Where To Put Hob Filter Reddit

A Hang-On-Back Filter or Power Filter as they are likewise known by are very popular in freshwater aquariums at providing a elementary, easy-to-use and like shooting fish in a barrel-to-make clean filter, but how well practise they work with a saltwater aquarium?

"Saltwater aquariums need high-tech, top-of-the-line equipment, Correct?" Incorrect!

You tin easily run a modest saltwater aquarium with very basic equipment. You just need to understand its limitations and the piece of work you accept to do to maintain it for success.

A Hang-On-Back (HOB) or Power Filter tin can be used on smaller saltwater aquariums with Live Stone & a Protein Skimmer to provide the three means of filtration required for a healthy reef tank. HOB filters are mainly used for housing chemical filter media.

Many successful saltwater aquariums are run using HOB filters and correct selection, sizing and setup will ensure a skillful start to your reefing journey!

If yous wish to view a nice selection of HOB Power filters to refer to while reading this commodity you can find them beneath:

HOB Power filters can exist a great style to start your first saltwater aquarium or perfect for Quarantine Tanks

Read On to find out more…

What is a HOB or Power Filter?

A HOB or Hang-On-Back Filter is exactly what it sounds like. It is an aquarium filter that hangs on the side or back of an aquarium.

The general style in which these filters work is to suck upwardly water from the aquarium, pass that water through the filter media and so return it back to the aquarium.

The media that is placed in these filters can exist changed to adjust the aquarium or the performance.

HOB filters besides make great little Refugiums for nano aquariums with the simple add-on of some Cheato Macroalgae and a grow light.

How Do You Use A HOB Filter On a Reef Tank

At the start of the article I mentioned how yous can use a HOB 'With' Live Stone & a Protein Skimmer, this is because a HOB filter does not provide enough filtration on its ain to cope with the filtration demands of a saltwater aquarium.

At that place are 3 forms of filtration that yous accept to meet for your aquarium to maintain an ecological balance:

1. Mechanical Filtration

This is the capture and removal of big particulate matter and organic compounds. In a saltwater aquarium, this is usually taken care of by:

Filter Floss
Filter Sponges
Filter Socks
Roller Mat
Poly peptide Skimmer
A combination of the above

two. Chemical Filtration

This is the capture and assimilation or conversion of microscopic particulate matter. In a saltwater aquarium, this is usually taken care of past:

Activated Carbon
Chemi-Pure Aristocracy
Purigen
Bio-Pellets
Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO)
A combination of the to a higher place

3. Biological Filtration

This is the growing and reproduction of leaner used to procedure toxins. In a saltwater aquarium, this is ordinarily taken care of by:

Rock
Sand
Filter Sponges
Ceramic Pieces
Bio-Assurance
Colonizing Material – MarinePure
A combination of the in a higher place

Well-nigh HOB filters will come with a serial of filter media designed to see the needs of each type of filtration.

In a saltwater aquarium, these media are merely not plenty to successfully process all the waste that a reef tank produces. The chief reason why there is and then much more than waste in a saltwater aquarium, compared to their freshwater counterparts, is the number of living organisms in a reef tank.

To cope with the processing of all this matter you need to use a HOB filter every bit office of the total filtration package. Every bit well as your HOB filter, you are going to require the following:

Sand – Either Dry Sand or Live sand. Over time your Dry Sand will abound Nitrifying Bacteria and go Live Sand. This is will become role of your Biological Filter every bit your aquarium cycles.

Stone – Either Dry out Rock or Live Rock. Just like the sand, information technology will become colonized over time and become the MAIN area for your Nitrifying Bacteria to colonize and go part of your Biological Filter.

Protein Skimmer – This will be your master method of Mechanical Filtration past removing organic particulate from the water.

The best way to fix up your HOB filter to help in helping these above filters is to:

Remove and dispose of the media that came with the filter.
If you don't accept much Live Rock add together some MarinePure Gems to the filter to increase surface area for Nitrifying Bacteria to colonize.
Insert a bag of Chemi-Pure Elite to provide chemic filtration. Chemi-Pure is a mix of Activated Carbon, GFO & Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate absorbing material.
Place filter floss on the top as a mechanical filter.

By using the filter media mentioned to a higher place they work really well for smaller aquariums, last a long time and you can fit them in small areas – Perfect for HOB filters!

If you take enough of live rock than the HOB filter volition just be a property vessel for the Chemi-pure and the filter floss.

