Hob filter?

[AZdogpatch06]

Alright so I know this has been asked before, but I've never been able to get a clear answer, and everyone's situation is unique. I have a ten gallon nano reef tank with live rock and 8 small Kenya tree soft corals and 1 very small frog spawn, I think. My question is, do I even need a hob filter? I've seen people without them, but I'm not sure how it works. Also, I think the wife is buying me a new 25 gallon tank and stand for my birthday, so there's the possibility it could all get moved into a 25 gallon within the next few weeks, so just keep that in mind! Thanks everyone!

PS- Yey cycling the new tank if I get it! :/

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[NanoNewb]

What do you have for filtration now? I had a hob on my 20 for about a year before I upgraded to a sump.

 

[Reygan2]

I'm using an AC 70 on my 20 long. I fill the bottom of the filter with poly fill and toss in a bag of chemipure elite and phosguard. I replace the poly fill every week when I do my water change. It's pretty nasty when I remove it so I know it's removing junk. I don't have the option of a sump atm so the HOB works great for me.

 

[AZdogpatch06]

I'm just using a little aqua tech hob filter at the moment

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[BigRedsReefs10]

What do you have for livestock? Besides being a place to run media they also increase surface agitation. I'd just leave it on and utilize the chemical filtration, nutrients can build up quick in nanos

 

[AZdogpatch06]

OK so apparently I never saw your replies! I'm now in a 25G tank with the same stock as before to avoid putting a high load on my cycle. I've got 3 damsels, 2 emerald crabs, 8 kenya tree coral, 1 green tentacle like coral that came with the live rock, I'm actually not sure what it is. (It glows neon green under pure blue light), some hitch hiker hermit crabs, a tiny hitchhiker stomatella snail, and some hitch hiker bristle worms. I'm currently running a hob filter for a 40G tank. My protein skimmer should be here tomorrow, and I plan on tossing the filter cartridges and using some seachem sea gel in a filter bag as recommended to me in another thread. I've always wondered: if you don't have a hob filter, what's catching the detritus? I know I've heard hobs that run normal cartridges are bad because they trap debris that breaks down and re-enters your tank as amonia and toxins, so I'm just wondering how it's removed without a power filter. Thanks so much!

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[Reygan2]

OK so apparently I never saw your replies! I'm now in a 25G tank with the same stock as before to avoid putting a high load on my cycle. I've got 3 damsels, 2 emerald crabs, 8 kenya tree coral, 1 green tentacle like coral that came with the live rock, I'm actually not sure what it is. (It glows neon green under pure blue light), some hitch hiker hermit crabs, a tiny hitchhiker stomatella snail, and some hitch hiker bristle worms. I'm currently running a hob filter for a 40G tank. My protein skimmer should be here tomorrow, and I plan on tossing the filter cartridges and using some seachem sea gel in a filter bag as recommended to me in another thread. I've always wondered: if you don't have a hob filter, what's catching the detritus? I know I've heard hobs that run normal cartridges are bad because they trap debris that breaks down and re-enters your tank as amonia and toxins, so I'm just wondering how it's removed without a power filter. Thanks so much!

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The debris that is trapped in the hob does not re-enter the tank as ammonia and toxins if there is sufficient beneficial bacteria. It is converted into nontoxic substances, hence the purpose of media in the filter. There are several ways detritus gets taken care of. It is consumed by your CUC, corals and organisms in your live rock. The media in a hob on a reef tank should operate a little differently than on a fw tank. Nitrates are desirable in your media for a freshwater tank, however it's the last thing you want in a reef setup, where ideally the hob serves as a place to hold things that remove unwanted and harmful levels of nitrate and phosphate. Of course it also serves to catch some detritus, and using polyfil as the first layer in your media basket also does a good job of polishing the water and keeping the water clear. Nice thing about polyfil is that it's cheap and can be changed out frequently to avoid buildup of nitrate. And as mentioned above, it also serves as a good source of flow. I use an AquaClear 70, turned to the lowest setting and it offers nice flow. The large media basket is a great place to put Chemipure Elite and/or Phosguard, as well as polyfil to catch debris. So far that is working well for me, and my corals are happy and growing. I don't use a skimmer so weekly water changes are a must. I use Red Sea coral pro salt mix, and I think the weekly water changes are a good way of adding important nutrients for my corals, and I don't mind cleaning out my hob and giving the tank a little sprucing up every week. Any particular reason why you don't want to run a power filter on your tank?

 

[AZdogpatch06]

It's not that I don't want to, believe me I want to because they're very easy to use and super quiet. Which is a must since my tanks are in my bedroom. I've just always heard that it's not a good idea to use them on a marine aquarium and if you do to not solely rely on it. IE use other methods in conjunction with it like a skimmer

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[AZdogpatch06]

Also, can someone point me in the direction of proper media filter bags? I can't seem to find them..

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[BigRedsReefs10]

It's not that I don't want to, believe me I want to because they're very easy to use and super quiet. Which is a must since my tanks are in my bedroom. I've just always heard that it's not a good idea to use them on a marine aquarium and if you do to not solely rely on it. IE use other methods in conjunction with it like a skimmer

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Who told you that? Most nanos are run with hob filters. This is a 25ish gallon tank right? A hob filter and skimmer if you really want (I would go reef octopus or eshopps here) along with weekly wc's are all you need. Take a look at the current TOTM, Bribos rimless beauty is run with an aqua clear and a eshopps hob skimmer and is one of the nicest tanks I've ever seen.

 

[Reygan2]

What do you mean by media filter bags? The mesh bags?


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[AZdogpatch06]

These bags. I seem to have found them. It's a new concept to me so I attached a picture of the position of the bag in the filter. Opinions?

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[Reygan2]

What is in the bag?


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[AZdogpatch06]

Sea Chem Sea Gel

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[Reygan2]

Never heard of it. What does it do?

 

[Reygan2]

I see. I checked it out. Ideally you want as much water as possible to come in contact with it, so try to spread it out as much as you can. Unfortunately that type of hob doesn't have a lot of room. That's why most folks like AquaClears, plenty of space for media. If I were you, I'd remove the black filter pad, that will eventually be a nitrate factory. You need to use a bag of phosguard as well, because from what I read on Seachem's website, this product does contain phosphates and they recommend using it. You could try putting a small bag of phosguard where the filter pad was. If you've got the $, I'd recommend an AC.

 

[AZdogpatch06]

Could you possibly link me to that? From my understanding Seagel has phos-guard in it. I just checked the bottle.

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[Reygan2]

Oops, it sure does! Don't know how I missed that.


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[AZdogpatch06]

I've decided that I'm going to return the skimmer and go with and aquaclear power filter. Just placed the order on Amazon. I figure between the filter floss / foam pads (whichever you like to call it) and my Seagel that I'm running, I should be alright in a tank this small. Especially with my water changes.

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[Reygan2]

Nice! What size did you get?


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