Brand new hobbiest checking out the Fluval 13.5

[Nova Scotian]

Hello, all. Years ago, I spent countless hours researching for a nano reef, but I didn’t have the funds yet for such a hobby. Now, I am able to divert some money to a reef. I don’t want more than 15 gallons, and I am not good at cutting, fitting, etc. to make diy improvements.

 

I think I would like to get the Fluval EVO 13.5…. It seems to be the AIO that I’m seeing the least problems with on the forum (other than very expensive setups). I’m wondering what upgrades people suggest, because a bare 10 gallon and a diy refugium/sump might be better cost-wise. 
 

I’m pretty sure some actinics are a really good addition, so I will look up what others have done to add theirs. Other than that, I’m not sure what most people find they don’t like about the Fluval 13.5. Any recommendations would be gladly received! Things have changed around here since I last came, so I have to try to brush up on the information. For example, we don’t need as much rock as we used to.
 

Thanks,

Melissa

[M. Tournesol]

Welcome to nano-reef 😉

 

20 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

because a bare 10 gallon and a diy refugium/sump might be better cost-wise. 

😬 you should not forget the cost of the glass diamond drill, plumbing, overflow box, and so on without forgetting the time investment.

 

For inspiration and information, the June 2021 featured aquarium is a Fluval EVO 13.5:

 

 

[Bigals-nano-1]

Hi, I’ve just taken my first steps into the saltwater side of the hobby 2 months ago after keeping a freshwater tank for the last five years which I also still run. I bought a second hand stock Fluval evo sea 52lt tank complete with protein skimmer and have done a few modifications/upgrades, the first was to remove the rubbish stock foam filter and made a diy basket for chamber two as I run the skimmer in chamber 1. Plugged off the hole in the false wall to improve the flow though chambers and to make sure that most of the water passes through the filter. I have upgraded the under powered stock return pump and swapped the stock twin nozzle that comes with the tank with a 1/2”Random flow generator nozzle to also better the flow. The light on the tank does the job but doesn’t really have any controllability and is something that I am looking to upgrade in the future. This will also involve getting rid of the stock lid and fitting a jump guard. In the meantime I use it with a ramp up timer and just turn the blues on manually around tea time The stock lid does mean that you don’t get too much evaporation but I found that the temperature would rise quite a bit when the lights were on compared to being off so ended up doing a diy fan mod on the stock cover and control it via a heating/cooling controller. I do love the tank but if I was do it all over again I would probably look at other tank options by the time I factor in the cost of the modification I’ve done. 

[DevilDuck]

One of the best All-In-One kits out there. Lots of great journals and support. It was my gateway drug into reefing.

 

Fluval Evo 13.5 - Somewhat Budget First Reef - Nano Reef Journals - Nano-Reef Community

 

[rough eye]

you don't have to do anything (except maybe plug that hole near the bottom of the back chambers). i made the DIY baskets for back chamber and got rid of the sponge. This way i can just use filter floss, a little carbon and some bio media in the back for filtration. Added a second light and a timer for both lights. Only other thing I might do is upgrade to a quieter return pump with slightly more power and add one of those random flow nozzles.

 

Only thing you really need to add is heater, a power head for a little more flow, rock and sand and water and you're good to go. I was actually shocked at how cheaply I could get back into the hobby. I thought I'd need to spend about $1400 and ended up spending maybe a third of that at most.

[Seadragon]

Knowing what I know now, if I was on a tight budget, I'd definitely get the Fluval 13.5 Gallon Evo XII Marine Aquarium Kit.  And then I'd also read a bunch of related journals and posts on here and on the Internet regarding retrofitting and customizing this tank.  The worst thing I heard from a YouTuber regarding this tank was that he wasn't overly happy with how the lights made his corals look, they weren't as vibrant and amazing as they would be under more expensive lighting.

 

But, that's a small price to pay when you're saving a ton of money otherwise.  Also, you're limited to certain types of corals if you use the stock lights, but I feel that isn't that big of a deal for the types I keep anyways.  Like you said, add some additional actinic lighting, a ramp up/down timer, and a few other goodies and this setup would be among the best in the budget category for starting in this hobby.