If you lot have a larger aquarium and you have boosted infinite on the dorsum wall to add together more than equipment, you could consider adding a second HOB filter to give extra property space for MarinePure media, boosted filter floss or even converting it to a Refugium to hold MacroAlgae.

To find out fifty-fifty more about what each of the filter media mentioned in a higher place does and what is a refugium meet the further down and in the links in the 'Further Reading' department at the end of this commodity.

Here Is My Quarantine Tank Using a HOB Filter – On Right Hand Side

Are There Cautions To Exist Aware of with HOB Filters?

Although HOB Filters can be a groovy starter filter to your new aquarium there are a few cautions you take to exist aware of to ensure it works at its best.

Using Sponges

The sponges that come with the HOB filter actually need to be discarded and never used. Sponges are notorious for trapping detritus and particulate matter.

As this matter breaks down they release Nitrates and Phosphates into your water. Even with diligent cleaning, it is hard to purge all the waste product from the sponge. This is why sponge material is very rarely used in the saltwater side of the hobby.

Using Ceramic Media

Just like sponges, the ceramic media can trap detritus if not washed regularly (When I say washed, that is not washed under a tap! That will impale all the Nitrifying Bacteria on it – Wash information technology in a bucket of saltwater!)

The surface area of the ceramic pieces is likewise not that large. By swapping out the ceramic pieces with $xiii.00 worth of MarinePure Gems yous are massively increasing the area on which your Nitrifying Leaner can colonize.

More than surface area for a given infinite will help process waste ameliorate and allow for higher bio-loads = More livestock 😉

Bio-wheels

The bio-wheels on some HOB filters are designed to provide additional surface surface area for Nitrifying Bacteria to colonize, but if you have lots of Live Rock or MarinePure Gems they are non required – Just remove them.

The boosted problems that the bio-wheels can create is salt creep. Whatsoever splash from saltwater leaves behind the salt every bit it evaporates. This can build up over time and cover screens, glass tops, light bulbs, and the water spill-way from the filter.

Cleaning Frequency

This is one of the biggest reasons why many aquarists will not use a HOB filter once they upgrade. To continue a HOB filter working efficiently and forbid the build-upwardly of detritus it could need cleaning every couple of days.

The filter floss can quickly become chock-full if you feed heavy or have an overstocked aquarium and this can atomic number 82 to a filter overflowing. You too demand to remove all the filter media each week to suck up the detritus that collects in the bottom of the filter.

A turkey baster is adept for this or a piece of airline running a siphon into a bucket.

Considering of this maintenance, a weekly maintenance routine is required on your aquarium to keep it clean. This could exist a lot for a beginner!

Correct Sizing

If you are starting out you volition be wanting to watch the wallet and setting up an aquarium can be a big expense. Correctly sizing your HOB is important.

The all-time way is to outset purchase the best skimmer recommended for your aquarium. If it is a HOB protein skimmer, install information technology and then see how much room you have left forth the back wall of your aquarium.

My advice hither would be to rather than by the biggest in the range, buy ii filters that will fit side by side. Buying ii will well-nigh certainly give you more area for filter media which volition greatly improve your aquarium.

For Example: fifty Gallon Aquarium 36″ Long x eighteen″ Wide

Protein Skimmer:
Reef Octopus Classic 100 HOB Poly peptide Skimmer (View it Hither at Amazon.com)
Footprint = 8″ x 3.5″

This volition exit us with 28″ to fit HOB filters.

HOB Filters:
Running 2 of whatsoever of the filters beneath will fit the space left over and give you optimal media capacity.

2x MarineLand Penguin 200 BIO-Cycle Power Filter
2x Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO Aquarium Power Filters
2x Hagen Aqua Articulate lxx HOB Power Filter
2x Fluval C4 Power Filter
(All links to Amazon.com for further info)

Common salt Creep

Briefly mentioned before, any splashing from saltwater volition leave table salt deposits as the baste dries. The water cascading down from HOB filters will splash into the h2o surface when returning back to the aquarium.

Table salt creep must be monitored and cleaned off regularly to not merely keep it from affecting other equipment, but prevent it from leaking out of the filter.

Salt creep edifice up on the HOB filter's spillway can redirect the water over the edges and onto the floor. Not only does this create a mess on the floor, but if you have an Automatic Elevation-off system fitted to replace your aquarium for evaporation loss, information technology will peak off your aquarium with freshwater and your salinity will drib.

If left unchecked this drop in salinity will be enough to kill your fish and coral!

Are There Any HOB Filter Upgrades You Tin can Make?

To really go the most out of your filters there are a few upgrades mentioned before and some others that can really improve their operation.

