HOB's & Saltwater Tanks regular maintenance

[Rakkasan]

So this thread is for the few hobbyist that rely on HOBs solely to achieve their beautiful tanks.

My questions are what are you using and what does regular maintenance consist of for you?

Aside from the regular water change when are you swapping out your media bags.

What chemicals are you using? I.E. Reef Spec Carbon, chemi pure or purigen resin?

Do you rinse out your filters (coarse thru fine) weekly by weekly or monthly?

I am very new to the hobby but I have read a metric ton on what to do and not to do but it's all subjective because I can find someone who always says the opposite. So please share with me your wisdom so I dont F all this up.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Welcome to R2R!

I have a 16g holding tank. I started as just a few very basic corals waiting to go into my 40g DT. It has just a HOB filter with a sponge (no carbon ) and a small in tank skimmer from Tunze (I won it here at R2R). That's it!

Once the tank was cycled I just do tests once a week and add alk and Ca as needed. I did 5g water changes every week or at first. The tank has been running for about a year now and I do the 5g water change about once every 4 to 6 weeks.

The tank has no fish and I feed it very little. But it does have 6 RFA, a handful of small zoa colonies, some calcareous algae, a small serpent star, an oyster, a small common clam (not a fancy giant clam), an emerald crab, a couple of sps coral frags, a tiny RBTA, a tiny red feather duster, a small sea urchin and a small yellow sea cucumber.

I know it sounds like a lot, but it's really not crowded at all. And most of the inhabitants are things I collected myself when we go snorkeling in the Florida Keys. The reason there is so much in this tank is because my 40g cube is stuffed full and there is no more room! I'm in the process of building a new 90g tank (36" x 30" x 20"). Then all the 40g and the 16g inhabitants will move to the 90g tank and the 16g will become a holding tank again.

If you want to talk more about what you can or should or want to do with your tank. I'd be happy to help. We can do it here or you can send me a PM and we can talk privately. BTW, there are a huge number of ways to make your tank work and I understand it can be confusing. I struggled for my first couple of years with a 30g tank.

Good luck.