[Nova Scotian]

Thanks, guys. I’ve been looking at ECLS Reefer’s journal, and I am thinking that I will need a better pump, return nozzle, and to change the media/make a basket. I can make a simple addition to the lighting until I upgrade…. But now I am wondering if just starting with a new light is worth it. I don’t like the white lights, hoping adding actinics will make it look better. I will make an Amazon list, I’d rather leave the lfs for actual live items because they are more expensive. We have a pretty good lfs here, I believe, that Joey from King of DIY uses. He’s freshwater, mostly.

[ninjamyst]

I still have my fluval Evo 13.5.  Its a nice tank but be prepared to throw away everything that comes with it.

 

Stock light - crap.  Makes your corals look dull.  

Stock pump - crap.  Will not be enough water flow for LPS and SPS.

Stock sponge - crap.  Nitrate factory.  Throw it away after a couple of months.

 

As long as you plan to upgrade the stock equipment, the tank itself is very nice.  Add a bigger pump and get a $70 light from Amazon and you will be good.

 

 

 

[M. Tournesol]

4 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

if just starting with a new light is worth it

You shouldn't forget to buy a lid if you change your light and need to remove the canopy. 

 

A glass lid is a cheap and good option :
- lower the light intensity a little
+ cheap, lower evaporation

 

A mesh lid is also a good option :
- commercial solutions are costly / need a little DIY skill, don't lower evaporation.
+  don't lower the light intensity

⚠️ small fishes can still jump if the mesh is too big

[Ratvan]

6 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

Thanks, guys. I’ve been looking at ECLS Reefer’s journal, and I am thinking that I will need a better pump, return nozzle, and to change the media/make a basket. I can make a simple addition to the lighting until I upgrade…. But now I am wondering if just starting with a new light is worth it. I don’t like the white lights, hoping adding actinics will make it look better. I will make an Amazon list, I’d rather leave the lfs for actual live items because they are more expensive. We have a pretty good lfs here, I believe, that Joey from King of DIY uses. He’s freshwater, mostly.

You either need a better pump or an additional wavemaker/powerhead, depending on what you're wanting to keep

You can run the sponge but a Media Basket (InTank or DIY) works better especially plugging the emergency dry out hole 

I'm going to be adding a couple of Actinic Blue LED strips to mine to improve the look of the tank with the light on, @DevilDuck did something similar and managed to keep a BTA and other things that the stock lighting may struggle to keep. I know most people upgrade the light further but i wanted this tank due to the LID and keeping Evaporation to a minimum, I also really like the hooded look of the tank

[DevilDuck]

6 hours ago, Ratvan said:

You either need a better pump or an additional wavemaker/powerhead, depending on what you're wanting to keep

You can run the sponge but a Media Basket (InTank or DIY) works better especially plugging the emergency dry out hole 

I'm going to be adding a couple of Actinic Blue LED strips to mine to improve the look of the tank with the light on, @DevilDuck did something similar and managed to keep a BTA and other things that the stock lighting may struggle to keep. I know most people upgrade the light further but i wanted this tank due to the LID and keeping Evaporation to a minimum, I also really like the hooded look of the tank

Thank for the shout out @Ratvan!

 

Here’s a short video of my tank with the stock light plus 2 cheap supplemental blue light bars. This is a month before I transferred to a larger tank.

 

 

 

[rough eye]

10 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

Thank for the shout out @Ratvan!

 

Here’s a short video of my tank with the stock light plus 2 cheap supplemental blue light bars. This is a month before I transferred to a larger tank.

really nice. i have questions. is that a euphilia. on the left? does it sting nearby corals? how much distance between it and the others? is the xenia easy to keep in check? what's the coral on the very right of the rock at the top with a feathery look?

also, what percentages are you running the lights? right now i'm running the stock light about 80% and the actinic strip at 45%.

[DevilDuck]

16 minutes ago, rough eye said:

really nice. i have questions. is that a euphilia. on the left? does it sting nearby corals? how much distance between it and the others? is the xenia easy to keep in check? what's the coral on the very right of the rock at the top with a feathery look?

also, what percentages are you running the lights? right now i'm running the stock light about 80% and the actinic strip at 45%.

