Anyone else with an Aqueon Evolve 8?

[gotplayed2day]

Hi, I am a new member here and I was just wondering if there was anyone else who had an Aqueon Evolve 8 nano reef tank. I personally have had one for about a month now and I love it. Its stocked with 2 small clown fish and a fire fish goby. As far as my CUC, I have 3 nassarius snails, 1 peppermint shrimp, and some bristle worms. For corals, I have a green zoanthid colony, green star polyps, Kenya tree, green mushroom, pulsating xenia, red acan frag, and a SPS coral I cant identify by name(it almost looks like a ricordia of some sort). Other than all of this I have maybe 8-10 pounds of Tonga branch live rock and a 4 inch thick live sand bed. I know there have been alot of speculations about the stock LED lighting, so I upgraded to a Beamswork 11" clamp on LED fixture(810 lumens, 18w, 2 actinic moonlight bulbs). It is a great light so far and supports all of my coral beautifully. I haven't done anything to the filtration system, but I am saw some mods that may make it better. If anyone out there has this tank, please feel free to share your testimonials/advice and any other information you have and I will be happy to share with you any information you seek. I will also be happy to share pictures!

 

[keh9qd]

Yea i just bought one about two weeks ago for $89 at petsmart. I was going to go with a nuvo 8 that my lfs sells for $150 but i decided to go with an evolve 8 bc it was acrylic. I drilled mine, modified the back section, and added a 10g sump. i also upgraded the light to a wavepoint HO 18w led clamp on. Im using the stock evolve light on the sump. So far its a pretty nice setup. Got any pictures?

 

[gotplayed2day]

Here are some pics. Im going through a little red slime issue right now, but it should clear up soon. My actinics are very prominent, im trying to mount it higher so the colors can blend...

 

[gotplayed2day]

More pics... My clown fish has taken to my mushroom for some strange reason, the last picture is the mystery coral... any help on what that is?

 

[Malign Reefer]

I just picked one up the other day and going to do a barebottom setup.

 

[gotplayed2day]

Cool, I was wondering what you guys do with the filter pad... Mine gets pretty dirty and iv'e rinsed it with tank water, but I don't know how often I should replace it

 

[keh9qd]

I wouldnt use it, its not worth replacing. Just do water changes.

 

[tommer725]

Now I don't know much about this aquarium, but I would replace the filter pad with chaeto and live rock

 

[gotplayed2day]

Do you think that it would do its job if I just removed the filter pad and put chaeto and rubble live rock back there instead? I would after all do water changes every week so I think that would help with such a small tank