FLUVAL 13.5 changes?

saltwaterbeginner48 · Mar 18, 2020

Hello! I had a 26 gallon saltwater tank when I was younger but am trying to get back into the hobby again. I am fairly new to saltwater so any help would be appreciated! I am considering getting a FLUVAL 13.5 gallon nano tank but before I do so I was wondering if people had any recommendations on changes to make to it in regards to the filtration, lighting and what not? I am pretty sure I am going to get the protein skimmer that FLUVAL makes and the heater, but I was unsure about the rest. Also, any advice on cycling would be appreciated. I am going to of course get live sand and live rock. If that part isn't allowed on this forum please forgive me and I will take that part away.

Tucker64 · Mar 22, 2020

I’m running one. I keeper everything stock but I removed the foam filter I. The back in just use marine pure balls instead of the Carbon and media they give you. I wouldn’t really worry about a protein skimmer. Change out 2 gallons a week and maybe do a 5 gallon water change every once in awhile and you’ll never need a protein skimmer if you keep your fish stocking in control. What fish do you want to keep? What corals?

Tucker64 · Mar 22, 2020

I would also get one of the fined titanium heats instead. The 100w one is cheap, small and have a digital controller. It will be way better than the fluval heater. Here is the link

HMS Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller

The Finnex HMS heater is a modern digital heater with simple controls and design features that make it an excellent choice for heating your reef. The HMS heaters feature an integrated touchpad control interface and bright digital temperature display which mounts outside of the aquarium for quick...

www.marinedepot.com

saltwaterbeginner48 · Mar 22, 2020

Tucker64 said:
I would also get one of the fined titanium heats instead. The 100w one is cheap, small and have a digital controller. It will be way better than the fluval heater. Here is the link

HMS Titanium Heater w/Digital Controller

The Finnex HMS heater is a modern digital heater with simple controls and design features that make it an excellent choice for heating your reef. The HMS heaters feature an integrated touchpad control interface and bright digital temperature display which mounts outside of the aquarium for quick...

www.marinedepot.com

Ok thank you I will look into that heater for sure! As for what fish I was hoping to do a pair of Ocellaris clown fish but I am not sure now because I see some people say that is not a big enough tank for two so I am not sure. And I have no experience keeping corals so I am welcome to any recommendations!

Tucker64 · Mar 22, 2020

I have two small clowns in mine. It’s actually kinda the perfect size for them. Everyone is going to have an opinion about what you do.

There is one massive key to this hobby:

You have to stay on top of your water changes.

If you do that, you’re almost guaranteed to have some form of success. With a small tank the the fluval 13.5..... it’s pretty much a gallon or two of water a week. A large 5 gallon water change if you think you need to hit the reset button.

You can go with mushrooms, zoas, some leathers. LPS like hammers, Acans, I would just watch for anything that has large sweepers but that’s pretty much it. I’ve seen some keep SPS in the 13.5 but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone new in the hobby. Stick to the softies and maybe add a few LPS. Your awhile away from that though.

Passedyouby · Mar 30, 2020

Starting a 13.5 this weekend

keep me in the loop on how your build goes!

saltwaterbeginner48 · Apr 13, 2020

Passedyouby said:
Starting a 13.5 this weekend keep me in the loop on how your build goes!

I will be building mine next week as it is taking forever for shipping understandably but will do!

JoshO · Apr 13, 2020

Mine is up and running currently, made some pretty substantial changes to the filter area. I'll attach some pictures. I've build a custom media basket for the first chamber (foam is on top of floss, not like the image) there are extra areas for other media such as carbon etc. The basket blocks all but the 3 top baffles so the water flows as the diagram shows to maximise filtration. So far it works great!
A lot of changes will depend on what direction you wish to go with your Evo!
As @Tucker64 said, your choices of corals will depend largely on what you need to do.

Passedyouby · Apr 13, 2020

JoshO said:
Mine is up and running currently, made some pretty substantial changes to the filter area. I'll attach some pictures. I've build a custom media basket for the first chamber (foam is on top of floss, not like the image) there are extra areas for other media such as carbon etc. The basket blocks all but the 3 top baffles so the water flows as the diagram shows to maximise filtration. So far it works great!
A lot of changes will depend on what direction you wish to go with your Evo!
As @Tucker64 said, your choices of corals will depend largely on what you need to do.

