Question on Filtration, HOB vs. Sump 30gal Reef

[katjianna]

Just found this forum and have been sitting here for hours absorbing facts. Have a quick question that pertains to my 30g as far as filtration.

I have a 30g with 1 clown, one Royal Gramma a few astrea snails, pom pom and emerald crab. Have a few corals (Galaxy, small amount of Zoa's, Frogspawn, daisy Polyp, candy cane.)

Tank has been up and running for 3-4 months now with no issues, only 1 coral loss, no fish loss, all levels ideal and I test almost every day. System has been doing great. I've kept FWLOR many years ago, this is my first time with corals.

My question is on filtration. I started the tank up with a Hydor slim skim and a cheapie Petco HOB filter. It has no sump, no refugium. I was told by my LFS to run Clear FX Pro media in the HOB.

I plan on adding about 3 or 4 more corals and thats it (will be trading the Galaxy, that stinging little bastard!) Am I OK with just the Hydor slim skim and HOB? Or is it 100% necessarily to use a sump or refugium?

I am very worried that things may go south if I may not be doing things right?

Please advise? I have looked and looked and Googled but can't seem to come up with a concrete, easy to understand answer.

Thanks in advance!

[plateboy3293]

The hob filter is more so used on hospital or quarantine tanks as a temporary form of filtration I would suggest investing in a sump but to every piece of advice someone else will say it worked for them. If you have enough flow in the tank ie powerheads and such there is no reason why long term it shouldn't work but the sump allows you to have extra space and water to keep equipment and grow organisms for your tank ie mysis, Copepoda,amphipods
My best suggestion I would say is flow is key to a successful reef.

[Ron Reefman]

I'll be the person plateboy3293 was talking about. I started 7 years ago with a 30g tank, HOB filter, HOB skimmer, PC lights and a chiller (hey, I'm in SW Florida!). It worked fine for the 2+ years before I upgraded to a 75g with a sump. And look at the system I have now (see sig below).

A 30g tank is a good starting point. Don't get anything hard or crazy for the tank. It's harder to keep water parameters in line with a smaller tank, so keep it simple. You'll want to go bigger soon enough and then you can use your 30g as a sump or refugium.
Good luck.

[TimeConsumer]

Sumps are great for lots of reasons, but definitely not 100% necessary.

If everything is working well as you say, I see no reason to change. How stable are your calc/alk/mag levels? What do nitrate and phosphate look like? Any hair algae or cyano problems? What about your skimmer, is it pulling decent gunk?

As far as your current filtration goes, HOB filters are good for running carbon and GFO. Although I'm not familiar with it, the Clear FX Pro you're currently using seems to accomplish that task as well.

But, sumps are pretty great. I started my 75g with a HOB skimmer and a canister filter. I added on a HOB siphon overflow and a 40g sump after a few months. I still think that was the best decision I've made so far for my reef. Now I have a better skimmer, a refugium, an ATO, a carbon/gfo reactor, filter socks, etc etc. It made my maintenance a whole lot easier, but this is for a 75g tank, a 30g may not have as dramatic of a change.

[Cicatrix]

A few things are lost on some people around here.

1. Not everyone wants to "go bigger" with their tank
2. Not everyone has the room for more equipment
3. Not everyone has the budget for more expensive equipment

IMHO, with a sumpless system a high quality HOB skimmer will do more for you than any other piece of equipment.

I ran a 72g bowfront many years ago with a HOB AquaC Remora + frequent testing and regular water changes.

[ken55]

A sump is not 100% required. Yes there are advantages to one but there are disadvantages as well. Your size tank can run just fine without a sump. Seems you are doing it already. Good Job!

[katjianna]

Thank you all so very much for the help! So nice to be here and learn all that I can, I was hesitant to post but so happy that everyone provided constructive criticism to help me out.

Think I will stick with the HOB/skimmer (which is pulling out some nice gunk) then for now, you all put my mind at ease, I was worried and wanted to make sure I was on the right track before things went south ;)

Ron Reefman, I think you hit the nail on the head...it's only been a few months with this 30g but I can see myself moving up in a year or so, and then will take your advise and use the 30g as a sump, great advise!

Thank you all!

[Ron Reefman]

katjianna, you are most welcome. I just try to help because for the first 3 years I was in the hobby, I didn't know about RC and we had no local club. About 4 years ago a local club started up, I joined and thru the local club found RC. So I'm just trying to help out because so many people have helped me so much.

BTW, if you haven't already, look into any local clubs in your area, they can be a huge help (cheap hardware, cheap livestock, good advice, different systems to see and new friendships with reefers). Here is a link to the clubs that are listed on RC:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=80

Good luck and have fun