fluval evo 13.5 problem..

[gibec]

So... My tail spot blenny I just got yesterday... has fkin died... I am super sad.
It got stuck on the drain hole placed on the bottom/center side of the chamber wall. I lifted the sponge filter and sadly enough it was there... DEAD... Kind of a stupid placement of a drain hole if you ask me... or atleast have a mesh plug so this doesn't happen...

My question is... how can I prevent this from happening in the future?

I know people say plug it, but when I plug the hole the water flow in my rear chambers become worse! The water level in the third chamber where the pump is goes super low. Some people say plug it to make waterflow much better, but for me the water flow becomes much much worse. I'm guessing maybe because i have a protein skimmer in the first chamber? which is causing water coming in from that side very minimal?

If this is the case should I get rid of the protein skimmer, or place it on the second chamber? would that even fix it?

When I lifted the sponge in the second chamber it caused my water to get super cloudy, so I am afraid to attempt moving it again.

 

[blaxsun]

InTank makes a plug, but chances are the fish died and drifted with the flow to where the hole is.

 

[924er]

I would ditch the skimmer. plug the hole for sure

 

[s1oliver]

I have that same tank and that drain hole isn't strong enough to kill the fish, a healthy fish can easily pull away from it. I'd say he died and drifted towards it and got sucked up against it. How old is the tank and what are you water parameters? I bought the intank media basket for chamber 1 and it came with a plug for the drain hole, it does make the level in chamber 3 lower but better filtration is worth it and I have an ATO that keeps it from dropping too low. I don't run a skimmer since water changes will take care of nutrient export on that small of a tank so you definitely don't need it. I'd plug the hole, get rid of the skimmer and get an intank media basket for chamber 1 so you can easily change filter pads and add/remove media.

 

[doubleshot00]

I have that same tank and that drain hole isn't strong enough to kill the fish, a healthy fish can easily pull away from it. I'd say he died and drifted towards it and got sucked up against it. How old is the tank and what are you water parameters? I bought the intank media basket for chamber 1 and it came with a plug for the drain hole, it does make the level in chamber 3 lower but better filtration is worth it and I have an ATO that keeps it from dropping too low. I don't run a skimmer since water changes will take care of nutrient export on that small of a tank so you definitely don't need it. I'd plug the hole, get rid of the skimmer and get an intank media basket for chamber 1 so you can easily change filter pads and add/remove media.

This.

Plenty of chamber media baskets on etsy. I got one to go into chamber 2 as i wanted it to cover the hole. I have a uv green machine in chamber 3 dumping into chamber 2. I keep my water level pretty high to about an 1” off the top.

But i have almost upgraded everything on this tank but the stock pump and the tank.

 

[Spare time]

I'd ditch the sponge and get the in tank media basket


Or, you could removed the sponge and get one that is much more coarse and open and just place it before the pump.

 

[gibec]

I have that same tank and that drain hole isn't strong enough to kill the fish, a healthy fish can easily pull away from it. I'd say he died and drifted towards it and got sucked up against it. How old is the tank and what are you water parameters? I bought the intank media basket for chamber 1 and it came with a plug for the drain hole, it does make the level in chamber 3 lower but better filtration is worth it and I have an ATO that keeps it from dropping too low. I don't run a skimmer since water changes will take care of nutrient export on that small of a tank so you definitely don't need it. I'd plug the hole, get rid of the skimmer and get an intank media basket for chamber 1 so you can easily change filter pads and add/remove media.

I know where your coming from, but it is 100 percent the reason why it died. My water parameters are all in check and a matured tank with the transition from green to purple coralline. It was a healthy fish, but i got a tiny one and its probably why it got stuck in there. But i ended up plugging the hole and got rid of the skimmer.. trying another one today.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Most likely the fish didnt acclimate well. We all have fish die for many reasons, but im familiar with this hole youre talking about and even a tiny cleaner wrasse would be able to swim against it. Almost without a doubt something else happened and for whatever that was, is why it died.

 

[ScubaFish802]

+ 1 on that the fish was likely struggling to live if that amount of suction trapped it.

also +1 on inTank media baskets. Had 2 of the 3 tired baskets on my fluval flex and they really made a big difference as far as filtration goes.

 

[MaxTremors]

I know where your coming from, but it is 100 percent the reason why it died. My water parameters are all in check and a matured tank with the transition from green to purple coralline. It was a healthy fish, but i got a tiny one and its probably why it got stuck in there. But i ended up plugging the hole and got rid of the skimmer.. trying another one today.

This is objectively not the cause of death. The only way it could suck a living fish in is if the fish was already weak and about to die anyway. It likely died from disease, acclimation, tank conditions, or from tank mates.

 

[gibec]

This is objectively not the cause of death. The only way it could suck a living fish in is if the fish was already weak and about to die anyway. It likely died from disease, acclimation, tank conditions, or from tank mates.

well this is sad... So i dont know what killed it and I have to gamble at a new fish? Tank mates were super chill with the lil dude. I added him with the six line wrasse and they were tank mates in the store i bought it from. I have a diamond goby who just minds his own business..

What I'm worried about now is a possible case of fireworms... since they hide in rock crevices and tailspot blennies hide in them... I saw a bristle worm today in the morning before lights came on and not sure if they are fire or not...
fk i hate those things whether they are good for the tank or not, i need them gone.

 

[Andresnyc93]

Adding fish after a 6line will definitely increase your chances of aggression. Also the fluval 13.5 is far too small for the diamond goby and the wrasse. They would be okay if that’s where you’re quarantining them but long term you will have every new addition get aggression and likely not survive. Listen to the others about the intank media I have 2 of them and ditched the skimmer and the tank hasn’t been better since, nano reefs don’t really need a skimmer if you keep on top of your water changes and testing. I’m using Chemi-pure blue purigen and chaeto as nutrient export with a cheap fuge light attached to where the chaeto is