Beginner hobbyist - HOB/AIO/Sump?

  • Thread starter Thread starter austin95
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users Tagged users None

austin95

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 14, 2025
Messages
42
Reaction score
18
Location
Richmond, VA USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello everyone - I am a new hobbyist and am wondering something. Will I be successful without a plumbed sump?

I am starting my very first saltwater tank soon. 55 gal FOWLr is the goal.

Plumbing a sump seems more involved but not impossible for me. But I think I just want to explore the hobby some and go with HOB equipment.

I’m thinking a skimmer, HOB filter, heater and 2 800gph power heads by Secce.

Thoughts?

Thanks, as always. This community has been extremely helpful
 
My first 15 years with saltwater tanks was with hob equipment. I never had a sump until 3 years ago. And I only have one sumped tank, 3 others are still with hob equipment. A sump only makes the main tank look nicer because you can hide the equipment in the sump rather than hanging it off the tank. When you have filter + skimmer + reactor + lights all hanging from the tank it gets busy and a little unattractive, but its still very effective.

Your proposed set up looks good to me, its a simple strategy and simple is good. You can even leave the tank without a skimmer for a while until you have a higher bioload. Good luck
 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

IF EVERY OPTION HELD ROUGHLY THE SAME NUMBER OF GALLONS, WHICH TANK SHAPE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

  • Traditional rectangular

    Votes: 18 26.9%
  • Long and shallow

    Votes: 9 13.4%
  • Cube

    Votes: 6 9.0%
  • Peninsula

    Votes: 14 20.9%
  • Lagoon or extra-wide

    Votes: 12 17.9%
  • Tall display

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Dropoff

    Votes: 4 6.0%
  • Bowfront

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Hexagon

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Cylinder

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Fishbowl

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Something else (describe it in the comments)

    Votes: 1 1.5%
Back
Top
Home
Post thread…
Market
What's new