Anyone use an hob filter succsessfully on a reef tank ?

[reefer newby]

I know I will probably take a beating for asking , but does anyone , use an hob filter on a reef tank successfully? And can it be done? I have a 55 gal reef mixed reef tank that has been going for 9 months now. I do not have room for an adequate sump in my stand. I do have an oversized hob skimmer that is rated for a 100 gal. tank. I have a fluval canister filter wich I service regularly that I would like to do away with. Anyone ?

 

[Worldwide reefs]

Yes, I ran a mixed reef for years with a cansiter as well as a HOB and powerheads. When you study how bacteria and how nutrients get broken down and taken care of in a environment then you realize that a sump is just an extenuation or a stretched out version of HOB. I made sure I had plenty of proper live rock in each of the cansiter and HOB's and plenty of flow. Having the tank properly cycled is a big plus almost a must to have success in this way. Also have regular water changes to aid in nutrient removal for the system. Also keep and test parameters regularly ( this should be done anyway.. Just when dealing in smaller volumes of water its a must )

Regardless of that you can do it successfully as long as the base form of good husbandry is followed.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

I ran a smaller 20g with an ac70 successfully for over a year. It can be done as long as you are religious with WC's and do not over stock with fish

 

[definitionofreal]

As long as you keep up with weekly wc and cleaning you'll be fine.

 

[mike007]

Since you have a good skimmer hob filter would work for putting your media in it such as carbon, phosguard etc. I would not put filter pads and such that can cauuse nitrate problems. If you have a skimmer and live rock with good circulation you should be fine.

 

[reefer newby]

Thanks everyone. I do have a lot of live rock and good circulation.

 

[glb]

Following. I want to do this with a freshwater 36g bowfront I have.

 

[Culater94]

I have been running an Aquaclear HOB for about a year on my current 34 gallon tank. It works well, I started with a 70, and now run a 110 with an intank media basket, which I have chaeto in the large chamber, in the aqua clear is run, chemipure elite, along with purigen, and additional GFO occasionally. I also run aquamaxx hob-1 slightly wet.

My experience is you can do a hob, get as large as you can, and bi-weekly water changes. So it is a bit more work, but I am successfully growing soft, SPS, and LPS. I do run a filter pad, which I change every 3-4 days. Every week, I complete pull out the filter and skimmer, and clean thoroughly.

If I could do it again however, I wish I would have drilled my tank, and used a sump. The Hob's are definitely more work.

 

[NanaReefer]

No matter what you use, detritus build up can cause issues. Even a sump needs to be cleaned & needs something to catch the larger particles. Chaeto needs to be rinsed as well as any LR within it. Same goes for filter socks, they need to be cleaned/changed regularly.
To me canister filters are not that different. I've been using them on FW for over 35yrs. Why we view them so differently when used on SW is beyond me. Maybe due to the filter media needing to be changed more frequently and SW is enough work as it is?
I've been using a 3.3g HOB fuge on my 26g for almost 3yrs now. In all honesty, it is a PITA! The detritus build up is terrible! My chaeto & LR needs to be cleaned all the time. I also have to siphon the SB all the time. Oh and it's a breeding ground for cyano. I keep thinking that I never felt this way when using a canister filter on my FW.
Anyways, I do believe I am going to invest in a good canister filter and compare that with my HOB fuge.
Sorry for the rant This topic brings it out in me-lol.

 

[Mike J.]

I have a 55 with HOB skimmer and HOB Marineland power filter. That tank will be nine years old in May. It has a deep sand bed which I attribute to keeping it clean.

 

[Davesgt]

Ive been running a nano with a Aquaclear HOB for over 8 years now. As long as you practice good husbandry on your tank, Its all good

 

[prdubois]

I used to use a HOB Skimmer and a Flual with just rock rubble in it and it worked fine.I had a 72 gal bow that did not have room for a sump

 

[slate744]

I use a aquac remora hob skimmer and a regular hob filter that I filled with lr. My water parameters are stable and I've had no issues.

 

[reefer newby]

In reference to the carbon , phosgaurd etc. Do these need to be run at a high or low flow rate through the filter ? Slower rate having more contact time with the media.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

You could also go with a HOB refugium instead of the HOB filter.

 

[dave9905]

I had on on a 20 hex for four years before setting up my 90g with no problems. Had an whisper on the back, don't remember the size and only had a filter pad and chemipure elite in it. Did a 5gal water change every other week.

 

[J062682l]

I have a 55g running a fluval 405 and a modded seaclone , water changes once a week And everything looks good. Parameters, fish, corals and all

 

[tyler1503]

At one stage I had a 20gal seahorse and mandarin tank with a HOB filter. I just had some carbon in it and some rubble rock.
Worked like a charm

 

[cpsbooks]

I have had great success with Aquaclear HOBs of various sizes. There are a ton of after market parts you can get to customize them to make fuges, hold skimmers, better flow to media, etc.

 

[Valkyrie]

Ask a question and you'll likely get several different answers. I'm learning that quickly in this hobby. After spending the last 3 hours looking into HOB filters, I'm back to work on the sump/refugium. Gonna get me some chaeto, too. I had surgery on my left hand today, so this past weekend I worked diligently tearing apart a leaky 10g, bought a new 10g from Petco since they're running their $1/g again. Cleaned up the glass and I'm ready to cut and paste (ok use aquarium sealant not paste, LOL). I figured out the only reason why I was intrigued by the HOB was so I wouldn't have to cut the glass and I had read "Death Tank". The similarity to "Sally's" situation and mine was too weird.