yeroc40 Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 First off this site rocks, and is the best supplement to reading when I am confused. Converting a 10g fw to reef. So I have a mini HOB filter that I used continuously with freshwater. Is this the same hob that people discuss here? If I understand I can leave it on the tank and just run it empty for additional flow and if need be I can put the same filters in it that I ran for fresh (carbon in or no carbon) if I need temporary additional filtration beyond the lr,ls, and wc? Link to comment
caja Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 HOB is a generic term. There are tons of different HOB's and yes you can use it without filter material for added circulation. I'ts handy to have for when you do need to run carbon or floss. Link to comment
Overtkill Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 me being a noob and all, why would you NEED to run a carbon filter? What condition/problem would that correct? Link to comment
NewbReefer Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 why do people run their HOBs empty? wouldn't it benefit more to have a sponge or some ceramic media in there for added biological filteration? Link to comment
Jeff D2 Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 The current view on reef style tanks is that you do not want any type of media that might trap food , detritus, ect. This is the same reason that on any system with a bio- wheel that it gets removed. Anyone who has sponge, ceramic, bioball ect., in there system and removed have had a major drop in nitrate production. The understanding of this is that this filter media works to well and breaks stuff down before the corals have a chance to use it, or is eaten by scavengers. In nano system HOB's end up being used for several items, none of them being a filter in the traditional meaning of the word. Refugium (add light , plant, bugs ) Place to put carbon or PO4 remover when needed. Extra water flow Place to keep a heater Surface skimmer to keep the slime off the water surface High flow area to drip Kalk hth Jeff Link to comment
maroonclown Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 Carbon is a must. Other medias are good for only short use, such as collecting detritus right after cleaning. The bio-media is good for quarintine tanks where live rock is not going to be present, and medicines might distroy the bacteria. Some chemical filters, such as the Polyfilter, remove PO4, used medicines, some levels of nitrates, etc, etc. This is why we don't use under gravel filters. As said before, you can turn the into a fuge. Also, on some of the deeper ones, you can run an air powered in-tank skimmer so it stays hidden. HTH Link to comment
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