I've had my Fluval Evo for a little over a year, similar setup as you:
AI Prime 16HD; AI Nero 3; Ehiem Compacton 1000; Cobalt Heater; Tunze ATO
I was running two intank media baskets - filter floss, purigen, and phosguard in chamber one and matrix biomedia in chamber two.
I've since added a PS2 protein skimmer - I had high phosphates and this helped a lot! This also helps if you are feeding reef roids/frozen foods (in my opinion) - I ran without it for year a couple and wanted to see the benefits of adding a skimmer. Long story short, you can go a little longer w/ out a water change - this isn't the best protein skimmer on the market, you definitely won't get a dry skim, but it'll get the job done. You will need an ATO to keep the water level at the same level to get a consistent skim.
A couple of things that I believe are non-negotiable for a nano reef:
1. Weekly water changes and water testing - parameters in a nano tank fluctuate very easily, catch it before it becomes a problem.
2. Keep your livestock (fish) minimal and got heavy with a cleanup crew - all I had for the first year was a clownfish and fire shrimp, I just recently added a goby but I wouldn't do any more fish than that.
3. Control your feeding - I've gone down to 3 times per week and only feed reef roids once per week
4. Get a good clean up crew
Overall, it's a fun tank with a lot of add-on options, and great for a first reef! Hope this helped.