Filter Textile

Purigen

This is a synthetic filter media that is designed to blot Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate compounds. It also has an added benefit of polishing the water similar to what Activated Carbon does.
As the Purigen becomes exhausted information technology changes its colour to dark blue and eventually black. The peachy benefit to this product is that you lot can recharge the media by removing it and washing it in a bleach and h2o solution.

Purigen can be run in a mesh bag in your HOB filter.

Recommended usage is 1ml for every gallon

Chemi-Pure Elite

This is a manufactured mix of Activated Carbon and a 'Purigen' type of ion removing compound that helps to remove organic waste and absorb the harmful Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrate compounds.

It comes in a pocketbook which can be placed in the filter and volition have to be disposed of once it is exhausted.

The manufacturer recommends you change this out every iv-6 months providing you accept sized the corporeality of Chemipure correctly. One time your aquarium begins to get cloudy, it'due south time to alter the media.

You tin now also get Chemipure Aristocracy which adds a Ferric Oxide fabric to the media to assist reduce Phosphates and Silicates at the same time, simply just lasts 4 months.

Recommended usage is i unit of measurement for every 5 – 40 gallons

Activated Carbon

Carbon or Activated Carbon are sticks or granules made from high quality, high porosity Bituminous Coal.

The main purpose of Activated Carbon is to absorb organic pollutants and heavy metals from the water.

The other benefit of using Carbon is that it volition polish your water and make it sparkle. If you look at your tank and you run into the h2o has a yellow tinge to information technology, and then its time to replace the Carbon.

MarinePure

This blazon of filter media is designed to house beneficial bacteria. They are created just like the sponges to provide the virtually corporeality of surface area per piece to become every bit much bacteria growing as possible.

The MarinePure Gems are specifically designed to be small in size to let them to fit in the pocket-sized media areas of HOB filters and All-IN-One Aquariums.

Media Baskets

Media Baskets are a nice picayune invention pioneered by SteveT over at InTank.

The media baskets are designed to supplant standard media trays that come up with many filters, but permit for amend water flow through the media and for easy cleaning.

His media baskets for HOB filters allow for just the filter floss to be easily replaced without having to remove the whole media basket.

For Media Baskets to fit many different filters and aquariums encounter here:
InTank Media Baskets at Amazon.com

Are At that place Alternative Filter Methods to HOB/Ability FIlters?

If y'all are in the planning stages of your first aquarium, your next aquarium or are just wondering virtually HOB filters and then hither are some other aquarium options to think nearly.

The main downsides to using Hang-On-Back equipment, not just filters are:

All the equipment is visible both in the aquarium and in a higher place the aquarium taking away the dazzler of what'southward inside it.
Y'all are limited to the range of products you tin can find as Hang-On-Back
You are limited to the amount of equipment you can place in the space provided
Maintenance can be laborious and regular with HOB equipment

Luckily there are another options you lot may want to consider:

AIO Aquariums

AIO Aquariums stand up for All-In-One Aquariums and they are in essence an aquarium with a filter compartment manufactured into the back of the tank. This allows yous more than space for equipment and information technology can keep everything out of sight.

There are some awesome AIO aquariums from the pocket-sized 13.5 Gall Fluval Sea Evo all the way through to Innovative Marine'southward Nuvo 80 Gallon with every size in between.

Sumps

An aquarium with a sump is probably the about common setup you lot will find in saltwater. The aquarium comes with an overflow system with drilled holes that allow the water to drain into a sump beneath and so returned to the aquarium via a pump.

Having a sump allows you lots of space for equipment and it keeps EVERYTHING hidden out of sight. They give amend access for maintenance and you will exist surprised at what you tin fit into the aquarium cabinet!

Meet This Tank In My Setup 30g-75g Guide Here

You can buy aquarium systems complete with the aquarium, sump, and stand or you tin can buy all the parts individually to suit your needs.

For more than information on setting upwards an AIO or a Sump-Based system please take a look Here at my Setup-Guides. I have a range of all different tank sizes, recommended equipment and costs to aid y'all determine your side by side aquarium!

To Finish

HOB filters are a nifty way to give started in saltwater aquariums and providing y'all size the filter correctly, fit it with a few of the upgrades and keep it maintained you will be on your way to a cute reef aquarium!

With fourth dimension, you volition probably find that information technology may go a lot of work and the conclusion to upgrade will start to rattle around in your encephalon. This is where most aquarists upgrade to an AIO or sump-system aquarium and then never look dorsum.