what Fluval evo 52l tank upgrades are best to do?

rocknurworld · Feb 15, 2023

Hi so I have a fluval evo 52l tank and wanted to know what are good upgrades worth doing to the tank that won't cost too much. I know there are more expensive upgrades that can be done.

Is it worth having the ps2 protein skimmer or using the section for additional media if so what media exactly?

Also does anybody know how many lph is the fluval pump with it I can't find the information anywhere for some reason. Also is it worth changing the fluval pump with a higher lph?

Also should I add an additional pump if so what lph should it be and where exactly should I put it?

Lastly with the hood has anyone had issues with salt all the way round the OUTISDE rim of the tank every day which I'm surprised as I would of thought salt wouldn't of got outside the hood that much on every day having to wipe away salt.

Yvarg · Feb 15, 2023

I bought the PS2 protein skimmer when I got my Evo and I did not find it to be very useful. Skip it and put the money towards something like this mini roller mat instead. I know you said you were looking for cheap upgrades, but I cannot understate how much nicer it has been to just turn the wheels on that roller mat a couple times a week rather than replacing filter floss. If you wanted to go the media basket route, D-Flow makes some nice media baskets and other things specifically for this tank. Their media baskets would be probably be more affordable in the UK than the inTank ones that many people in the US use.

I believe Fluval claims that the stock return pump is around 500 lph. I swapped mine for a Sicce Silent 1.0 (~950 lph) pump, but that ended up being too much flow for my liking. I eventually landed on using a small DC pump because the AC pumps always ended up vibrating their way over to a glass wall and making a ton of noise in my room. If the stock pump isn't too noisy for you, I would not replace it.

I had a LOT of salt creep on this tank (hooded or not) when I first set mine up. It ended up just being the brand of salt I was using (Instant Ocean Reef Crystals). At a friend's suggestion, I swapped over to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and I get MUCH less salt build up around the edges of my tank now.

Good luck!

Narideth · Feb 15, 2023

Ah! I'm working with this tank myself. I haven't had any salt creep on my tank at all and I use Instant Ocean Sea Salt, the regular not the reef variety. I have very recently switched out the hood for a different kind of lid that allowed me to continue using the stock lighting, but looks nicer in my opinion. (still no salt creep). and I added an additional cheap bar light to give me some extra blue tones.

I upgraded the filter pump to an off brand one that runs approx 790 lph and I ended up purchasing a wavemaker that I could program to help with flow variety. I think that and the media basket for chamber 1 were the most expensive upgrades I did, and both cost around $50-60 USD. If you'd like to see everything I've done, the build thread is linked under my account.

I wanted to avoid using a skimmer on this tank, and see if I could get away with a layer of fine filter media to catch larger particles and polish the water, and bags of bio media to handle the rest as needed. It's only a few months old so it's a work in progress! Good luck with your build, I'd love to see what you do with it.

rocknurworld · Feb 18, 2023

could you give me links to all the equipment you bought please including lid etc.

Blake509 · Feb 18, 2023

Better pump, media chamber baskets, lid, light, and rfg's for return.

Blake509 · Feb 18, 2023

I went eheim compactOn 1000 (264gph), rfg's from D flow designs on Etsy, lid was Innovative marine diy, smatfarm 95w light w/ kessils A series gooseneck ,and made my own media basket out of lighting egg crate. The other thing is some sort of wavemaker or circulation pump. I have the sicce nano in mine but will be purchasing hygger mini wavemaker to get random flow.

Blake509 · Feb 18, 2023

Avoid the fluval protein skimmer horrible micro bubble issue and just not very good quality there are other brands that fit the chambers that work better but I don't run skimmer anymore. Water changes weekly keep everything in check.

Yvarg · Feb 18, 2023

rocknurworld said:
could you give me links to all the equipment you bought please including lid etc.

I went with this return pump but I had to modify the body of it extensively to get it to fit the return chamber. They have since released a mini version of this pump that probably fits better (and is likely a better power match as well; I pretty much always have my pump set to the lowest speed). I don't recall what brand lid I got, but it was more of a custom product than an off-the-shelf product. I swapped the light for an AI Prime 16.

However, the main reason I ditched the stock hood is that my tank kept heating up far more than I was comfortable with during the summer. With a mesh hood and light mounted higher above the surface of the water, I could clamp a fan to the light mount and have it turn on at a specific temperature to cool the tank. I would have probably kept the stock hood and light if I didn't have the concern of overheating.

I should probably also state that the main reason I switched salts is because I was struggling to keep zoas alive without dosing iodine. My zoas seemed to do fine without any dosing after I switched salts. Less salt creep was just a pleasant side effect.

Salty_Northerner · Apr 15, 2023

Sicce Silent 1.0 100% or better yet if on a budget grab the VIVOSUN 210GPH off Amazon. I got one before I recieved the Sicce 1.0 and honestly it's just as good. Its way cheaper then the Sicce pump and smaller and just as quiet. It's $28 bucks here in Canada. As for the fluval PS2 skimmer don't waste your money as they are garbage and leak more then anything else. It's a poorly molded skimmer. I recommend the magus mini Q as it fits nicely in chamber #1. Chamber #2 I use an intank media box.

Also do yourself a favor and buy the fluval RFG upgrade kit from Vivid Creative Aquatics as Antonio the owner and patten holder on the original RFG that actually work. Those ones on Etsy are a cheap knock off and seen ppl around where I live use them and they're junk, they don't do what VCA ones properly do.

I use the stock hood and have beaten salt creap and I do run the display tank level high. The key to it is by drying the tanks glass and the hood around the edges.

This how I have my hardware set-up.

rocknurworld · May 5, 2023

fullinfusion said:
Sicce Silent 1.0 100% or better yet if on a budget grab the VIVOSUN 210GPH off Amazon. I got one before I recieved the Sicce 1.0 and honestly it's just as good. Its way cheaper then the Sicce pump and smaller and just as quiet. It's $28 bucks here in Canada. As for the fluval PS2 skimmer don't waste your money as they are garbage and leak more then anything else. It's a poorly molded skimmer. I recommend the magus mini Q as it fits nicely in chamber #1. Chamber #2 I use an intank media box.

Also do yourself a favor and buy the fluval RFG upgrade kit from Vivid Creative Aquatics as Antonio the owner and patten holder on the original RFG that actually work. Those ones on Etsy are a cheap knock off and seen ppl around where I live use them and they're junk, they don't do what VCA ones properly do.

I use the stock hood and have beaten salt creap and I do run the display tank level high. The key to it is by drying the tanks glass and the hood around the edges.

This how I have my hardware set-up.

are you just using the stock lighting?

Salty_Northerner · May 6, 2023

rocknurworld said:
are you just using the stock lighting?

No I'm using the fluval Marine light and 2 12" 21ledusa light bars mounted under the stock hood. The stock light is just to white and had nuisance algae growth.

I used double sided tape to stick the light bars to the hood then ran a bead of silicone along the length to keep moisture out from the tape. The connectors are screw together and waterproof. I did originally order the RF controller and then the light dimmer timer but it's junk so I just popped the RF controller back in and set the intensity and have it plugged into a smart power bar with a set on off time.

They come on 1 hr after the Fluval Marine start to ramp up and turn off 2 hrs before the fluval ramp down to off for the night.

This is what I use for light bars and smart power bar.

Smart Power Strip, Surge Protector That Works with Alexa & Google Home, 3.28ft Extension Cord, 4 AC Power Bar with USB Ports Multi Plug Timer Schedule https://a.co/d/ejVjtRs