/22/2020 at 12:51 AM, cabezatuck said:

This is my evo 13.5, 2 months in. First saltwater tank, plenty of freshwater xp. I upgraded the pump to the Eheim compactON 1000. I think the pump adds enough flow, I had a hydor 240 but frags seem happier without it. I have the PS2 mini but am currently using intank media baskets in chambers 1 and 2 with biomax, filter floss, purigen and chemipure elite in those. I got the Fluval timer for the stock light, it is garbage. All you can control is when sunrise/sunset occurs and the intensity of moon, but not daylight. Ramping is only 15 minutes and can’t be adjusted. Really shocked they would release such a dumbed down device with a $30 price tag. I want to upgrade the light but am at a loss. I want a lot of control, and happy corals. Also want a lid not a screen. I saw the custom one another member posted, looking for something a little more simple but might go that route. Any suggestions on lighting/lid would be appreciated.

I’ve got an AI Prime HD 16 on mine and despite being more expensive than I would have liked I honestly have no regrets. Being able to customise your light spectrum/output is really important to me. Makes the tank look 100 times better and my corals love it. 
 

Your tank looks crazy clean for being 2 months old! Mine is about the same age and looks nowhere near as pristine. 😂😂

[pikemartin]

Finally finished with my setup. Not to shabby for some DYI