Fluval Evo owners w/ inTank baskets - how do you have them set up?

[s3pang]

Hi everyone,

 

First post on here, been on and off into reef tanks over the past 10 years and just recently got back into things with a new Evo 13.5 after stumbling upon the tank.  Absolutely love the setup so far, just finally got it up and running and am going through the cycle process.  I wanted to ask those of you who have the inTank baskets, how do you have them set up? I am following inTanks recommendations of the following:

 

Chamber 1: Top - filter floss, middle - seachem purigen, bottom - chemi pure blue nano bags (2x)

Chamber 2: seachem matrix biofiltration

 

I'm debating swapping to a refugium in the middle chamber eventually, but curious how others have theirs set up and if you would recommend any changes to the filtration.  Thanks for your assistance!

 

Couple of photos of how I set things up

[Friendly]

the scape is different. my concern is whether you have enough space between the mountain and the walls to slide an algae magnet through for cleaning.

[Daniel91]

Personal opinion - no need to run any media unless there is an actual need for it.

 

On a new tank such as yours, I would only run mechanical filtration - the rest and especially a mini Fuge would not be beneficial for your reef, as it might completely strip all your nutrients.

[Friendly]

I am a noob myself, having only had FW in the past and still waiting to setup my first SW...but in many new tank threads, many do or have been recommended to only have mechanical filtration like floss during the cycle.  🙂 

[s3pang]

1 hour ago, Friendly said:

the scape is different. my concern is whether you have enough space between the mountain and the walls to slide an algae magnet through for cleaning.

It may not look it in the photos but nothing actually is touching any walls.  That was my concern as in the past I have had rock touching the walls, but I can fit a scraper between.  I tried to go with a peninsula look, but I've been contemplating making adjustments once I get closer to adding livestock. 

[s3pang]

52 minutes ago, Daniel91 said:

Personal opinion - no need to run any media unless there is an actual need for it.

 

On a new tank such as yours, I would only run mechanical filtration - the rest and especially a mini Fuge would not be beneficial for your reef, as it might completely strip all your nutrients.

Thanks, appreciate the input.  Should I just pull everything out then for now minus the filter floss? don't want to necessarily waste it, but not the end of the world if it's going to hurt the cycling process

[Daniel91]

It’s not gonna hurt it if you keep it in.

 

The biofiltration might actually help but the Purigen and chemipure Blue is not really needed at this point

[HiBRiD109]

I'll be up and running for 4 weeks tomorrow. My chambers are almost similar to yours and the set up is:

Chamber 1: InTank basket with top to bottow with Filter Floss, Chemipure, empty (will put Phosguard and Purigen in once tank has more inhabitants).

Chamber 2: Big bag of Seachem Matrix I had left over from my 75G freshwater canister. InTank Plug in the Chamber 2 hole bypass hole.

Chamber 3: Cobalt Neo-Therm 75W heater and Sicce Silent 0.5 pump.

I was just running the filter floss and matrix until I finished cycling. I just dosed ammonia and added bio-spira and cycled in about 5 days. Then once I got the clown and hammer I added the chemipure.

 

First image was with just snails but I now have a juvenile Frostbite Clown and a hammer coral.

 

[scubed]

Ya for now honestly running the filterfloss in chamber one and then just carbon and bio media that came with the stock should suffice . You might want to put marin pure balls in the second later on. Also definitely fill that hole with the intank plug or some silicone.   
Also, thats a lot of rock. I know they say to have a certain amount of pounds per gallon, but you are going to run in to severe flow problems with that scape, which will increase chance for cyano blooms. Usually want about an inch and half around all sides to allow water to flow properly.  Take a look at a few of the scapes going on here.  I'd suggest removing some, or placing the flat pieces on the bottom to create platforms to place coral (if that is your intention)  then maybe follow the rule of thirds to make it more appealing to the eye.  

 

Also if you put marin pure balls in the second chamber they kinda act like live rock eventually, so you can take out that amount of your display and not have it affect your nutrient export much. 

 

Your have some good looking rocks in there, definitely play around and experiment with your scape. Keep having fun and happy reefing

 

 

[s3pang]

3 hours ago, scubed said:

Ya for now honestly running the filterfloss in chamber one and then just carbon and bio media that came with the stock should suffice . You might want to put marin pure balls in the second later on. Also definitely fill that hole with the intank plug or some silicone.   
Also, thats a lot of rock. I know they say to have a certain amount of pounds per gallon, but you are going to run in to severe flow problems with that scape, which will increase chance for cyano blooms. Usually want about an inch and half around all sides to allow water to flow properly.  Take a look at a few of the scapes going on here.  I'd suggest removing some, or placing the flat pieces on the bottom to create platforms to place coral (if that is your intention)  then maybe follow the rule of thirds to make it more appealing to the eye.  

 

Also if you put marin pure balls in the second chamber they kinda act like live rock eventually, so you can take out that amount of your display and not have it affect your nutrient export much. 

 

Your have some good looking rocks in there, definitely play around and experiment with your scape. Keep having fun and happy reefing

 

 

I'm going to re-scape it when I do a water change this weekend to try and make it easier to work with, I honestly visualized it one way but wasn't really thinking of the side effects later on down the road.  Appreciate the advice, thank you!

[scubed]

9 minutes ago, s3pang said:

I'm going to re-scape it when I do a water change this weekend to try and make it easier to work with, I honestly visualized it one way but wasn't really thinking of the side effects later on down the road.  Appreciate the advice, thank you!

Not a problem.

Can't wait to see what you scape next!