Fluval EVO 13.5 Filtration Upgrade

RhiD08 · Mar 28, 2021

Hi everyone! I've had my Fluval EVO 13.5 saltwater aquarium set up for 5 months but the water has never been crystal clear. There are always tons of little particles floating around, clouding the water. I've been researching a bit and can't seem to find the cause of it apart from my filtration setup. Currently, Chamber 1 has my 50 watt Eheim Jager heater, chamber 2 has the sponge filter with ativated carbon and bio media, and the third chamber has the stock pump. I've been wanting to upgrade my filtration anyways and hopefully if I do, it'll clear up the water! I've been researching about filtration upgrades others have made on the Fluval EVO 13.5 and it seems that almost everyone upgraded to the InTank media baskets. Now my question is, is it worth it to get both InTank media baskets for chamber 1 and 2? And what should I put in them? I've read that most people use filter floss and biomedia. I also saw someone else who put chaeto into the InTank media basket for chamber 2 and made a little refugium. Would a refugium of this size be worth it for filtration? I am very intrigued by the natural filtration methods like the refugium. What would you do to upgrade the filtration setup? Thank you in advance!

davidcalgary29 · Mar 28, 2021

No, skip basket 2. It's takes up too much room in the sump and I use that for a UV sterilizer and heater.

You can do a lot by adjusting the nozzles on your return: I use one to break the surface tension of the water, and the other is aimed diagonally across the tank.

Basket 1 is nice, but before you spring for it, I'd put some filter floss in the sump beyond the intake. I have chemipure blue, bio balls ("gems"), and filter floss in mine. My water isn't crystal clear, either...but I have a sand-sifting goby that I am sure is the cause of some of the turbidity.

Also: plug up the hole in the back wall with glue or putty or something. You'll get a much better flow. InTank also makes a nice surface skimmer that does wonder for any biofilm that you might have on your water surface.

LardLad · Apr 6, 2021

1. Get InTank Chamber1 caddy. Throw that stock sponge in the trash right now!
2. In the top of that, place a square of bonded Filter Floss. (Change 2 or 3 times per week)
3. In the next compartment down place Boyd's Chemi Pure (Blue or Elite) 6.5 ounce bag.
4. In bottom of chamber 1 put nothing or Poly fill wad (teddy bear stuffing). (works amazing)(HobbyLobby)
5. Put heater in chamber 3.
6. Plug hole in wall. Plug comes with InTank ch1 caddy. Floss and ChemiPure get from InTank too.
7. Get a Sicce 0.5 silent pump and adjust outlets to create surface agitation.

Get back to me for more awesome Fluval mods once you get this done.

LardLad · Apr 6, 2021

Get my afforementioned suggestions done first. I promise you, that is the best jump forward you can make.
The refugium and all that is way down the line. I always believed in bio-media but have recently abandoned it in lieu of my chunky live rock in my display. Thats a discussion worth it's own post.

That being said, if you have enough live rock in your display, you really don't need any media in your sump.
I would leave chamber 2 empty until you get chamber one tuned up. Give yourself time to think about it.

As long as nothing crazy is happening that you are not telling us about, the previous recommendations will absolutely get you crystal clear water.

What you need: Flow, Floss, ChemiPure, InTank basket.

JLavy · Apr 15, 2021

LardLad said:
1. Get InTank Chamber1 caddy. Throw that stock sponge in the trash right now!
2. In the top of that, place a square of bonded Filter Floss. (Change 2 or 3 times per week)
3. In the next compartment down place Boyd's Chemi Pure (Blue or Elite) 6.5 ounce bag.
4. In bottom of chamber 1 put nothing or Poly fill wad (teddy bear stuffing). (works amazing)(HobbyLobby)
5. Put heater in chamber 3.
6. Plug hole in wall. Plug comes with InTank ch1 caddy. Floss and ChemiPure get from InTank too.
7. Get a Sicce 0.5 silent pump and adjust outlets to create surface agitation.

Get back to me for more awesome Fluval mods once you get this done.

Totally agree with this!! It's what I did. I also made chamber 2 a fuge.

alpha199 · Apr 16, 2021

You can still keep the fluval protein skimmer in chamber one if you opted for that and use D-Flow chamber 2 basket which will properly direct flow through the filter basket. Pictured is the chamber one basket as well as the chamber 2 basket. You do not need the chamber 1 basket for the chamber 2 basket to work as intended.

FishyFishFish · Apr 16, 2021

Personally I would only use the Chemipure if your testing shows that you need it, but that’s just me.

I have the chamber 1 basket but I still have little bits floating in the water column. Ideally I would like a filter sock but that’s not really practical, so I might need to try a finer filter pad.

RhiD08 · Apr 21, 2021

JLavy said:
Totally agree with this!! It's what I did. I also made chamber 2 a fuge.

Would you be able to post a picture of what your fuge looks like?

