My Fluval EVO 13.5 Build Thread

[Michael W.]

I have finally done it! I purchased my first saltwater tank, a Fluval EVO 13.5 today and have the tank set up on its stand. I am working through this slowly as this is my first go at saltwater but I am really excited to see it all set up. I have a general idea of what I want to do with this tank but any thoughts from experienced nanos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for following my build and I hope you enjoy the process as much as I do!

 

[Ranjib]

W00t. Following along. This will be fun

 

[Michael W.]

W00t. Following along. This will be fun

Thanks for joining! I am really excited and just hoping I don't find a way to mess this up. Fingers crossed...

 

[PDR]

What are you planning on stocking?

 

[Michael W.]

What are you planning on stocking?

I have a couple different ideas for a 2-fish stocking plan. Pair of clowns, Clown and Sixline, Clown and goby/shrimp pair, Sixline and goby, Gramma and sixline. The fish I am thinking of getting is a small group, I would just be mixing around the numbers of each.

 

[Ori]

I have an evo 13.5 too! They’re awesome little tanks, I can’t wait to see what you do with yours .

 

[PDR]

I have a couple different ideas for a 2-fish stocking plan. Pair of clowns, Clown and Sixline, Clown and goby/shrimp pair, Sixline and goby, Gramma and sixline. The fish I am thinking of getting is a small group, I would just be mixing around the numbers of each.

I would definitely stick to only 2 fish, but most of the fish you mentioned will either get too big or too aggressive for that size tank. Avoid any wrasses in that size tank, especially the sixline. The gramma may work but would be pushing it. I personally would do something like a firefish and goby. A single clown and goby would probably work, but the clown may get aggressive in that size tank.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I have finally done it! I purchased my first saltwater tank, a Fluval EVO 13.5 today and have the tank set up on its stand. I am working through this slowly as this is my first go at saltwater but I am really excited to see it all set up. I have a general idea of what I want to do with this tank but any thoughts from experienced nanos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for following my build and I hope you enjoy the process as much as I do!

I have a 13.5 as well, and I have two clowns, a BTA and a firefish. I added in a randall's Goby and pistol shrimp, but I haven't seen either in a while. I think the firefish killed him as now the firefish is living in the burrows under the rocks.

New holes are popping up every day as [something] moves around the sand. I'm thinking that the firefish is living with the pistol shrimp... weird...

I also had a 6-line at one point but they get nasty in small tanks. I would advise against a 6-line [or really any wrasses]. It took me a while to catch that sucker and get him out of the tank.

 

[Michael W.]

I have an evo 13.5 too! They’re awesome little tanks, I can’t wait to see what you do with yours .

Thanks! I can't wait either but I'm taking this one slow to make sure I get everything right.

 

[Michael W.]

I would definitely stick to only 2 fish, but most of the fish you mentioned will either get too big or too aggressive for that size tank. Avoid any wrasses in that size tank, especially the sixline. The gramma may work but would be pushing it. I personally would do something like a firefish and goby. A single clown and goby would probably work, but the clown may get aggressive in that size tank.

It seems to be a general consensus that wrasses are too small for this tank so I will stay away from those. I like the idea of a pair of clowns or a clown/goby tank a bit better than the wrasses anyways. The gramma is beautiful but I heard they can get aggressive and I don't want to have it be completely dominant in the tank.

 

[Michael W.]

I have a 13.5 as well, and I have two clowns, a BTA and a firefish. I added in a randall's Goby and pistol shrimp, but I haven't seen either in a while. I think the firefish killed him as now the firefish is living in the burrows under the rocks.

New holes are popping up every day as [something] moves around the sand. I'm thinking that the firefish is living with the pistol shrimp... weird...

I also had a 6-line at one point but they get nasty in small tanks. I would advise against a 6-line [or really any wrasses]. It took me a while to catch that sucker and get him out of the tank.

You seem to have a pretty heavily stocked tank for a 13... How is the maintenance for that? I want to try to keep my maintenance lower so there is less to worry about but more fish always sounds better... Do you mind posting a picture of your tank so far so I can get an idea of how etablished EVOs look?

 

[Michael W.]

Also for any wondering what the timeline for this tank is, I am hoping to get sand and rock and water in the tank this weekend, and I will probably be running that for a couple weeks to let the sand do its work, then get my CUC, let those guys roam for a bit, and so on. I'm taking this one slow to avoid as many mistakes as possible.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

You seem to have a pretty heavily stocked tank for a 13... How is the maintenance for that? I want to try to keep my maintenance lower so there is less to worry about but more fish always sounds better... Do you mind posting a picture of your tank so far so I can get an idea of how etablished EVOs look?

I have unmeasurable nitrate and phosphate. I also keep SPS, haven't done a water change in ~ 6 months, and run a skimmer but never empty it [I let it overflow back into the tank]

I dose ALK and Calcium via dosers, hand-dose Red Sea trace colors program occasionally, and use Red Sea coral feed [2 bottles] about 4 times/week (when I remember)

I've upped my feeding considerably and have stopped changing my filter floss as often.

