Fluval Evo 13.5 Rock Flower Anemone Tank

lclark209 · Jul 23, 2021

Had a 3x3x2 cube years ago. A move forced us to sell. Been having an itch to get something small (and portable) since we plan to buy a house in the next couple years.

Ended up with this little Fluval 13.5 aio. I liked the look and it fit in the spot I wanted it to go. It's been cycling for a week as the upgrades have come in.

Upgrades:
Sicce Syncra .5
Hygger Mini Wavemaker
InTank chamber 1 and 2 media baskets (floss in chamber 1 and maybe chaeto, ChemiPure elite and Marine Pure gems in chamber 2)
Fluval Sea nano light (0% red, 20% blue, cyan, violet, 15% white 9am to 9pm with one hour ramp up and down. Will increase when I add nems)
Kraken Reef cover
Tunze 3152 ATO

15 lbs dry rock (I think I finally got the scape how I want)
15lbs of live sand

Planning on a purple firefish and maybe one other small fish
5 sexy shrimp
Many RFA
Maybe some zoas
Small clean up crew

20210722_134459 by Lisa Clark, on Flickr

20210722_134517 by Lisa Clark, on Flickr

Ossy3 · Jul 23, 2021

Add a couple of clowns too!

R. Reef · Jul 23, 2021

Love it

revhtree · Jul 23, 2021

Liking it!!!!

lclark209 · Jul 23, 2021

Planned on getting a skimmer for chamber 1 since I'll have nems to be fed. But after reading some other build threads it doesn't seem necessary with regular weekly water changes. Decided instead to get the InTank chamber 1 basket and add filter floss, maybe a little fuge down the road.

Question, has anyone found a heater that fits in chamber 3 with the Sicce .5 pump?

reefer_evo5 · Jul 27, 2021

lclark209 said:
Planned on getting a skimmer for chamber 1 since I'll have nems to be fed. But after reading some other build threads it doesn't seem necessary with regular weekly water changes. Decided instead to get the InTank chamber 1 basket and add filter floss, maybe a little fuge down the road.

Question, has anyone found a heater that fits in chamber 3 with the Sicce .5 pump?

Hello I have this same tank and upgraded pump in my tank. The heater i use is a aqueon 50w heater from petco it fits perfectly and was only like $20 fits right over the pump and is still fully submerged. BTW your tank looks great

lclark209 · Jul 28, 2021

reefer_evo5 said:
Hello I have this same tank and upgraded pump in my tank. The heater i use is a aqueon 50w heater from petco it fits perfectly and was only like $20 fits right over the pump and is still fully submerged. BTW your tank looks great

Perfect, thanks! Without the lid the tank is getting down to 75 at night so probably need to pick one up pretty soon

lclark209 · Jul 28, 2021

The kraken reef cover came in! Man this thing is clean looking.

Also got and set up the tunze ato. Can't wait to get the cabinet bookshelf thing I ordered to put the ato water container and clean up the electrical stuff.

reefer_evo5 · Jul 29, 2021

lclark209 said:
The kraken reef cover came in! Man this thing is clean looking.

Also got and set up the tunze ato. Can't wait to get the cabinet bookshelf thing I ordered to put the ato water container and clean up the electrical stuff.

What stand did you order I have been looking for one that matches the tank. Where did you order you ato from that gonna be my next upgrade for the tank.

lclark209 · Jul 29, 2021

reefer_evo5 said:
What stand did you order I have been looking for one that matches the tank. Where did you order you ato from that gonna be my next upgrade for the tank.

The tank will be staying on the counter. But I got a bookshelf with a cabinet to put the ato jugs and clean up all the electrical bits. Ordered the ato and shelf from Amazon.

Got the little heater today. Fits perfectly into the return chamber with the pump and ato sensor. Thanks again!

reefer_evo5 · Jul 29, 2021

lclark209 said:
The tank will be staying on the counter. But I got a bookshelf with a cabinet to put the ato jugs and clean up all the electrical bits. Ordered the ato and shelf from Amazon.