Well built!

@Nickstar401 actually just made almost this identical setup on CAD for his 1st chamber! Designed a space for his heater to go there as well though so that there isn't a fear of chamber 3 running "dry" and killing the heater as well.

Nickstar- do you have a picture to share?

Passedyouby · Apr 13, 2020

JoshO said:
Mine is up and running currently, made some pretty substantial changes to the filter area. I'll attach some pictures. I've build a custom media basket for the first chamber (foam is on top of floss, not like the image) there are extra areas for other media such as carbon etc. The basket blocks all but the 3 top baffles so the water flows as the diagram shows to maximise filtration. So far it works great!
A lot of changes will depend on what direction you wish to go with your Evo!
As @Tucker64 said, your choices of corals will depend largely on what you need to do.

I like the scape as well!

JoshO · Apr 13, 2020

Passedyouby said:
I like the scape as well!

Thank you! It's taken me literally months to figure out how I want it and I'm still tinkering to get the flow how I want so I can attempt sps on the higher rock

Passedyouby · Apr 13, 2020

JoshO said:
Thank you! It's taken me literally months to figure out how I want it and I'm still tinkering to get the flow how I want so I can attempt sps on the higher rock

Couple quick questions- is this your first tank with SPS? Do you plan to upgrade the light or return pump? How longs your tank been up currently? Curious what the capabilities of this tank really is.

JoshO · Apr 13, 2020

Passedyouby said:
Couple quick questions- is this your first tank with SPS? Do you plan to upgrade the light or return pump? How longs your tank been up currently? Curious what the capabilities of this tank really is.

It's my first reef! I will be upgrading to the AI Prime 16HD, I'll be using a diffuser too to give a better effect. I haven't upgraded the return yet but I will be before I add sps, I'll be putting 2 rfgs on the outlets too. It's not been up long at all!

Nickstar401 · Apr 13, 2020

Passedyouby said:
Well built!

@Nickstar401 actually just made almost this identical setup on CAD for his 1st chamber! Designed a space for his heater to go there as well though so that there isn't a fear of chamber 3 running "dry" and killing the heater as well.

Nickstar- do you have a picture to share?

I will post a few pics of the CAD drawing later today. Hoping to get it printed this week.

saltwaterbeginner48 · Apr 13, 2020

JoshO said:
Mine is up and running currently, made some pretty substantial changes to the filter area. I'll attach some pictures. I've build a custom media basket for the first chamber (foam is on top of floss, not like the image) there are extra areas for other media such as carbon etc. The basket blocks all but the 3 top baffles so the water flows as the diagram shows to maximise filtration. So far it works great!
A lot of changes will depend on what direction you wish to go with your Evo!
As @Tucker64 said, your choices of corals will depend largely on what you need to do.

Beautiful and thank you for sharing, I will keep this in mind!

Nickstar401 · Apr 16, 2020

Nickstar401 said:
I will post a few pics of the CAD drawing later today. Hoping to get it printed this week.

Sorry for the late reply. Work has been busy.

Here is the CAD drawing for chamber 1. The square chamber is 1.2 x 1.2 inches for my heater so it does not run dry in the event of chambers 2 and 3 getting low. The large part of the chamber has a ledge where I have a shelf built with a filter cup.

Nickstar401 · Apr 16, 2020

Nickstar401 said:
Sorry for the late reply. Work has been busy.

Here is the CAD drawing for chamber 1. The square chamber is 1.2 x 1.2 inches for my heater so it does not run dry in the event of chambers 2 and 3 getting low. The large part of the chamber has a ledge where I have a shelf built with a filter cup.

That was actually my backup design I just realized. This is the one I'm printing

Jonify · May 22, 2020

Whoa, that is awesome! I started mine April 1. I did add the PS2 protein skimmer in the 1st chamber...took a while to dial in, but it's skimming well now, and it's pretty quiet. Swapped out the 2nd chamber foam block with the InTank Chamber 2 media basket, then put some poly filter floss in the top of that chamber, Chemipure Blue in the middle, and the bio media + another layer of poly filter floss in the bottom chamber. I upgraded the return to a 180gph Sicce and added the Cobalt Neotherm 50W heater, then added the Fluval light controller to ramp up/down the stock lights on a timer, as well as add moonlight (just the blues) at night. I love this little tank, looks so good.