The euphilia is a green frogspawn, it was stinging the gorgonian in the back left corner or at least causing the gorg's polyps to retract. It is now even bigger with 3 heads and one of the reasons I started looking into a larger tank. It was also a few mm from touching the rock flower anemone next to it. 

 

The leather on the right top is a long polyp toadstool leather. 

 

The xenia was becoming a pain. I have it growing on a couple of oyster shells, every month I would need to remove a couple of polyps or trade away one of the oyster shells with local reefers. One point I let it grow too large and it started releasing polyps into the water column which would attach to nearby rocks and start another colony. It was a pain to scrape them off. I love the pulsing motion but unless you keep up with the trimming, xenia can become quite invasive.

 

With two 9 watt supplemental blue lights, I had to keep the stock light dimmed about 50%. In hindsight, I needed just one supplemental blue bar.

 

 

 

[rough eye]

49 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

The euphilia is a green frogspawn, it was stinging the gorgonian in the back left corner or at least causing the gorg's polyps to retract. It is now even bigger with 3 heads and one of the reasons I started looking into a larger tank. It was also a few mm from touching the rock flower anemone next to it. 

 

The leather on the right top is a long polyp toadstool leather. 

 

The xenia was becoming a pain. I have it growing on a couple of oyster shells, every month I would need to remove a couple of polyps or trade away one of the oyster shells with local reefers. One point I let it grow too large and it started releasing polyps into the water column which would attach to nearby rocks and start another colony. It was a pain to scrape them off. I love the pulsing motion but unless you keep up with the trimming, xenia can become quite invasive.

 

With two 9 watt supplemental blue lights, I had to keep the stock light dimmed about 50%. In hindsight, I needed just one supplemental blue bar.

 

 

 

i'm jealous. my toadstool is not the long polyp type. or it's too close to the light to extend very much. i guess i'll avoid the xenias then. although they sure fill things up nicely. i just split the GSP so i have an island and will grow some up the back wall. and i suppose i'll avoid euphilia - don't want aggressive, stinging corals. are you running the actinic lights at 100 then?

[DevilDuck]

2 hours ago, rough eye said:

i'm jealous. my toadstool is not the long polyp type. or it's too close to the light to extend very much. i guess i'll avoid the xenias then. although they sure fill things up nicely. i just split the GSP so i have an island and will grow some up the back wall. and i suppose i'll avoid euphilia - don't want aggressive, stinging corals. are you running the actinic lights at 100 then?

I've seen several longer polyp toadstool out there and in journals here. But the holy grail is a "True Weeping Willow Toadstool",  I am on the hunt for one but really haven't seen any frags for sale. There are a lot that claim they are "weeping willows" but don't quite have the 4 inch long draping polyps almost like a indo torch.

 

Behold...

 

 

[reef jockey]

IMO the upgrades you would like for the Fluval 13.5 would really depend on what you want to keep, whether it be softies, LPS, or SPS.

I'm still building my Evo up but i plan to keep softies and LPS at most. 

My upgrades has so far included:

lighting: Current USA Orbit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GFTK7CQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

filter: InTank Media chamber in chamber 1 https://www.amazon.com/inTank-Chamber-Media-Basket-Fluval/dp/B0716K5ZMM/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=intank+media+basket&qid=1628879908&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-2

return pump: SICCE silent 1.0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZJDN5Q?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-ypp-ro-model_ypp_ro_model_k0_1_5&crid=BH2U4DPR9D5K&sprefix=sicce

chamber 2 currently has the protein skimmer and does not work very well so i'm building an algae scrubber for nutrient export

 

with the light i chose, i did have to remove the hood and i did so to regulate the temp better.  the trade off is more evaporation but it hasn't been a real big issue

also with the SICCE return pump you will want to plug the hole on the side of chamber 2.  you'll get much better flow and turnover.  Add a random flow generator(RFG) and your set.  probably wont need a wave make with this setup

[Nova Scotian]

Thanks, all. I would love to have something half as awesome as yours, DevilDuck. 

