Fluval Evo 13.5 Owners Thread

[TerraIncognita]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:26 AM, Lindz said:

Sorry about the double post it was an error. I found this on my live rock, it’s tiny but these tentacle things come out and go over the rock? 

 

I have something like that, but it seems to collect particles of sand around it as well and then sends out a tentacle every now and then. I thought maybe it was a baby Feather trying to build it's outer shell but it didn't make sense either and it hasn't changed in months so Idk what it is, but it's not harming anything so I just let it be.

[Lindz]

On 8/12/2020 at 9:19 PM, TerraIncognita said:

I have something like that, but it seems to collect particles of sand around it as well and then sends out a tentacle every now and then. I thought maybe it was a baby Feather trying to build it's outer shell but it didn't make sense either and it hasn't changed in months so Idk what it is, but it's not harming anything so I just let it be.

I found out its a spaghetti worm. good guy.

[Lindz]

I am trying to find a good place for my power head, any suggestions?

[TerraIncognita]

8 minutes ago, Lindz said:

I am trying to find a good place for my power head, any suggestions?

You have it peninsula style or side to side, just stick it opposite the return pump, but headed towards the overflow, will give you a nice round ciruclation, I always thought "no that's boring" but actually it puts all the pumps working together, giving you faster and better flow, and I can tell you the fish don't know too big of a difference lol, they always seem happy with those currents.

[Lindz]

8 minutes ago, TerraIncognita said:

You have it peninsula style or side to side, just stick it opposite the return pump, but headed towards the overflow, will give you a nice round ciruclation, I always thought "no that's boring" but actually it puts all the pumps working together, giving you faster and better flow, and I can tell you the fish don't know too big of a difference lol, they always seem happy with those currents.

If I put it opposite the return, if I am understanding correctly, what do I do with the wire, won't it pull across the tank?

[TerraIncognita]

17 minutes ago, Lindz said:

If I put it opposite the return, if I am understanding correctly, what do I do with the wire, won't it pull across the tank?

I have all my wiring on the right side of my tank, so I run the wiring for my return pump and skimmer actually form the left, behind and under the tank, to the right side. That's probably what I have different.

 

You could also put it on the front/side on the tank if it's sideways, I don't know which way you have it. What orientation is your tank?

[Proxo]

I had my evo sideways, filter chamber was on the left - had powerhead on right back glass in corner aiming towards the bottom of the weir as i found that to be a good dead spot.
If you're using the evo lid/hood you could get some sticky ties and run the wire across the very top the hood might hide it some? 

[Friendofish]

Hey guys! I’m moving in 2 days and I’m thinking of redoing my aquascape when I move back to fully utilize the peninsula “multiple viewing points” aspect of my Evo (if that makes sense). Can I see some of y’all’s pics who have yours set up so that you can see both sides to get some inspiration? 

[afcajax73]

6 hours ago, Friendofish said:

Hey guys! I’m moving in 2 days and I’m thinking of redoing my aquascape when I move back to fully utilize the peninsula “multiple viewing points” aspect of my Evo (if that makes sense). Can I see some of y’all’s pics who have yours set up so that you can see both sides to get some inspiration? 

I have mine with the chambers back to the wall, so it's got three viewing sides. 

 

I'm out at the minute, but I'll try get some pictures up later on. I should point out though that I was having issues with algae in my rock work and removed quite a bit, so it's a bit sparse in there, but it seems to work well for my tank at the minute. 

 

for what it's worth.. I have a powerhead just under the water outlet on the back left. I'd have ideally gone for one facing the outlet but, it looked awful with wires all down the side, and the flow seemed to work well for the corals/livestock I have

[afcajax73]

Here’s a few

 

 

[TerraIncognita]

yeah unfortunately the "peninsula" effect leaves you really limited with this 13.5

[Lindz]

18 hours ago, Proxo said:

I had my evo sideways, filter chamber was on the left - had powerhead on right back glass in corner aiming towards the bottom of the weir as i found that to be a good dead spot.
If you're using the evo lid/hood you could get some sticky ties and run the wire across the very top the hood might hide it some? 

That’s true,except I’m not exactly sure what sticky ties are lol

[lambogriffin]

 

15 hours ago, Friendofish said:

Hey guys! I’m moving in 2 days and I’m thinking of redoing my aquascape when I move back to fully utilize the peninsula “multiple viewing points” aspect of my Evo (if that makes sense). Can I see some of y’all’s pics who have yours set up so that you can see both sides to get some inspiration? 

