Fluval EVO 13.5 filter mods?

[MeganTheProfishional]

I'm fixing to set up my first saltwater nano, a used Evo I picked up at the shop. It has the stock pump, hood and light but no other filter stuff. Thinking of just improvising some live rock rubble and filter floss in the back middle compartment, and heater in the same section as the pump. I'd like to get it set up ASAP, so if anyone has mod suggestions, DIY ones are preferred. I have decent access to parts, and I've seen egg crates mentioned a lot, which I have a few of. Also, while I'm at it, are there good upgrades to the stock pump that are appropriate (and cost-friendly) for this size? I've tested the one I have, and it seems to work ok, but it doesn't seem to have the world's strongest flow. And possibly a good nano-skimmer that would work if I needed it?

[VTBig053]

I have this tank and run two InTank media baskets in chambers one and two, with the third housing my return pump and heater. You can easily build media baskets using egg crate. In chamber in one I am currently running filter floss on the first shelf and a bag of ChemiPure Elite (really any carbon will do) in the bottom shelf. I use the media basket in chamber two to run a mini-chaeto fuge with a small LED plant grow light velcro taped to the glass. I upgraded the stock return pump to a Sicce Syncra 0.5. You have to shimmy it in there at an angle, but it fits. I use a 50W Cobalt NeoTherm for a heater because I like the low profile it has.

 

I think using rock ruble in the back chambers would just end up becoming a detritus trap and a pain to clean, so it may not be worth your while.

 

Also, if you plug the hole in the middle of the false wall you will get much better flow through the rear chambers.

 

I hope his is helpful and let me know if you have any other questions. 

[MeganTheProfishional]

@VTBig053 thanks! Would you be able to provide some pics?

[VTBig053]

Sure, I’m away until Tuesday though and dont see any on my phone. 

[MeganTheProfishional]

All good. Was there a resource you used for getting it all together?

[Brucenemours]

Ive played around with a few different filter modifications for this tank and settled on a simple but effective setup that has been running steady with no issues for alittle over a year now.

 

I use to run an intank media basket in the first partition, media bags in the second, and heater/return pump in the third. I also tried to creat my own filter sock mod for the first partition but that didn't work out so well.

 

I wanted to play around with a skimmer so I purchased the fluval MINI skimmer and now run that in partition one and the original foam filter in partition two with the ATO, heater, and return pump in partition three. This has been my ongoing setup for alittle over a year now and I love it. Its so simple and works great. Overall I have seen huge success in my tank from the beginning with very little maintenance and TLC. I will do a post in the near future showing progress as well as trial and error aspects of the journey.

[dmankin]

Megan - You'll have to be very picky as to what heater will fit in the chamber with the pump.  There's not much room.  I use the Fluval PS2 skimmer, and it does a good job of pulling junk out of the water - it's finicky & not all that quiet, though.  The stock pump is weak, and I know some have swapped out for a Sicce Syncra 1.0.  I have an InTank basket in the center chamber. Great little tank, though.  Mine has been up & running for 15 months now - going well.

 

Good luck (and see you at the shop some time),

Dave

[VTBig053]

I just realized I never shared the photos of my fuge set up in chamber 2 that I promised back in Dec. Here they are. 

 

Light with velcro tape to secure it to the glass and electrical tape directly over the LED diodes because otherwise it burns the chaeto.

 

Here is velcro’d to the glass on chamber 2

 

Here are two shots of chamber 2. One with out the basket and chaeto and one with the basket and chaeto.

 

 

 

You don’t really need to the InTank basket for this set up. I actually only got it because someone over on Nano Reef was giving it away for the cost to ship it, which was only a few bucks vis USPS. It does make it easier to remove the chaeto when it comes time to trim, but It doesn’t really do anything to keep the chaeto from getting into chamber 3 with the return pump. That being said I haven’t had any  issues with chaeto getting into the display. 

 

I’ll likely be trimming the chaeto more often than the two week routine I had been following since I recently set up and auto water changer and don’t to run my tank “too clean” my sps have been growth and color with more NO3 in the water. Last time I tested I had around 0.5 ppm.

 

As far as a “resource” for setting this up. I’ve had lots of great advice from the folks that n this forum, plus over at Nano-Reef.com and Reef-2-Reef.com as well. That and a lot of trial and error, hah. Happy to answer any other questions you have.