Fluval 13.5gal Questions!

[Species512]

Hello everyone,

Finally took the plunge into this hobby after months of sitting on the sidelines and researching.

1) Has anyone added an external sump to this tank? I was thinking of grabbing a 10 gal plastic container and using it as my sump. I would set it up so that the pump in the DT pumps to the sump, and the sump has an identical pump back into the DT. I would then add a DIY overflow system as a precaution that drains back into the sump. My reasoning for not using a separate overflow tank is that if the DT pump fails, it will still get drained via the overflow. If the Sump pump fails then the DT will only drain until the water is below the grate thing at the top. Is this doable or do people foresee issues?

2) I currently have 1 inch of dead sand, and about 15lbs of dead rock being cycled. I will be adding a 8x8x4 block of marinepure and will grow chaeto in the sump. Would the below livestock be feasible? I would add the CUC and invertebrates first, then fish based on how docile they are leaving about 2 weeks between each fish addition, and then ultimately coral as well, possibly a clam!

1x emerald crab
3x trochus snail
3x nassarius snail
1x blue hermit
1x red leg hermit
1x scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
1x blood red fire shrimp
2x clownfish
1x neon goby
1x firefish

3) I do want to increase the flow of the water in my DT. Would you guys recommend upgrading the pump to a higher flow rate, which also means an increase in the sump helping chaeto grow, or adding a circulation pump to the DT? I'm leaning towards the better pump.

4) Should I add a protein skimmer to the sump? I have read that the protein skimmer for the DT is garbage...

5) Do people really see a big difference in the DIY media chambers I have been seeing on forums?If I religiously clean the black sponge that comes with the aquarium would that suffice?

6) Could I sustain a healthy population of copepods in the sump on just chaeto and the marinepure, or do they NEED rock? I have been reading that there would be a slow steady stream of copepods making it to the DT via the return pump.

Any advice is much appreciated, good or bad!

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I dont think a protein skimmer is necessary if you do weekly 20% water changes. The Fluval skimmer for this tank sucks in my opinion. It was loud and a pain in the butt and not worth the hassle.
I am using the inTank media basket in chamber 1 - filter floss on top, chemipure blue nano x2 in the middle, fluval ceramic rings and marinepure balls at the bottom. I also have the middle chamber filled with marinepure balls. I'm very happy with this. Water is crystal clear, fish and corals happy, lots of purple coralline algae, and only a small amount of ugly algae on the glass.
I upgraded the pump to the Sicce 0.5 for more flow and use a random flow generator return nozzle instead of the two stock nozzles.
There is lots of info in the thread below:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-your-fluval-evo-13-5.292874/page-16
or search all the Fluval Evo threads:
https://www.reef2reef.com/search/3960988/?q=fluval+evo&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=89

 

[NY_Caveman]

I have no experience with this tank, but welcome to R2R! I agree with @BoBoBREWSKI water changes are key on a system this small and a skimmer is probably not needed.

 

[Joshua2598]

I dont think having the firefish is a good idea considering 2 clownfish is a lot of nutrients to control and adding another large (for the system) fish is not a good idea imo.

 

[Species512]

Thanks guys! Any other opinions/advice?

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I dont think having the firefish is a good idea considering 2 clownfish is a lot of nutrients to control and adding another large (for the system) fish is not a good idea imo.

I've got 2 firefish and 3 blue/green chromis in mine and everything seems OK.

 

[tankstudy]

Hello everyone,

Finally took the plunge into this hobby after months of sitting on the sidelines and researching.

1) Has anyone added an external sump to this tank? I was thinking of grabbing a 10 gal plastic container and using it as my sump. I would set it up so that the pump in the DT pumps to the sump, and the sump has an identical pump back into the DT. I would then add a DIY overflow system as a precaution that drains back into the sump. My reasoning for not using a separate overflow tank is that if the DT pump fails, it will still get drained via the overflow. If the Sump pump fails then the DT will only drain until the water is below the grate thing at the top. Is this doable or do people foresee issues?

