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Top 9 Fluval Evo 13.5 Upgrades & Mods

Reef Dork

69,379 views

The Fluval Evo Starter Kit https://collabs.shop/do1qiv

TMC return pump (this broke after 6 months, TMC declined to replace it)
Cover - ReefTops on Facebook
Jecod SLW-10 https://amzn.to/3EBHBEy
AI Prime HD https://collabs.shop/yxqu4a
Thermometer https://amzn.to/3SYhMmJ
Algae scraper https://amzn.to/3g8yC3O

The best algae scraper in the world - https://collabs.shop/igd303
The best RO/DI filter for most people - https://amzn.to/46RXGRq

Best test kits for every parameter:
Salinity - https://collabs.shop/yfjhse
Alkalinity - https://collabs.shop/klkujm
Calcium - https://collabs.shop/tlnuty
Magnesium - https://collabs.shop/xd6w81
Phosphate - https://collabs.shop/nhl1hr
Nitrate - https://collabs.shop/nhl1hr

Some of these links have an affiliate code - so if you make a purchase, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

For any commercial enquiries, please send me a PM, contact me via Instagram or leave a comment below.

20 Comments

@Richs_reef 4 years ago

Reef tops do great acrylic lids - very happy with my custom one I got 18months ago and it often gets a compliment when reefing friends come to see the tank

@artistic_spaz3724 4 years ago

I miss my fluval. Here I thought upgrading to a larger tank was gonna be awesome and instead it seems that the headaches are bigger with larger price tags. Ugh

@dbuckley4639 4 years ago

Enjoying this series. I’m almost a week into cycling my first reef tank - a Fluval Evo . I love it! 😬

@4LordmyGod 3 months ago

Thank for the tank lid link , much appreciate it

@MrPWalden 4 years ago

Anybody watching this thinking of doing the same - you REALLY want to be putting your ato sensor in the pump chamber!

@cantusaurus8530 4 years ago

I went with the Fluval 32.5 for my first reef tank over 2 years ago, and I definitely have regretted it more over time. The filtration in particular is not very good due to the mods I had to do. I feel the 13.5 is much better in terms of reefing. With all the changes and limitations I had to go through i overall regretted it. But the tank itself looks very cool. I was a newbie and thought that Red Sea and JBJ were the only options available, and I ideally think I would’ve been the most happy with a Nuvo 40 or something similar.

@pauldeacon8764 4 years ago

Great video yet again Alex! 😀👍

@Michael_k_DK 4 years ago

Good to see a video from you again and I hope you are feeling better

@zerotalent6463 1 year ago

Dude that's a nice lid!

@ncoppens 4 years ago

The day before yesterday this video popped up with a 3d printed roller mat (manual) for this tank. I instantly thought of you and the fact you probably want one. It looks so cool it makes me want the fluval tank myself. (name of the video = tCxq_Ik8bFo ).

@les959 4 years ago

Thanks Mr dork! busy wasnt happy when i bought the new evo home 😂

@Seedyrom247 4 years ago

Loving this series. The white light doesn’t look as bad as you think. It does “disappear” in those far away shots.

@davidclarke389 4 years ago

love this series on smaller tanks, helps me set up mine

@jimgreen83 4 years ago

Another great video, really like the choice of pump. I removed the lid from mine today as well and added and AI Prime, the tank looks so much nicer but now I want something to cover the equipment like Red Sea have on their nanos

@astroanthobbies3801 3 years ago (edited)

Iv had the 13.5g for 3 years
Completed modded it now.

Skimmer in first chamber
Ato tunze
Blocked the tiny hole so water doesn’t get through.
Fluval intank chamber in the second one
Ehiem compact upgraded pump
DIY mesh top lid
AI prime light

The tank is a mini beast
All do is 30% water changes weekly and nothing else.

@MTXCraze 4 years ago

been loving my 8 gallon. the ato was my first main upgrade but i went with a cheap gravity fed water bottle adapter and a 1.5L water bottle. Them nano's evaporate fast!

@jhaych 4 years ago

Mine arrived yesterday purely down to you, it makes me laugh compared to my 780l system

@anglingaddict3877 4 years ago

Love it

@ISeaLive 4 years ago (edited)

Some solid upgrades. The TMC 500 looks awesome but I can’t seem to find one in the US.
I’ve been meaning to add a top as well but I’ve failed to make one several times (future video).
Let me know if you would like to try out the roller mat for the filtration upgrade. I also have the media basket files if you have someone that can print for you 👍🏻.

@bearded-flipflop 4 years ago

Great little series, although the mods you have made are not cheap! I went with this tank as a cheap bedroom tank for low maintenance corals I.e a bta, some pulsing xenia some mushrooms and some neon green sinularia i do nothing to it apart from feed the 2 clowns and manual top off.