So far, this is my list. The random flow nozzle I found is 32mm, is this what you meant, reef jockey? I don’t know how to tag names yet. Please ignore the rain gauge, that is for my mom - my dog knocked her over and broke it🤷🏼‍♀️

 

In Canada, we pay more and have less variety, but I might have the right stuff (?)

 

 

[Nova Scotian]

Btw, the little submersible light is for charro in a chamber in the back. 

Charro = chaeto

[Nova Scotian]

I was reading that playing with lights isn’t good for corals, so I thought the simple, cheap light would be fine for me. I won’t play around with the spectrum.

[reef jockey]

11 minutes ago, Nova Scotian said:

Thanks, all. I would love to have something half as awesome as yours, DevilDuck. 

So far, this is my list. The random flow nozzle I found is 32mm, is this what you meant, reef jockey? I don’t know how to tag names yet. Please ignore the rain gauge, that is for my mom - my dog knocked her over and broke it🤷🏼‍♀️

 

In Canada, we pay more and have less variety, but I might have the right stuff (?)

 

 

Vivid Creative Aquatics random flow generator

https://vividcreativeaquatics.com/product-spotlight/random-flow-generator/

[reef jockey]

28 minutes ago, Nova Scotian said:

I was reading that playing with lights isn’t good for corals, so I thought the simple, cheap light would be fine for me. I won’t play around with the spectrum.

lighting is one of the most important needs of your aquarium next to water quality.  Depending on the coral you plan to keep lighting is essential.  Corals contain zooxanthellae algae for photosynthesis and color.  Your lighting is key to producing that.  

In this hobby, you can pick and choose what to spend your money on, lighting is one thing that I would not go cheap on.  You can spend upwards of $300 for an AI prime or you can buy a $20 light from Amazon.  It's really what you choose to keep

 

I saw that you are planning to build your own media basket for chamber one.  if not take a look at InTank Aquatics

https://intankaquatics.com/

[Nova Scotian]

Okay, I hear you about the light. Would you say a Fluval Nano or Current USA would be better than the Hipargero? I suppose I was looking at the wattage and maybe I am not right in doing that. I don’t want the fancy controls, and I wondered if some of the lights are expensive because you pay for the controls. I could do the AI Prime, if it actually is better for the tank. But I doubt I’ll keep sps.

[DevilDuck]

I would pass on that heater. It will not fit in the back compartment of the fluval, it’s slightly too long. Since you have a heater controller you can pick up something cheap and compact like a 50w FreeSea heater. The short round shape fits better.

 

Go to the hardware store like Home Depot of the egg rate diffusers in the lighting section.

 

Skip the submersible led, it’s trash. Here is the one I used, https://www.21ledusa.com/aquarium_led_reefbar_actinic_blue_p/rb5730blwp.htm

 Get the power supply and dimmer.

 

[reef jockey]

i have no experience with the Hipargero so i can't say.  I was however looking at that light was well before i decided on the Current USA.  I did like the Current USA light for the choices you have in setting light intensity for different spectrums and the sunrise/sunset feature.  Other than that, thats pretty much all you need.

heres a good write up on lighting:  https://www.reefhacks.com/reef-tank-lighting-guide/

[The Reefing Reefer]

Welcome (back) to the hobby! I made the switch to saltwater 2 years ago, and also started with an Evo 13.5; unfortunately, last year I lost all my coral/fish in a move - but that a story for another day. I did an Evo 2.0 reboot and have the following upgrades:

 

Ai Prime 16HD 

Ai Prime Nero 3

Kraken Lid

Chamber 1: Intank media basket w/ Chateo - using an IM refugium light

Chamber 2: Bio Balls and a Reef Glass skimmer powered by a Fluval Q.5 air pump 

Chamber 3: Ehiem  CompactOn 100 return pump, Cobalt 50w Heater, Tunze Nano ATO float switch 

 

I also finally invested in Hanna test kits - took me 2 years, but it's worth it. 

 

Hope this helps. Cheers!