I have a build thread here if you're interested in reading/seeing more: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/michigan-evo-12-13-5-gallons.366050/page-7

There is also a Fluval 13.5 thread with a lot of responses here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-your-fluval-evo-13-5.292874/

 

[BestMomEver]

I had a tank just like yours. I stocked heavily but with small fish. I consider how much swimming a fish does when considering bioload. For instance, a Watchman Goby does little (if any) free swimming so I only count half of their adult size. Say 1.5 inches and not 3. Tangs and angels swim a lot and have higher metabolisms so I double their size. So if you got a pair occelaris you should be fine. I would consider them moderate swimmers so I would calculate their adult size as is. Six inches of fish in a 13.5 should be ok. Or if you wanted, two gobies. Like a Firefish and Watchman / shrimp pair. If you do clowns, you may have to upgrade the light to keep anemones but they will sometimes host in other things (think Xenia) which will be fine under those lights. If you get creative you can do really cool stuff with that tank. Good luck and I’ll be following along!

 

[Reef of Fillory]

If you do clowns, you may have to upgrade the light to keep anemones but they will sometimes host in other things (think Xenia) which will be fine under those lights.

Funny you mention that - I have a pair of clowns, and a BTA, and the clowns host on my frogspawn and duncan (-_-)

 

[Michael W.]

I have unmeasurable nitrate and phosphate. I also keep SPS, haven't done a water change in ~ 6 months, and run a skimmer but never empty it [I let it overflow back into the tank]

I dose ALK and Calcium via dosers, hand-dose Red Sea trace colors program occasionally, and use Red Sea coral feed [2 bottles] about 4 times/week (when I remember)

I've upped my feeding considerably and have stopped changing my filter floss as often.

I have a build thread here if you're interested in reading/seeing more: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/michigan-evo-12-13-5-gallons.366050/page-7

There is also a Fluval 13.5 thread with a lot of responses here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-your-fluval-evo-13-5.292874/

Looks beautiful! I will definitely be checking out that build thread, to see if I can match anything to my own interests... I also see that you have a pretty heavy amount of flow going on in that tank, would you consider that necessary if I'm planning on doing some easier corals in the future?

 

[Michael W.]

I had a tank just like yours. I stocked heavily but with small fish. I consider how much swimming a fish does when considering bioload. For instance, a Watchman Goby does little (if any) free swimming so I only count half of their adult size. Say 1.5 inches and not 3. Tangs and angels swim a lot and have higher metabolisms so I double their size. So if you got a pair occelaris you should be fine. I would consider them moderate swimmers so I would calculate their adult size as is. Six inches of fish in a 13.5 should be ok. Or if you wanted, two gobies. Like a Firefish and Watchman / shrimp pair. If you do clowns, you may have to upgrade the light to keep anemones but they will sometimes host in other things (think Xenia) which will be fine under those lights. If you get creative you can do really cool stuff with that tank. Good luck and I’ll be following along!

Would a pair of occelaris plus a goby be alright? If I got the clowns small and took in to account that I may have to change some things around as they get bigger? I had also hoped the lighting would be enough for an anenome but I'll look further into that.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Looks beautiful! I will definitely be checking out that build thread, to see if I can match anything to my own interests... I also see that you have a pretty heavy amount of flow going on in that tank, would you consider that necessary if I'm planning on doing some easier corals in the future?

I have more flow than [arguably] anyone else with this tank. Before I got the MP10's, I had two Jebao SW2 pumps, and I also upgraded the return pump to a Sicce 1.0.

I have mostly SPS, and that was my direction with this tank - This much flow is absolutely not necessary. IMO it's always better to have more flow rather than too little. Some people upgrade to the Sicce 1.0 and only use that for flow, others use the Hydor nano pumps, and others use 1 jebao or similar. Any of these options are much cheaper, and just as adequate for a zoas/softies/some LPS and possibly even a couple of easier SPS corals. [the stock lighting might arguably not support some LPS and most SPS, but there are a few people running stock lighting with great looking tanks.''

At this point, my 13.5 is just a grow-out for these corals until I move and set up my 55 gallon next month. I also don't necessarily have fast-growers [aside from the birdsnest]. And I arguably over-light my tank [12 hours/day of 150w metal halide].

TLDR - that much flow is not necessary, and don't necessarily follow my maintenance methods as each person's experience varies greatly.

 

[Michael W.]

I have more flow than [arguably] anyone else with this tank. Before I got the MP10's, I had two Jebao SW2 pumps, and I also upgraded the return pump to a Sicce 1.0.

I have mostly SPS, and that was my direction with this tank - This much flow is absolutely not necessary. IMO it's always better to have more flow rather than too little. Some people upgrade to the Sicce 1.0 and only use that for flow, others use the Hydor nano pumps, and others use 1 jebao or similar. Any of these options are much cheaper, and just as adequate for a zoas/softies/some LPS and possibly even a couple of easier SPS corals. [the stock lighting might arguably not support some LPS and most SPS, but there are a few people running stock lighting with great looking tanks.''

At this point, my 13.5 is just a grow-out for these corals until I move and set up my 55 gallon next month. I also don't necessarily have fast-growers [aside from the birdsnest]. And I arguably over-light my tank [12 hours/day of 150w metal halide].

TLDR - that much flow is not necessary, and don't necessarily follow my maintenance methods as each person's experience varies greatly.

Would adding just one nano koralia to my tank be enough for some easier corals? Or would I still need to add more flow to keep them healthy

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Would adding just one nano koralia to my tank be enough for some easier corals? Or would I still need to add more flow to keep them healthy

It all really depends on what you're looking to keep. Depending on your aquascape and coral choices, one koralia 240/425 or one jebao (cheap and controllable) would be perfectly fine IMO

I haven't had many issues with me jebaos (any issues have been solved by cleaning them for an hour in vinegar/ water)

I had two of these on my Evo before getting the mp10s: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS8782D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MFATBbQCWPG6H