RhiD08 · Apr 21, 2021

LardLad said:
Get my afforementioned suggestions done first. I promise you, that is the best jump forward you can make.
The refugium and all that is way down the line. I always believed in bio-media but have recently abandoned it in lieu of my chunky live rock in my display. Thats a discussion worth it's own post.

That being said, if you have enough live rock in your display, you really don't need any media in your sump.
I would leave chamber 2 empty until you get chamber one tuned up. Give yourself time to think about it.

As long as nothing crazy is happening that you are not telling us about, the previous recommendations will absolutely get you crystal clear water.

What you need: Flow, Floss, ChemiPure, InTank basket.

Thank you so much! I’ve just purchased the InTank media basket for chamber 1 along with all that filter media! I will update once it’s all set up and running!

LardLad · Apr 21, 2021

RhiD08 said:
Thank you so much! I’ve just purchased the InTank media basket for chamber 1 along with all that filter media! I will update once it’s all set up and running!

Very nice. That will be a solid step forward for you.

Reef. · Apr 21, 2021

Wouldn't the floss make more sense being on the top rather than the bottom of the basket.

davidcalgary29 · Apr 22, 2021

alpha199 said:
You can still keep the fluval protein skimmer in chamber one if you opted for that and use D-Flow chamber 2 basket which will properly direct flow through the filter basket. Pictured is the chamber one basket as well as the chamber 2 basket. You do not need the chamber 1 basket for the chamber 2 basket to work as intended.

I decided to do this in order to polish the water. The Fluval PS2 is quite fiddly, and I find that you need to clean the sponge in it frequently or else the skimming goes haywire. I'm going to keep it in for now, and I've switched to using InTake basket 2 in chamber 2, but I'm not convinced it's a better option than simply using the basket in chamber 1. Using filter floss in chamber 2 is sort of pointless, and I've tried to put it underneath the skimmer, but it's not very effective there.

LardLad · Apr 22, 2021

Reef. said:
Wouldn't the floss make more sense being on the top rather than the bottom of the basket.

Yes use bonded FF on top. However since I have abandoned the use of Bio media I know put the teddy bear floss in the bottom chamber in one. I still leave the floss in the top. But there is a major benefit to having that wadded-up poly fill in the bottom. Otherwise it's just unused space.

RhiD08 · Apr 22, 2021

Reef. said:
Wouldn't the floss make more sense being on the top rather than the bottom of the basket.

I plan to run the chamber 1 InTank media basket and after some research, it seems the best set up is the floss, bio media, and then any chemical media like chemi pure. I think I’m going to go with a setup along those lines!

alpha199 · Apr 22, 2021

davidcalgary29 said:
I decided to do this in order to polish the water. The Fluval PS2 is quite fiddly, and I find that you need to clean the sponge in it frequently or else the skimming goes haywire. I'm going to keep it in for now, and I've switched to using InTake basket 2 in chamber 2, but I'm not convinced it's a better option than simply using the basket in chamber 1. Using filter floss in chamber 2 is sort of pointless, and I've tried to put it underneath the skimmer, but it's not very effective there.

I removed the sponge from my protein skimmer and it's been smooth sailing ever since.

Balto · Apr 29, 2021

LardLad said:
1. Get InTank Chamber1 caddy. Throw that stock sponge in the trash right now!
2. In the top of that, place a square of bonded Filter Floss. (Change 2 or 3 times per week)
3. In the next compartment down place Boyd's Chemi Pure (Blue or Elite) 6.5 ounce bag.
4. In bottom of chamber 1 put nothing or Poly fill wad (teddy bear stuffing). (works amazing)(HobbyLobby)
5. Put heater in chamber 3.
6. Plug hole in wall. Plug comes with InTank ch1 caddy. Floss and ChemiPure get from InTank too.
7. Get a Sicce 0.5 silent pump and adjust outlets to create surface agitation.

Get back to me for more awesome Fluval mods once you get this done.

Hey you seem to know a lot about 13.5s. Mine is around the four month mark and I keep getting diatoms / cyano. Any ideas what that could be about? I have chemi blue and don't over feed and change my filter floss weekly

LardLad · Apr 29, 2021

Balto said:
Hey you seem to know a lot about 13.5s. Mine is around the four month mark and I keep getting diatoms / cyano. Any ideas what that could be about? I have chemi blue and don't over feed and change my filter floss weekly

That is a big question and Im not a good one for that. All I can say is that at four months the tank is really young and those types of things are common. There is a lot of info on here about this exact topic. Just hit the search and you will have more help than you could ever want.
I am more able to help with all things 13.5 DIY mods, algae scrubbers, and Alveopora. I would direct you to someone more qualified than me for your question. Good luck

alpha199 · May 1, 2021

Balto said:
Hey you seem to know a lot about 13.5s. Mine is around the four month mark and I keep getting diatoms / cyano. Any ideas what that could be about? I have chemi blue and don't over feed and change my filter floss weekly

Get OceanMagik from @AlgaeBarn I use it on my 13.5 and it cleared up my ugly stage in under a week.