Two identitcal pumps will have varying GPH based on head height, corners and etc. If the pump in the display tank out pumps the sump pump, the display tank pump may run dry consistently, really reducing the life span of your DT pump. I would just drill or make a DIY overflow to the sump and have one pump from the sump control it all.

Not to mention, if there is any leak in your baffled section on the Fluval, your DT pump could drain a lot or even possibly your entire system depending on where ever that small leak maybe.

2) I currently have 1 inch of dead sand, and about 15lbs of dead rock being cycled. I will be adding a 8x8x4 block of marinepure and will grow chaeto in the sump. Would the below livestock be feasible? I would add the CUC and invertebrates first, then fish based on how docile they are leaving about 2 weeks between each fish addition, and then ultimately coral as well, possibly a clam!

1x emerald crab
3x trochus snail
3x nassarius snail
1x blue hermit
1x red leg hermit
1x scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
1x blood red fire shrimp
2x clownfish
1x neon goby
1x firefish

If you can manage to install the sump, you could keep all these organisms, but it would be pretty packed.

I generally stick to either all snails or all hermit/crabs. From my experience, some, hermits will take out your snails. Stick to hermit & crab or go all snails. It's better on the pocket.

If your keeping a pair of clowns, keep in mind that when they are old enough they can become very territorial, especially when of breeding age. Sometimes it works out for people, sometimes it doesn't.

3) I do want to increase the flow of the water in my DT. Would you guys recommend upgrading the pump to a higher flow rate, which also means an increase in the sump helping chaeto grow, or adding a circulation pump to the DT? I'm leaning towards the better pump.

I think the pump supplied is good for softies but if you want a lot of SPS corals, you may need a better or more pumps for a higher turnover rate.

4) Should I add a protein skimmer to the sump? I have read that the protein skimmer for the DT is garbage...

If your going to stock heavy and feed heavy, it's always a good idea to have one. The stock one does work but it's very underwhelming, use that money with a little more money and buy a solid skimmer. Sometimes, water changes are not enough.

5) Do people really see a big difference in the DIY media chambers I have been seeing on forums?If I religiously clean the black sponge that comes with the aquarium would that suffice?

I find that if you can get water thru your media, your good.

6) Could I sustain a healthy population of copepods in the sump on just chaeto and the marinepure, or do they NEED rock? I have been reading that there would be a slow steady stream of copepods making it to the DT via the return pump.

I don't think they'll eat much of the chaeto but eventually other algaes and etc will grow for them to eat. Rock is not really needed if they are sectioned off from predators, like a sump. If you can get your pods to reproduce consistently, eventually, they'll get washed in to your DT.

 

[Species512]

Thanks for that detailed response! Much appreciated

 

[Joshua2598]

I have the fluval, u def need more flow and better light for sps.

 

[raul medina]

I have the same tank, got out of the hobby with a 25g Innovative marine, came back with this tank with the thought of leaving it as is, 2 weeks later nothing stock remains in the tank :/ and def no need for a skimmer if you do weekly water changes. Awesome lil tank. I have 2 small clowns and 1 Med size Phantom clown, 4 hermit crabs, 3 snails, everyone is happy, added a clam 2 weeks ago also.

 

[BestMomEver]

Welcome! I have that same tank and have no sump, refugium, or skimmer. We did upgrade the return pump for more flow and we put a small powerhead/wave maker in it. We keep soft corals like trees, zoas, shrooms and polyps and stuff grew like a weed. Those types of corals really like more "junk" in the water which is why we have never bothered with a skimmer. Besides, the stock lighting on that tank isn't really strong enough to keep much else. If we were to get better lighting, a sump, skimmer, etc. we might as well have invested in a bigger tank. The Fluval is a perfect little nano for keeping simple, but beautiful things. We change about one pitcher full of water every week. It comes out to about 1/2 gallon. Every 4-6 weeks or so we do a larger water change.

 

[Joshua2598]

What better return and wave maker did you get?

 

[Glenng78]

Definitely do NOT do the dual pump thing. You will never get them to even out and pump the same amount of water into the sump as is being returned into the display. In my opinion you are setting yourself up for failure.

 

[jaegers_reef]

Hello everyone,

Finally took the plunge into this hobby after months of sitting on the sidelines and researching.

