Fluval Evo 13.5 filtration ideas

[Dcon89]

Hello, so I have the tank listed above and I want to upgrade the filter to the "intank"media baskets. I was wondering what you guys would recommend to put at each level of the baskets. I was also wondering if you put the baskets in if it would lower the water level in the sump because my heater is in the return/3rd column.

Thank you!

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

Using an intank basket in chamber 1 will increase your display water height to very near the top so be ready for that, it panicked me watching the water get higher and higher! If you use the plug to block the hole then the water level in the back will be separate from the water level in the display. To control the level in the back you add or take away water. If you have an ATO this will need to go in chamber 3. - sensor and output

From my experience the chamber 1 basket dramatically affects flow through the back. As you are probably aware it blocks off some of the baffles forcing the water down to the bottom of the basket before it exits into chamber 2. Now depending what media you run this may slow the water down even further e.g. floss that needs changing, in this case the water level in 2 and 3 will be even lower and will continue getting lower if the media in 1 is allowed to get too dirty. So if you have an ATO and the flow keeps getting restricted in chamber 1, the water level in 3 will keep dropping and the ATO will keep adding unnecessary water which means the level in your display will increase even more. Thankfully I caught mine before the display overflowed! If you haven’t got an ATO and this happens then you risk your heater sticking out of the water above the safe line.

What you choose to run will be personal to you and will take trial and error. I bought both 1 and 2 baskets which came with plug and flow director. I run a soft coral only tank with no fish and a lot of rock. After lots of trial and error I’m stripped back to the basics. My rock in the display does the biological filtration. I use the chamber 1 basket (with flow director and plug in place) and simply have a bag of Fluval carbon on its side on the 2nd shelf Which gets replaced monthly. It’s on its side so that no matter how blocked it gets water can still freely flow past it. Chamber 2 now just houses my heater and chamber 3 has my return pump and autoaqua smart ato sensor and output. I run the rear water level to a few mm above the top shelf on the chamber 1 basket. This gives a nice waterfall effect which adds oxygen.

 

[Dcon89]

Would a upgraded pump help compensate for the slower flow through the sump?

 

[Wee Mad Arthur]

If you’ve got a restriction the faster pump would mean even less water in chamber 3 as it would be removing it faster than the chamber refilled.

Just keep in mind when adding media to the baskets. If you run something like floss which can block quite quickly either check and replace often or have it cover half to three quarters of the basket shelf so that water has the option of bypassing it as it becomes blocked.

I‘m sure with a little trial and error you’d be able to get it set up just fine. Just a suggestion and something I did but you could always put the heater in the display whilst you get things right in the back, that way if there is an issue you don’t need to worry about the heater.