Been lazy with it and fighting algae/red cyano.. but I am pleased with the peninsula set up.. here's mine

[mipster]

12 minutes ago, lambogriffin said:

 

Been lazy with it and fighting algae/red cyano.. but I am pleased with the peninsula set up.. here's mine

Love this scape, looks great

[Proxo]

2 hours ago, Lindz said:

That’s true,except I’m not exactly sure what sticky ties are lol

Something like this? < click 😄 - I'm not sure if the evo hood/lit will hide it much, you'd have to look around and do some trial and error but they're pretty cheap
and they always come in handy for other things!

[afcajax73]

16 hours ago, lambogriffin said:

 

Been lazy with it and fighting algae/red cyano.. but I am pleased with the peninsula set up.. here's mine

looking good.. love the scape! keep at the algae/cyano! you'll get there 😄

[afcajax73]

Thought I’d post this up! Just quick pic from this morning, and day three of the nem in the tank 

[RDMV]

I have a fluval 13.5 gallon evo xii marine aquarium kit with an added heater and UV filter which I've not turned on yet since the tank is freshly cycled.  I have 11 lbs of live rock and a live sand bed. I cycled with Seed chemicals and a molly. Said molly seems to be happy and I added a standard clown Monday.   They are getting along just fine and so far so good.  Eventually I plan to add a pair of seahorses but plan to wait quite some time before getting them.  Before I get them, I'd like to add a coral or two.  Something relatively hearty and at least somewhat easy to care for and that is compatible with seahorses.   I don't plan to add any coral yet but would like to start thinking about possibilities.  What would you recommend?  Also, when do you think I should start adding a cleaning crew? I've had s/w tanks in the past but it's been a few decades and I know things change alot and my memory isn't always good plus I didn't actually keep any corals then, I was strictly FOwLR though I did have several big and small tanks back then.   I tested water this morning and my readings are:

 

Salinity 31

PH 8.0

Amm, closer to .25 than 0 but really inbetween

Nitrite 0

Nitrate not full on 5.0 but close

 

I treat water with Prime water conditioner when I add water but haven't done any water changes yet.  

[mipster]

With your return nozzles pointed that way, you probably aren't getting much surface agitation which you'll want for proper oxygen exchange since you're not running a skimmer.

 

If you want seahorses, you are going to have to keep the tank low flow so you're going to be limited to softies. You also can't have anything that likes to sting as seahorses like to hitch onto things. To be honest, I'm not sure a fluval will be an idea home for ponies. They require low flow, vertical space and over sized filtration because they require a lot of small meals because of how their digestion works. They also can't easily complete against other faster fish for food so you'll have to be careful to target feed multiple times a day.  I had wanted ponies but they require very specific care. Their gills are also not very efficient so you run into problems with the necessity of low flow which means less oxygenation in the water. One way to help this is with a skimmer which will help remove nutrients and oxygenate the water. I recommend doing some reading.

[TerraIncognita]

Officially shutting down my Fluval 13.5 this week as I upgraded to a 45 JBJ RF

 

Just wanted to add my 2 cents on this tank, what I did, what I would've done different, and how I best would've utilized it for the best bang for my buck.

 

1. As funny as it sounds, because it's a peninsula tank, if you actually orient it peninsula like, you get a way cooler effect. It gives it a lot more depth, changing the entire element of the tank. I would've oriented it as a peninsula, not side to side.

 

2. I would've never bought the stupid Fluval Protein Skimmer. It's a nightmare, doesn't really work that well, and constantly needs adjusting.

 

3. I would've closed off the bottom inflow from the back, I ended up plugging it with a GSP Frag superglued, as I wanted the GSP to kind of grow like a wall. But I changed my mind after and I haven't seen any GSP walls in a long time. probably because they become a nuisance after a couple years. But eitherway point was really to just close that little overflow in the bottom.

 

4. I would've made or bought a media basket, I would've changed the backchamber overflow and glued it up with some acrylic and super glue so it made instead an S shape exist. There's a lot of extra holes in the back chamber so instead of an S concentrated and directed flow through filter media, you have it a lot more random. I feel that denies better filtration, but Fluval obviously disagreed, however 50% of AIO's especially the higher end reefing ones are designed like this.

 

5. I would've had the back chambers.

 

A. Media Basket with Filter Floss on top, Carbon in the middle, and GFO as needed in the bottom.

B. Middle Chamber just filled with BioMedia, come to think of it if you really wanted you could put a little fuge on top of the bio media in the 2nd chamber. But I'd just have left it empty.

