Fluval Evo V

BestMomEver · Oct 24, 2018

I also posted this in the nano forum....

I have a Fluval Evo V that’s been hanging around and thought I’d set it up. So, I went to the LFS and purchased 10 lbs of CaribSea pink live sand and a 4.4 gallon jug of Nutri-Seawater. I had too much rock in the 32 Biocube so I remove a few pieces and dropped it in. I purchased 2 Nessarius snails and 3 Astrea snails. I’m counting on not really having a cycle... at least not a detectable one but I’m not going to dump a bunch of stuff in there all ar once. For now, I have the five snails and one hairy mushroom. I will be moving a green tree coral, a small hammer coral, a small candy cane coral, and an acan or Aussie lord from my 60 and 32.

I had upgraded the return pump when I set up the tank the first time and I also put a Koralia power head in the tank. Water flow should not be an issue. I’m using the stock lighting. My prior experience with this tank is that the stock light will grow any softie I can find and some LPS, depending on the type. I haven’t decided on what fish I want. I am considering a royal gramma, Helfrichi Firefish or possibly a Goby/shrimp combo. I’m looking for suggestions. If I get the Goby/shrimp pair, I might consider a LA DD bonded pair of gobies and a shrimp. I’m not sure if that will be too much. Opinions?

Here’s a photo.... before the dust settles...

David cornelius · Oct 25, 2018

BestMomEver said:
I also posted this in the nano forum....

I have a Fluval Evo V that’s been hanging around and thought I’d set it up. So, I went to the LFS and purchased 10 lbs of CaribSea pink live sand and a 4.4 gallon jug of Nutri-Seawater. I had too much rock in the 32 Biocube so I remove a few pieces and dropped it in. I purchased 2 Nessarius snails and 3 Astrea snails. I’m counting on not really having a cycle... at least not a detectable one but I’m not going to dump a bunch of stuff in there all ar once. For now, I have the five snails and one hairy mushroom. I will be moving a green tree coral, a small hammer coral, a small candy cane coral, and an acan or Aussie lord from my 60 and 32.

I had upgraded the return pump when I set up the tank the first time and I also put a Koralia power head in the tank. Water flow should not be an issue. I’m using the stock lighting. My prior experience with this tank is that the stock light will grow any softie I can find and some LPS, depending on the type. I haven’t decided on what fish I want. I am considering a royal gramma, Helfrichi Firefish or possibly a Goby/shrimp combo. I’m looking for suggestions. If I get the Goby/shrimp pair, I might consider a LA DD bonded pair of gobies and a shrimp. I’m not sure if that will be too much. Opinions?

Here’s a photo.... before the dust settles...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fluval-13-5-mixed-reef-thread.431298/
looks good, i have a fluval evo 13.5

BestMomEver · Oct 25, 2018

David cornelius said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fluval-13-5-mixed-reef-thread.431298/
looks good, i have a fluval evo 13.5

Looked at your thread.... is that a small Kessill over that tank?

Btw.... it looks great!

James M · Oct 25, 2018

BestMomEver said:
Looked at your thread.... is that a small Kessill over that tank?

Btw.... it looks great!

The thread says Ai prime

BestMomEver · Oct 25, 2018

So the dust settled. I decided to move some softies and a few LPS...

VSVP bet · Oct 25, 2018

I found one of these tanks on the side of the road for free and gave it to my buddy to upgrade from a different shaped 5 gallon. This shape allows more room for coral, he had all softies with a current marine LED. We re did the filtration in the back and upgraded the pump size. He never has algae and has had the same 2 clowns for about 1.5 yrs. Glad to see others using the same tank.

VSVP bet · Oct 25, 2018

Also not sure what size pump you added, but my buddy and I were able to put a large enough pump that circulated enough water without the help of a wave maker. This added more room in the tank.

BestMomEver · Oct 25, 2018

Here’s the whole tank.... waiting for stuff to open and dust to settle.... again!

VSVP bet said:
Also not sure what size pump you added, but my buddy and I were able to put a large enough pump that circulated enough water without the help of a wave maker. This added more room in the tank.

I’m not sure... it’s been a long time. I should probably replace it. If I can get something bigger, the wave maker shouldn’t be needed. I did buy a used Kessill A80 today. It makes a HUGE difference. I measured the par of the stock light and it was barely 90 at the surface. About 20 at the bottom. That’s barely enough to grow algae.

David cornelius · Oct 28, 2018

BestMomEver said:
Looked at your thread.... is that a small Kessill over that tank?

Btw.... it looks great!

It's an ai prime, and thank you

BestMomEver · Oct 29, 2018

David cornelius said:
It's an ai prime, and thank you

I cleaned the pump really well and put it back in. Now it works much better. I took the power head out. I’m now trying to decide what one fish to add.

VSVP bet · Oct 29, 2018

BestMomEver said:
I cleaned the pump really well and put it back in. Now it works much better. I took the power head out. I’m now trying to decide what one fish to add.

Id go something like a chalk bass. Doesnt need much space, stays small, and most importantly IMO, wont dig. In small tanks, anything that digs can be a pain, anything on the sand bed is at risk of being buried.

David cornelius · Oct 29, 2018

BestMomEver said:
Here’s the whole tank.... waiting for stuff to open and dust to settle.... again!

I’m not sure... it’s been a long time. I should probably replace it. If I can get something bigger, the wave maker shouldn’t be needed. I did buy a used Kessill A80 today. It makes a HUGE difference. I measured the par of the stock light and it was barely 90 at the surface. About 20 at the bottom. That’s barely enough to grow algae.

What do you use to measure par?