Aquamaxx HF-M or HOB 1.5 for 40 breeder

best option for 40 breeder softie dominant tank with fish

  • HF-M

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • HOB 1.5

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • stick with tidal 55 and chemipure elite.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Jcon82

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Hi All,

I've been debating starting up a skimmer and/or refugium for my 40b softie dominant tank with 8-10 fish in it. I've been having nutrient issues that stop me from keeping most SPS and some LPS. I like to feed my fish and coral and really had to dial that back to get into safe territory again.

I came across the HF-M when researching HOB fuges. I wanted a fuge to grow cheato and hopefully keep pods for my long term goal of having a mandarin. I've read mixed reviews on the refugium compartment and some accounts of algae (not the good kind) taking the entire filter box over. However the skimmer seems to get good reviews.

The HOB 1.5 gets rave reviews so I'm debating that but am still more interested in a refugium than a skimmer. I like the idea of being able to hide all my stuff in the HF-M but not if the fuge sucks. There's also the concern of a fuge and skimmer stripping all nutrients from the tank. Currently I run a Tidal 55 HOB with chemipure elite and it has been keeping me out of trouble.

BRS is having an aquamaxx sale today so that may force me to pull the trigger on one of these. Does anyone have an opinion on going one way or the other?

Thanks,
 

Jjmg

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Know that you may have to do some tank modifications in order to fit either of the aquamaxx over the rim of your tank.
 

afrokobe

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Hi All,

I've been debating starting up a skimmer and/or refugium for my 40b softie dominant tank with 8-10 fish in it. I've been having nutrient issues that stop me from keeping most SPS and some LPS. I like to feed my fish and coral and really had to dial that back to get into safe territory again.

I came across the HF-M when researching HOB fuges. I wanted a fuge to grow cheato and hopefully keep pods for my long term goal of having a mandarin. I've read mixed reviews on the refugium compartment and some accounts of algae (not the good kind) taking the entire filter box over. However the skimmer seems to get good reviews.

The HOB 1.5 gets rave reviews so I'm debating that but am still more interested in a refugium than a skimmer. I like the idea of being able to hide all my stuff in the HF-M but not if the fuge sucks. There's also the concern of a fuge and skimmer stripping all nutrients from the tank. Currently I run a Tidal 55 HOB with chemipure elite and it has been keeping me out of trouble.

BRS is having an aquamaxx sale today so that may force me to pull the trigger on one of these. Does anyone have an opinion on going one way or the other?

Thanks,
I got the hob cpr aquatics refugium when I started my 25g cube build, so I can really only speak on the fuge portion. Depending on your placement of it, you might have issues maintaining the fuge. I had my tank tucked into a corner and the hob was against the wall. It was very annoying to clean as I couldn't get fully behind the tank to see the fuge. As a result, chaeto over grew and crashed. After that I only grew gha algae and the fuge was a mess.

I took down that entire setup as it was too tedious for me to maintain and now I run a hob overflow with a sump. I will say at least the aquamaxx has a protein skimmer, so you wouldn't necessarily need to maintain that fuge as much. You could just use it as extra storage space for heaters etc.

I am moving my cpr aquatics hob fuge to another tank, where I will have better access. Hopefully I can get better use out of it then.
 
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