Got the little heater today. Fits perfectly into the return chamber with the pump and ato sensor. Thanks again!

Ill look into the ATO on amazon thanks!

CMMorgan · Jul 29, 2021

I have that same light from a former build. I contemplated installing it on the Fluval 13.5 because we all know that their stock light just sucks. How are you liking the Fluval Nano light? I was thinking of mounting it on the side because the mounting bracket won't reach the center of the tank from the sump. Love the kid but wow - that runs almost as much as I paid for the tank. LOL Looks awesome though. Similar to Octolids.

lclark209 · Jul 29, 2021

CMMorgan said:
I have that same light from a former build. I contemplated installing it on the Fluval 13.5 because we all know that their stock light just sucks. How are you liking the Fluval Nano light? I was thinking of mounting it on the side because the mounting bracket won't reach the center of the tank from the sump. Love the kid but wow - that runs almost as much as I paid for the tank. LOL Looks awesome though. Similar to Octolids.

The light is nice, I wish the arm extended just another inch or so to center more but the spread looks pretty good. So I'm gonna try it as is for now. I really wanted something I could control (timer, light percentages, ramp up and down) and this one checked all the boxes without paying over 200 for an ai.

The lid was a little pricey but looks so nice. And no gaps! Prefer not to have any fishy jerky since I want a purple firefish for sure and they are jumpers.

CMMorgan · Jul 29, 2021

lclark209 said:
The light is nice, I wish the arm extended just another inch or so to center more but the spread looks pretty good. So I'm gonna try it as is for now. I really wanted something I could control (timer, light percentages, ramp up and down) and this one checked all the boxes without paying over 200 for an ai.

The lid was a little pricey but looks so nice. And no gaps! Prefer not to have any fishy jerky since I want a purple firefish for sure and they are jumpers.

I totally understand. I had several firefish in my 90. I would never have believed that they could have jumped out of the tank and over the hood but they disappeared. Funny, my dog really seems to love when we have sushi now. I wonder if there is a connection.
I'm on the fence at the moment of do I just return the Fluval Evo or spend more money to upgrade it. The IM Fusion Peninsula 14 is on sale at IM for $233.74 and two other small retailers for $199 plus $25 or $30 to ship. That comes with a might max adjustable dc pump, a filter sock, media basket and a lid. So, if I consider the light from Fluval a throw away... I have no media basket, no sock, no lid, a pump that needs upgrading and the little rubber feet that come off... isn't the IM going to be less in the big picture? Waterbox has a mini 15 for $199. That is also a nice tank but no lid, so that adds up fast.

Maybe I should flip a coin....

lclark209 · Aug 2, 2021

Regretting the finer sand I chose for the tank. The little hygger powerhead is creating sand tornados even though I turned the I tensity down.

Maybe a sand dwelling coral that would not mind some crazy flow randomly for that spot. How do elegance coral or some of the brain corals feel about highish flow?

CMMorgan · Aug 2, 2021

lclark209 said:
Regretting the finer sand I chose for the tank. The little hygger powerhead is creating sand tornados even though I turned the I tensity down.

Maybe a sand dwelling coral that would not mind some crazy flow randomly for that spot. How do elegance coral or some of the brain corals feel about highish flow?

What about green star polyps? That will grow on sand and it's pretty indestructible.

lclark209 · Aug 2, 2021

CMMorgan said:
What about green star polyps? That will grow on sand and it's pretty indestructible.

I do like gsp, but don't want it to take over the tank lol

CMMorgan · Aug 2, 2021

lclark209 said:
I do like gsp, but don't want it to take over the tank lol

It could be cool .... it would look like grass. LOL You would just need to weed wack it occasionally to keep it off of the aquascape. Dang - now I want to try it. LOL

lclark209 · Aug 2, 2021

CMMorgan said:
It could be cool .... it would look like grass. LOL You would just need to weed wack it occasionally to keep it off of the aquascape. Dang - now I want to try it. LOL

I don't think the rfa's would appreciate it much lol

I've always wanted to try a gsp back wall on a tank.