New Fluval 13.5 Questions

[Reedc200177]

Hello all,

I apologize in advance for posting what are probably pretty common questions, but the more I read threads and browse the more confused I'm getting.

I have a Fluval 13.5 that I've set up about 2 weeks ago. At the moment it's cycling, using pure ammonia. I've got a 0ppm ammonia reading just yesterday, but nitrites and nitrates still sky high. Nothing in it but sand and maybe 2lbs rock a friend gave me from their tank to cycle.

My question is mainly about filtering -
I aim to mostly have easy to keep things, maybe LPS, no sps. Inverts and 1 or 2 fish. What is the ideal filter setup for this tank? There are tons of opinions. I don't want to overdo it, so I'm considering the two following options:

Chamber 1: skimmer
Chamber 2: intank basket with floss, then chemipure elite, then poss purigen
Chamber 3: Heater and sicce 0.5 pump

Or alternatively:

Chamber 1: intank basket with floss, chemipure elite, and purigen
Chamber 2: refugium with light and chaeto
Chamber 3: heater and pump

I have already plugged the center hole.

My main concerns are is this overkill? Opinions are divided on whether the chemipure and purigen are both needed. Will either of these setups strip the water too much? When in the cycling process should I start running full filtration? There's nothing in the filter now except the intank basket 2 with the charcoal and ceramic rings that came with the tank.

My plan is to add gulf live rock once the tank is cycled, let it recycle if necessary, then start adding livestock.

Also I have an aqamai powerhead they came recommended for this tank but the lowest setting on it is 370gph, is this too much?

 

[blaxsun]

Personally, I'd go with the first option. Almost every Fluval 13.5 build I've seen replaces the pump with the Sicce (or equivalent), runs the Fluval skimmer and upgrades to an InTank basket. I don't think you'll see the benefit of a refugium in such a small tank and they can end up being more trouble than they're worth. Regular water changes, testing, avoiding overfeeding and ensuring you have a balanced cleanup crew will usually allow you to keep all your parameters in-check.

You'll want to remove the charcoal during cycling, but for filtration I'd just run filter floss and nothing else until the tank has completely cycled.

 

[Mike from TN]

I’m running the InTank basket in chamber #1 with bio balls in the bottom, ChemiPure Elite and a bag of carbon in the center level and a 50 micron pad under a carbon infused pad in the top level.
Chamber #2 houses my heater and a small submersible UV light ( poor mans sterilizer) which runs 24/7
Chamber #3 is a Sicce 1.0 running a SpinStream nozzle.

I ran ZERO carbon during cycling like recommended above.
Tank is 1 1/2 years wet.
Skimmer is not necessary with regular water changes and the Fluval Skimmer can be a real P.I.T.A. Toget dialed in.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I have both the chamber 1 and 2 baskets. I just use the biomax, filter floss, carbon, and pet of the old sponge that I cut up and put in. I use the original pump. So not nearly as high tech/intricate as the others (and it probably shows as far as clarity and algae goes).
Tank has been up since August 2020:

 

[FishyFishFish]

I have filter floss in mine and that’s it. No filter media at all (even though I have the inTank basket). No skimmer either.

I haven’t had the need for anything other than very brief (about 2 days, twice) of GFO and I occasionally run carbon, although I’m not using that at the moment either.

In my opinion, people tend to drift towards things like Purigen or Chemipure before they work out if they actually need it. I would run it, test, and adjust as necessary.

No need for any filtration during the cycle.

 

[Reedc200177]

Wow cool! Where do you get your carbon and pads? Thanks for the replies. Also I took the charcoal out, but just curious, how does that affect the cycle?

 

[FishyFishFish]

I use the filter pads from inTank. Up until now I have used the Fluval carbon bags as they are cheap and easy to use as they come in their own little bags. I also have Red Sea and BRS ROX carbon if I ever want to use it.

I don’t think the filtration will have much/any effect on the cycle; you just don’t need it yet.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I think I got the floss on Amazon or chewy. Carbon I just pick up at petsmart.

 

[Virgil Cummings]

I’m running the InTank basket in chamber #1 with bio balls in the bottom, ChemiPure Elite and a bag of carbon in the center level and a 50 micron pad under a carbon infused pad in the top level.
Chamber #2 houses my heater and a small submersible UV light ( poor mans sterilizer) which runs 24/7
Chamber #3 is a Sicce 1.0 running a SpinStream nozzle.

I ran ZERO carbon during cycling like recommended above.
Tank is 1 1/2 years wet.
Skimmer is not necessary with regular water changes and the Fluval Skimmer can be a real P.I.T.A. Toget dialed in.

I second this...one question...how strong do you have your sicce 1.0 running? Is it at 100%??

 

[Mike from TN]

I second this...one question...how strong do you have your sicce 1.0 running? Is it at 100%??

I have it at about 75-80%. I also have 2 power heads running. One on the side glass ( opposite the false wall ) pointing diagonally at the front glass where the current intersects with the flow from the SpinStream and one on the back glass on the opposite end eliminating “ dead spots” behind the rock structure.

 

[pecan2phat]

I don't personally think the InTank chamber 2 is useful unless you absolutely need to have a skimmer in chamber 1.
I bought it mainly to get rid of the Fluval supplied sponge but really had no good purpose for it since I do not run a refugium, it's just housing some ceramic balls currently.

 

[Mike from TN]

I don't personally think the InTank chamber 2 is useful unless you absolutely need to have a skimmer in chamber 1.
I bought it mainly to get rid of the Fluval supplied sponge but really had no good purpose for it since I do not run a refugium, it's just housing some ceramic balls currently.

Agreed! Chamber #2 is the perfect place to house a heater.