HOB Refugium or Skimmer? Aquamaxx Poll

[JFinlay]

Wondering if the great minds of the many people on the site could share their opinion on if you'd rather have a HOB skimmer or refugium. I'm currently leaning towards fuge since it can host copepods and HOB skimmers have a chance of leaking on the floor. Can't have both because that would look awfully messy, already have a Tidal 75 HOB filter.

I'm also worrying about clearance issues, I have an Aqueon 40G Breeder with a glass top, about 2 inches of clearance between lid and top.

Budget friendly obviously with my choices, Aquamaxx seems to be a good bang for the buck, open to other options though.

I currently don't have any nutrient issues, around 15ppm nitrates, no crazy algae or anything like that but more so just for preventative measures.

I appreciate any and all input!

 

[smalltownuser]

I would very much like to see an answer on this as well. I am debating on which one to use myself, for the exact same reason. I have a 75g tank with the tidal 110 for extra strength, along with 2 Radeon XR15 lights, so their stands are also on the rim. I dont want to add too much more to it and make it terrible to look at.

 

[LordofCinder]

if you have no issue's with any nutrients, then I would say the skimmer. I have the aquamaxx 1.5 hob skimmer, been using for 2 years, it never leaked.

Skimmer gives the added benefit of adding oxygen to the water, and also it can pull out some other stuff, such as medications, additives, contaminants, etc... for example, the skimmer goes nuts when we add fresh putty in the tank, I would prefer the skimmer pull that out rather than just leave it in the water.

 

[mjw011689]

I’d ditch the HOB filter in favor of both. There’s no HOB filters that will provide enough flow for a reef tank to make them anything more than mildly useful for running a bag of carbon.

A long time ago I ran something like the cpr aqua five on a 40 breeder and it worked great. I’ve got an eshopps HOB skimmer that worked great.

And for the sake of stirring the pot, I’m sure you could modify the skimmer outlet to dump right into the hob fuge and ditch the pump for the fuge. That way you’ve only got 1 pump hanging into the tank. Fuges need low flow anyways, and that would definitely provide it.

I haven’t looked into those in years, but there may even be a combo assembly that is both. Don’t see why there wouldn’t be at this point.

 

[JFinlay]

I’d ditch the HOB filter in favor of both. There’s no HOB filters that will provide enough flow for a reef tank to make them anything more than mildly useful for running a bag of carbon.

A long time ago I ran something like the cpr aqua five on a 40 breeder and it worked great. I’ve got an eshopps HOB skimmer that worked great.

And for the sake of stirring the pot, I’m sure you could modify the skimmer outlet to dump right into the hob fuge and ditch the pump for the fuge. That way you’ve only got 1 pump hanging into the tank. Fuges need low flow anyways, and that would definitely provide it.

I haven’t looked into those in years, but there may even be a combo assembly that is both. Don’t see why there wouldn’t be at this point.

this certainly is an interesting take! Never even thought of that but you really would think combo pieces would be more common, I was even thinking of just buying a second HOB Filter and making my own fuge out of it, id be worried about no filter though because then how would things like loose algae, the dog hair that ends up in my tank etc get taken out?

 

[Stephen8169301]

I have aqua maxx hob 1.5 also and love it

 

[mjw011689]

this certainly is an interesting take! Never even thought of that but you really would think combo pieces would be more common, I was even thinking of just buying a second HOB Filter and making my own fuge out of it, id be worried about no filter though because then how would things like loose algae, the dog hair that ends up in my tank etc get taken out?

Well if you’ve got a glass lid on there with minimal gap on the back (which I’m personally not a fan of), you shouldn’t really get much of anything like dog hair in the tank. That being said, I’ve run plenty of tanks with no sponge or strainer type filters, and never had any issues. You’re gonna do more manual cleaning for sure, but without a sump or back chamber that provides a place for those, it’s kinda hard to do.

as for converting the filter to a small fuge, this was a very popular method for a long time. Aqua clear filters were the go to. Gut em out, and put a small light on top and throw in your chaeto.

have you considered adding a HOB overflow instead, and going with a sump (if you even have space for one, that is)? It would give you a place for heaters, skimmer, fuge and free up your display from all the equipment.

 

[smalltownuser]

Well if you’ve got a glass lid on there with minimal gap on the back (which I’m personally not a fan of), you shouldn’t really get much of anything like dog hair in the tank. That being said, I’ve run plenty of tanks with no sponge or strainer type filters, and never had any issues. You’re gonna do more manual cleaning for sure, but without a sump or back chamber that provides a place for those, it’s kinda hard to do.

as for converting the filter to a small fuge, this was a very popular method for a long time. Aqua clear filters were the go to. Gut em out, and put a small light on top and throw in your chaeto.

have you considered adding a HOB overflow instead, and going with a sump (if you even have space for one, that is)? It would give you a place for heaters, skimmer, fuge and free up your display from all the equipment.

If you go with a second HOB filter to use for regufium, would you recommend leaving the lid off so light can get to it? Side question to this, I have 2 XR15 radeon lights for my tank that sit about 8 inches above the tank to broadcast the light, do you think these two lights would be enough for the refugium or does it need its own light source right above the HOB?

