HELP, SUMP OR CONT HOB

[cpalminteri]

Need help all, I have a heavy stocked 55 gal tank with a marineland Emperor and also a Tidal 75 HOB. Fish are fine, corals not so much. Really struggling and it’s probably because I can’t keep nitrates under 30. So my question is this:

should I invest in a good HOB skimmer and keep as is or should I just transition to a sump? I can’t drill so although going the sump route would normally be a no brainer, I’m worried that with an external hob overflow box increases the chances of my tank overflowing and leaking on my rental unit are very high.

 

[C4ctus99]

Need help all, I have a heavy stocked 55 gal tank with a marineland Emperor and also a Tidal 75 HOB. Fish are fine, corals not so much. Really struggling and it’s probably because I can’t keep nitrates under 30. So my question is this:

should I invest in a good HOB skimmer and keep as is or should I just transition to a sump? I can’t drill so although going the sump route would normally be a no brainer, I’m worried that with an external hob overflow box increases the chances of my tank overflowing and leaking on my rental unit are very high.

I am in the process of adding a sump. I made a little PCV overflow with a tiny pump in it to get water up and over the rim, I’ll put a picture below.

smallest pump I could find, 10 gallon sump (20g long display) and a cheap return pump. Whenever I upgrade to a bigger tank (60-75) I’ll get good pumps and do maintenance and have auto shutoffs and such for overflow

I also put together a bucket/new sump demo to make certain I could get the flow rates to match on the overflow and return pumps. Put the overflow on half and the return has a valve in line to adjust flow.

 

[58e970b2-3f88-4897-87ba-5]

Need help all, I have a heavy stocked 55 gal tank with a marineland Emperor and also a Tidal 75 HOB. Fish are fine, corals not so much. Really struggling and it’s probably because I can’t keep nitrates under 30. So my question is this:

should I invest in a good HOB skimmer and keep as is or should I just transition to a sump? I can’t drill so although going the sump route would normally be a no brainer, I’m worried that with an external hob overflow box increases the chances of my tank overflowing and leaking on my rental unit are very high.

Personally I would be quite worried about the HOB skimmer overflowing. If conditions are right they can dump a lot of water (mine can bubble out the top of the collection cup pretty quickly).

Maybe you could do a small tank above to put extra filtration in (and make it look neater than this)?

If I were seriously worried about spills in this setup I would get a deeper top container, add another drain pipe, and switch to an internal skimmer up there.

 

[Spare time]

A hob overflow box that can restart its siphon without a pump shouldn't overflow with regular maintenance. Alternatively, you could consider a HOB refugium (far less likely to overflow compared to a skimmer)