C. I would NOT have upgraded the back pump, I would've left the stock, also make sure you buy the right heater so you can fit in this chamber with the pump, too big and it wont be at the proper water line.

 

6. I may or may not have upgraded the light, but I would've made a better decision about what I wanted to keep in this tank.

 

This is a GREAT beginner nano tank. If you just want to start with Saltwater, and Start with a NANO (which also now that I have a 45G I would never suggest someone to START this hobby with a Nano). Or if you want it to be your first Nano, or if you want to have a species specific tank. All my tanks have ever been nanos. And there's something about a larger tank even if it's only 45 or 50g that brings such a different aesthetic to the hobby.

 

I'm going to turn this into the QT Tank for my 45G until it's fully stocked. Once stocked, I'll convert it into a Smaller Breed Mantis Shrimp tank I think... 😄

 

Otherwise, it'll stay permenantly as a QT/Idk what to do with this just yet lets throw it in here Frag style tank.

 

 

[TerraIncognita]

On 8/19/2020 at 8:48 AM, RDMV said:

I have a fluval 13.5 gallon evo xii marine aquarium kit with an added heater and UV filter which I've not turned on yet since the tank is freshly cycled.  I have 11 lbs of live rock and a live sand bed. I cycled with Seed chemicals and a molly. Said molly seems to be happy and I added a standard clown Monday.   They are getting along just fine and so far so good.  Eventually I plan to add a pair of seahorses but plan to wait quite some time before getting them.  Before I get them, I'd like to add a coral or two.  Something relatively hearty and at least somewhat easy to care for and that is compatible with seahorses.   I don't plan to add any coral yet but would like to start thinking about possibilities.  What would you recommend?  Also, when do you think I should start adding a cleaning crew? I've had s/w tanks in the past but it's been a few decades and I know things change alot and my memory isn't always good plus I didn't actually keep any corals then, I was strictly FOwLR though I did have several big and small tanks back then.   I tested water this morning and my readings are:

 

Salinity 31

PH 8.0

Amm, closer to .25 than 0 but really inbetween

Nitrite 0

Nitrate not full on 5.0 but close

 

I treat water with Prime water conditioner when I add water but haven't done any water changes yet.  

 

Regarding Sea Horses, I'd greatly advise not keeping them in this tank.

 

The Flow even from the stock pump in this tank is going to be a bit to harsh for your seahorses I'd think, they'd be confined to the far right side.

 

If you want a Sea Horse tank, you need something with more depth and less flow. Also, they are super easy to be picked on, and your clown despite their calm nature can get territorial which might lead to Sea Horse death.

 

Otherwise looking good. +1 on Mipster's comment about the flow not stirring up the water top,

 

You need to agitate the top of the water so oxygen can be exchanged. If you're running a protein skimmer this isn't necessarily needed but you don't have one.

 

Your overflow in the back will create small agitation, however long term I think the more agitation of the water the better.

 

In terms of corals you can keep that will be easy and just grow and grow.

 

Plating Montipora,

Mushrooms

any type of Zoanthid or Palythoa

Leather Corals

Green Star Polpys

any type of Xenia or Anthea (Just make sure you get those last or just those as they will overgrow the whole tank eventually unless trimmed and kept)

 

Those will do great under these stock lights. Good luck!

[TerraIncognita]

On 8/15/2020 at 11:04 AM, lambogriffin said:

 

Been lazy with it and fighting algae/red cyano.. but I am pleased with the peninsula set up.. here's mine

Can you buy that manual ATO somewhere? or did you make it.

[lambogriffin]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:40 PM, TerraIncognita said:

Can you buy that manual ATO somewhere? or did you make it.

Made it.. spray bottle, turkey baster tube, airline tube, superglue. Lasted a week with tank covered, typically needs to be filled daily with open top.

[Lovecoral]

Following the question re lighting. I love the lid as it minimizes evaporation but I would love a lighting upgrade with a timer. 

[Proxo]

14 hours ago, Lovecoral said:

Following the question re lighting. I love the lid as it minimizes evaporation but I would love a lighting upgrade with a timer. 

You could buy the fluval timer, only problem is you have to run atleast 1% instead of off or it doesn't switch back on unless you hit the button on light.
Normally if you switch the light off at the mains while the light is on and switch the mains back on - the light stays off until you touch that button
Mine is actually turning back on without me having to touch the button, not sure how i managed it - possibly a different plug or it been bashed around my cupboard of junk has done something.