 

[GARRIGA]

I’m always going to pick the Fuge and especially on HOB because it’s a simpler design that just requires occasional pruning even less if taking the Trident approach. Less salt loss since skim-mate will take water with it. Doesn’t require a scrubber if house co2 is high. Less evaporation. Less potential salt creep. I would however pre filter it to reduce the gunk that goes inside. Might need more iron and manganese supplementation but that is simple enough to solve. Plus I just learned skimmers might be pulling calcium attached to what it skims.

Only downfall being a light in addition to the extra pump yet latter could be solved with better plumbing off a manifold.

 

[mjw011689]

If you go with a second HOB filter to use for regufium, would you recommend leaving the lid off so light can get to it? Side question to this, I have 2 XR15 radeon lights for my tank that sit about 8 inches above the tank to broadcast the light, do you think these two lights would be enough for the refugium or does it need its own light source right above the HOB?

You would want a different light, and run on opposite schedule from display. The spectrum for growing chaeto is different from the corals. Will it grow? Maybe, but not great

 

[Opus]

I've been running a skimmer on my 75gal tank for over 20 years. No leaks so far and I've had several different ones over that time. Deltec makes one that has a pull out holder on the return side that you can put carbon in or any other filter media that you want. I'm currently using the Reef Octopus classic 90 and it does a great job of skimming. I've never had an issue with calcium.

Check the BRS site. They have a Aquamaxx HF-M model that is a skimmer/filter combo. Looks like the filter side is rather large and could be used as a refuge.

 

[Double monti 61]

Aquamaxx bullet-1 works well on my 15 gallon tank.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I have aqua maxx hob 1.5 also and love it

I have one of these and it's great, pulls out tons of junk and never leaks. it's very powerful with a sicce pump. no pumps in the tank, super easy to take apart and clean. I added a couple of things to mine to make it even better, but you don't necessarily need to do that too.
I added a ventri for controlling the air intake for after cleaning to control the microbubbles and added velcro to the lid to hold it tight.

 

[Stephen8169301]

I have one of these and it's great, pulls out tons of junk and never leaks. it's very powerful with a sicce pump. no pumps in the tank, super easy to take apart and clean. I added a couple of things to mine to make it even better, but you don't necessarily need to do that too.
I added a ventri for controlling the air intake for after cleaning to control the microbubbles and added velcro to the lid to hold it tight.
View attachment 3167562

Such a good idea I may actually do this! Thanks for the tips!

 

[JFinlay]

Well if you’ve got a glass lid on there with minimal gap on the back (which I’m personally not a fan of), you shouldn’t really get much of anything like dog hair in the tank. That being said, I’ve run plenty of tanks with no sponge or strainer type filters, and never had any issues. You’re gonna do more manual cleaning for sure, but without a sump or back chamber that provides a place for those, it’s kinda hard to do.

as for converting the filter to a small fuge, this was a very popular method for a long time. Aqua clear filters were the go to. Gut em out, and put a small light on top and throw in your chaeto.

have you considered adding a HOB overflow instead, and going with a sump (if you even have space for one, that is)? It would give you a place for heaters, skimmer, fuge and free up your display from all the equipment.

Why are you against the glass lid? Just requires cleaning every time I do a WC, and it helps a TON with evaporation from my tank due to being in a colder climate basement. That's the main reason I have it, apart from it being my cheapest option lol. It does make it tough because I only have about 2-2.5 inches of clearance between lid and glass for HOB things to go. Not even sure if the Aquamaxx refugium would fit, might require some engineering

I have considered a HOB overflow but I'm hoping I can upgrade to a 80-120 gallon tank in the next year and don't know if all the expense is worth it for that. This hobby has completely won me over, I love it much more than I thought I would when I first got into it. I do have space for a sump, but wasn't keen to the price of all that for just a "temporary" 40 G

 

[JFinlay]

I was originally leaning towards fuge, but after all these comments about the aquamaxx 1.5 AND the votes being tied makes me pretty indecisive lol

 

[JFinlay]

I've been running a skimmer on my 75gal tank for over 20 years. No leaks so far and I've had several different ones over that time. Deltec makes one that has a pull out holder on the return side that you can put carbon in or any other filter media that you want. I'm currently using the Reef Octopus classic 90 and it does a great job of skimming. I've never had an issue with calcium.

Check the BRS site. They have a Aquamaxx HF-M model that is a skimmer/filter combo. Looks like the filter side is rather large and could be used as a refuge.

Wow that thing looks like a HOB-R from aquamaxx with a skimmer slapped in it lol! That's another interesting choice

 

[Stephen8169301]

I was originally leaning towards fuge, but after all these comments about the aquamaxx 1.5 AND the votes being tied makes me pretty indecisive lol

The aqua maxx states it can handle a lightly stocked 90 gallon tank so in my future I may just run a 75gal with this skimmer and do a hob fuge but we will see

 

[JFinlay]

if you have no issue's with any nutrients, then I would say the skimmer. I have the aquamaxx 1.5 hob skimmer, been using for 2 years, it never leaked.

Skimmer gives the added benefit of adding oxygen to the water, and also it can pull out some other stuff, such as medications, additives, contaminants, etc... for example, the skimmer goes nuts when we add fresh putty in the tank, I would prefer the skimmer pull that out rather than just leave it in the water.

I feel like adding more oxygen to the water isn't needed since the HOB filter probably provides more than enough, am I wrong?

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

If everything is going well and you’re upgrading in the near future why not just stay on course with your current setup? Start putting the dollars away and researching for what I would guess will be a fully optioned upgrade.

Glad you’re digging the hobby.