Can I use my HOB filter for saltwater?
by Aquaboy on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 | 2 Comments
I have an old HOB filter laying around and am interested in using it for my saltwater aquarium. I’ve seen the LFS use one of these and put some mud/live sand and some plants in it to use it as a filter and a refugium. Would I be able to do this? Is that all I would need filtration wise to get started on a saltwater aquarium? Would I use the regular carbon filters for it?
And can’t you skip a protein skimmer if you’re willing to manually clean whatever floats to the top?
Thanks in advance, I will be selecting a best answer and giving 10 points!
For fish only you can use your HOB filter, but it will not be very benneficial for a reef tank. They just don’t have enough flow. You can skip the skimmer if you do regular water changes.
Yes, you can use most filters for either fresh or saltwater. While it’s certainly possible to convert most (large) HOBs to a refugium, these are a biological filter – you also will need something to remove particulate matter – that’s where a more traditional filter cartridge would come in. Otherwise, all the solids would stay in the water decomposing until you siphoned them out. Chemical filtration (using carbon) would be up to you – I know people who use it at all times (especially good if you have corals that engage in “chemical warfare” with each other, or have a fish that could potentially release a toxin, such as a boxfish. Other people never use carbon at all, and have no problems without it.
You can skip a protein skimmer, particularly if you ahve a smaller tank or keep fish-only or a FOWLR tank. It’s preferred to use them with reefs, but I’ve kept a few nanotanks without, so made up for it with a surface skimmer attached to a HOB and extra water changes. If you’re not familiar with surface skimmers, they are used to draw water off the surface and through your filter: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/215642/product.web They aren’t quite as effective as a protein skimmer, but at least the protein will be drawn through your filter media or refugium so the organic matter can be removed and converted to nitrate by bacteria. These are also effective in freshwater tanks, where protein skimmers are not.