Fluval Evo 13.5 Owners Thread

[Ash1176]

Oh yeah it hasn’t been mentioned yet...

WHO’s thinking about a nero 3???

 

i think I might, it so slim I’m thinking about putting it on the AIO wall that way I don’t have that awkward powerhead in the corner

[afcajax73]

Can't really justify the cost to be honest... but I would like the idea! 😄

[lambogriffin]

On 10/22/2020 at 8:46 AM, Ash1176 said:

Oh yeah it hasn’t been mentioned yet...

WHO’s thinking about a nero 3???

 

i think I might, it so slim I’m thinking about putting it on the AIO wall that way I don’t have that awkward powerhead in the corner

I have jebao slw 10, have had for a year and it's been perfect set up on back wall/in aio like u said.. Set to pulse up to 30-40%.. now looks like they have an slw-5 which is smaller.. looks like only slightly deeper profile than nero 3.. I'd probably pick up the slw-5 over nero and save 100$ lol but the Nero does look slick.. the slw-10 is over kill for me, but since I can tune it down, I probably won't replace it unless it fails.

[Staticmoves]

On 3/5/2020 at 6:24 PM, lachies said:

Hood hack done and it’s a pretty hot day today so see if it makes any difference to the temp 

Awesome

[mipster]

On 10/22/2020 at 8:46 AM, Ash1176 said:

WHO’s thinking about a nero 3???

saw one in person the other day, they are SEXY!

[Ash1176]

15 hours ago, mipster said:

saw one in person the other day, they are SEXY!

Right? And slim which would make it perfect for the aio wall ... 

i have the prime HD so having the light and the powerhead in the same app would be pretty cool (I guess I’m a sucker for those things)

[Ryan8384]

Anyone who has run the evo 13.5, what do you do about the settlement on the floor of the overflow/sump?

[mipster]

3 hours ago, Ryan8384 said:

Anyone who has run the evo 13.5, what do you do about the settlement on the floor of the overflow/sump?

Get a small gavel vac and during your water change, syphon out the back first. But using some sort of media rack in the first chamber with filter floss on top helps keep sediment to a minimum.

[lambogriffin]

17 hours ago, mipster said:

Get a small gavel vac and during your water change, syphon out the back first. But using some sort of media rack in the first chamber with filter floss on top helps keep sediment to a minimum.

^this.. I almost exclusively siphon out of the back chambers.. especially since I got my CuC MVP tiger conch.. don't need to touch sand bed because his vacuum snout is constantly on patrol. I also got build up from return pump/plumbing that would dislodge and spray into tank after I turned pump back on following a water change, so I started taking a small piece of filter media and holding it over the return nozzles and cycling power to the pump a couple times as well. Makes water changes more rewarding when the tank doesn't look all stirred up after lol.

[JakeMo]

On 10/24/2020 at 2:47 PM, Ryan8384 said:

Anyone who has run the evo 13.5, what do you do about the settlement on the floor of the overflow/sump?

I use a piece of airline tubing to make a siphon

[Lindz]

What do you guys do about a surface skimmer with the in tank in chamber 1? I need a surface skimmer, but the stock doesn't fit with the in tank basket.

[Mongo77]

Hello, first post here in a while.  Finally getting back into the hobby after Hurricane Sandy wiped out my tank. Tank has been running for 3 months.  Besides fighting hair algae, I’m very happy with it. 

[Mongo77]

1 minute ago, Mongo77 said:

Hello, first post here in a while.  Finally getting back into the hobby after Hurricane Sandy wiped out my tank. Tank has been running for 3 months.  Besides fighting hair algae, I’m very happy with it. 

I added more hermits to the tank last weekend to help fight the hair algae. Today I added some GFO to my media basket, so hopefully it will start to recede 

[Mongo77]

[DaveDe]

Am I missing something....there's this awesome thread of posts for the 13.5 but nothing for the EVO V? 

[ValerieR]

6 hours ago, DaveDe said:

Am I missing something....there's this awesome thread of posts for the 13.5 but nothing for the EVO V? 

Create one. 🤷‍♀️

[DaveDe]

Thanks! Yay after I posted that and realized how things work - I came to that conclusion. Maybe soon.  

[Plantpot]

New nano reef member here and after looking through this forum I've bought a Fluval spec 60l which is the same as the Evo 13.5 but a little taller. I'm planning on having a media basket in chamber 1 and blanking off the hole in chamber 2 but there is also holes in the bottom of chamber 1 (see pic) should I block this off too? 

[mipster]

I would block it ya. Otherwise you won't get the flow through the top you want.

[Plantpot]

3 minutes ago, mipster said:

I would block it ya. Otherwise you won't get the flow through the top you want.

That's what I thought cheers I'm guessing just a bit of acrylic and aquarium safe glue/silicone

[Proxo]

I had both of these tanks, the evo 13.5 and the spec 60L aka 'freshwater' version of 13.5 - the light unit is exactly the same too from what i seen.
I'm guessing you'll be using it as saltwater so depending on what you put in the first chamber.... would depend on if you block it up or not.

I ran it as freshwater and blocked it but eventually opened it back up and it collected all the gunk down there i just sunked out every week or two....
So it can be a decent 'dead' spot 

[Ta2oodfreak]

Good evening everyone. Got mine up and running a week ago. Added live sand and rock from my 180G set up. I switched to a Tunze pump, swapped the 1/4" loc lines for 1/2" and added some 3D printed RFGs. Tossed some Fritz bacteria starter in as well.

Currently debating on the chamber 1 InTank basket or making one. I have a LED timer and actinic blue LED strips ordered. After I get some livestock swapped over I will get a build thread up and running. 

[Plantpot]

8 hours ago, Proxo said:

I had both of these tanks, the evo 13.5 and the spec 60L aka 'freshwater' version of 13.5 - the light unit is exactly the same too from what i seen.
I'm guessing you'll be using it as saltwater so depending on what you put in the first chamber.... would depend on if you block it up or not.

I ran it as freshwater and blocked it but eventually opened it back up and it collected all the gunk down there i just sunked out every week or two....
So it can be a decent 'dead' spot 

It's my first nano saltwater without a sump (I bought a second hand 1000 litre a few years ago but was a big first try) but was planning on a media basket in there with filter floss and carbon then a skimmer in the second chamber to start with and see how I get on, I'm getting a push fit cover made so I can block it off and unblock it easily if I need to but open to any advice

[afcajax73]

On 11/29/2020 at 2:05 AM, Ta2oodfreak said:

Good evening everyone. Got mine up and running a week ago. Added live sand and rock from my 180G set up. I switched to a Tunze pump, swapped the 1/4" loc lines for 1/2" and added some 3D printed RFGs. Tossed some Fritz bacteria starter in as well.

Currently debating on the chamber 1 InTank basket or making one. I have a LED timer and actinic blue LED strips ordered. After I get some livestock swapped over I will get a build thread up and running. 

are you UK based? I bought the InTank media baskets, but the D-Flow ones work much better (imo) and are much cheaper. 

[Jphillips]

Hi guys, so I’ve been thinking of diving into the reefing hobby for a few years now and want to start with the fluval evo 13.5 as I love the way it looks. But as my first saltwater tank, smaller water volumes are harder to keep stable than larger ones so was thinking of plumbing a sump into it but have no idea where to start. Has anyone on here plumbed a sump into the fluval evo and could post how they did so? 
 

Thanks.