Hob filter

[William Martin]

Is a Seachem Tidal 110 HOB good enough to start a 55 gal reef tank? I am new to saltwater and want to use an empty 55 I have laying around.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Is a Seachem Tidal 110 HOB good enough to start a 55 gal reef tank? I am new to saltwater and want to use an empty 55 I have laying around.

For mechanical filtration alot of reefers will use hang on back filters. The aquaclear are very popular as well

 

[William Martin]

Ok thanks.

 

[Devaji]

a 55 is pushing it with a HOB filter...sure it can be done not the easiest tho I would add a HOB skimmer it, will help out a lot. something like the aquamax 1.5 or the reef octo 1000 hob

oh a side note I personally would sale or trade the 55 for a 40br. the foot print is so much better for creating aquascapes. that is just my option tho so take it for what it is...haha

or better yet find a used 20-40br a make a sump that way all the equipment is out of the tank. adds more water volume too.
if you have any questions just ask lots of helpful folks around.

h a side note I personally would sale or trade the 55 for a 40br. the foot print is so much better for creating aquascapes. that is just my option tho so take it for what it is...haha

one thing you will find is there is no "one" way to do things . so find what works for you and your reefing style. as long as the reef and you are happy then you are doing it "right"

welcome to R2R and reefing!

 

[O'l Salty]

x2 on the 40 breeder. I ran one with a HOB filter and no skimmer. It was a very successful tank with a wide variety of corals. I did 25% water changes every two weeks religiously.

 

[FLAdaboy]

My first reef was a 55g with two HOB filters. No skimmer at all. I had Birdsnest, gonis, sun coral and a few others. It’s a good way to get into the hobby at a low cost. You can keep any softie and certain SPS. As long as you have stability, you will have a nice tank.

 

[Devaji]

@William Martin what did you decide?

 

[William Martin]

Gonna do the HOB. Is it good to double up the filtration? So if its a 55 gal a filter that does a 110 gallon should be good?

 

[GoPitt88]

I have a 2.5 yr old 55 gallon mixed reef tank that I converted from fresh water. Best thing I ever did! I LOVE saltwater [emoji2] I use an Aquaclear 70 HOB, an AquaMaxx Hob protein skimmer, and a Fluval 305 canister filter. Please note that I clean my filters and do a 5 gallon water change EVERY weekend! This is what mine looks like [emoji16]
I also have 2 VorTech MP10 powerheads, one on each side of the tank. Also have a screen top. You want an open screen top to encourage gas exchange while keeping the fish from jumping out of the tank [emoji12]

 

[GoPitt88]

I have to admit, though, that my dream tank is a Red Sea Reefer 425XL. Maybe in a couple years

 

[Mark]

The tidal filters are great. For saltwater they are far superior than the aqua clears. They have a surface skimmer that continues to work even with a little evap and water level change. They are also self priming.

I have a larger reef as my main display but also run two 40 breeder tanks with tidal 55 filters. They handle the carbon and GFO and then some tunze nanos give me current.

 

[William Martin]

Awesome the tidal was recommended by the guy at a local store. I was trying to figure out if he was doing just a sales pitch or they are actually good.

 

[Devaji]

yeah I have not used the tidal HOB filters I think there is a thread on here about them tho. try using the search tab if you have not.
they sound cool.

it is always a good idea to go a bit bigger than the manufacturer say often times they are a bit over rated. are you gonna do a HOB skimmer ( highly recommended ) I think that will decide on how big of a filter you go. if you just have $$ and room for one filter I would go hob skimmer IMHO
also look in to the intake media baskets not sure of they made them for the tidal filet or not but there really nice additions to the HOB filters.

 

[Devaji]

@GoPitt88 nice tank good sir. just goes to show you that there are many way to reef. your tank look very well cared for.

 

[Mark]

Awesome the tidal was recommended by the guy at a local store. I was trying to figure out if he was doing just a sales pitch or they are actually good.

They are actually made by Sicce, which makes great pumps.

 

[Jesterrace]

For mechanical filtration alot of reefers will use hang on back filters. The aquaclear are very popular as well

Agreed. Both are good choices. For a skimmer there are some decent HOB models. I had an Eshoppes PSK-75H on my 36 gallon bowfront and the 100 model would be pretty solid and is virtually identical (just a bit bigger and more flow). Here is the 75 model in action:

 

[lion king]

Yes, the tidal is the best right out of the box hob, the flow design makes it a very effective filter. Other add on items you may consider as your tank matures and gets more heavily stocked; an hob shimmer and an algae reactor. I ran this set up on 90g and I guarantee you, you couldn't do better with any other set up. I like the eshopps hob skimmers, Marine Depot has a nice algae reactor setup or you can DIY.

 

[William Martin]

Thanks to all for your help. So I definitely will go with the Tidal 110 and I will now start looking for the HOB Skimmer. This is a mid to long term setup so now I have a place to start. We are going to get the stuff little by little as to not kill our budget and have to skimp on things. So on to my next post point of sale. Thanks again to everyone. And the tanks people have posted help out a lot.

 

[Mark]

I don't run skimmers on the 40 breeders I have in the basement. But if I were, I would probably go with a CPR aquafuge of some sort. That would give you a skimmer and a place to grow chaeto. They are not cheap however.

 

[William Martin]

I am going to start researching HOB Skimmers now