1) Has anyone added an external sump to this tank? I was thinking of grabbing a 10 gal plastic container and using it as my sump. I would set it up so that the pump in the DT pumps to the sump, and the sump has an identical pump back into the DT. I would then add a DIY overflow system as a precaution that drains back into the sump. My reasoning for not using a separate overflow tank is that if the DT pump fails, it will still get drained via the overflow. If the Sump pump fails then the DT will only drain until the water is below the grate thing at the top. Is this doable or do people foresee issues?

2) I currently have 1 inch of dead sand, and about 15lbs of dead rock being cycled. I will be adding a 8x8x4 block of marinepure and will grow chaeto in the sump. Would the below livestock be feasible? I would add the CUC and invertebrates first, then fish based on how docile they are leaving about 2 weeks between each fish addition, and then ultimately coral as well, possibly a clam!

1x emerald crab
3x trochus snail
3x nassarius snail
1x blue hermit
1x red leg hermit
1x scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
1x blood red fire shrimp
2x clownfish
1x neon goby
1x firefish

3) I do want to increase the flow of the water in my DT. Would you guys recommend upgrading the pump to a higher flow rate, which also means an increase in the sump helping chaeto grow, or adding a circulation pump to the DT? I'm leaning towards the better pump.

4) Should I add a protein skimmer to the sump? I have read that the protein skimmer for the DT is garbage...

5) Do people really see a big difference in the DIY media chambers I have been seeing on forums?If I religiously clean the black sponge that comes with the aquarium would that suffice?

6) Could I sustain a healthy population of copepods in the sump on just chaeto and the marinepure, or do they NEED rock? I have been reading that there would be a slow steady stream of copepods making it to the DT via the return pump.

Any advice is much appreciated, good or bad!

1. Why do you want to add an external sump? It's a cool idea I would love to do it.

2. The CUC is fine. The inverts are fine. Having 4 fish is fine as long as you're on top of your parameters. Not sure about the mix of fish but I have 2 clowns, a tail spot blenny and a black cap Basslet.

3. I run a Sicce 1.0 and Koralia 240 and love the flow! My IG has some vids of it

4. I switched from a skimmer to a innovative marine minimax desktop reactor running RowaPhos. My nitrates are 0 from 30% WCs and the refugium

5. The intank media basket is awesome. I use it for a refugium in the middle chamber

6. See above, it's pod city in my sump. I seeded with 2 pouches of algae barn 5280 pods

 

[Joshua2598]

That's a ton of pods for such a small tank! Might have to add that when I get some chaeto

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Any of you have salt build up on outside upper edge perimeter of tank? Where the lid & tank touch. The last few weeks I’ve been having to wipe salt off almost every day. My salt levels haven’t changed much at all, so don’t think that’s the cause.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

ooops, double post, edit.

 

[Glenng78]

Any of you have salt build up on outside upper edge perimeter of tank? Where the lid & tank touch. The last few weeks I’ve been having to wipe salt off almost every day. My salt levels haven’t changed much at all, so don’t think that’s the cause.

It happens - is it in any particular area or only where 2 parts touch ?

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

It happens - is it in any particular area or only where 2 parts touch ?

It’s all around the outside upper rim of the tank, where the lid (big light lid) & glass touch

 

[Gunzen]

I have a sump and it was quite easy and not expensive. Just get the eshopps nano overflow box and make a DIY sump.

With the proper plumbing technic there is no danger of an overflow.

I cannot imagine running this tank without a sump if you want to truly have a full tank of corals/fish.

Here are some pics of mine. How I set up the nano etc. I drilled a hole in the stand and have it dropping straight down into the dump below. Basically one 2 or 3 foot piece of PCs straight down.

As far as the AIO portion. I just use chanber 1 for some polyfikter, a handful of cotton and a couple of Chemipure nano packets. Chamber 2 is empty except for carbon occasionally. Chanber three had the heater and pump.

There is no need to clutter up those chanbers with stuff if you have a sump.

I do not use a sock and the sump is pretty self explanatory.

I also use a tunze nano ATO