wet dry

[mysis]

Maintanence is high with such filters, and they can be a PITA to maintain. cleaning weekly if not more. I would rather a DSB, refugium with macro algae and a skimmer anyday.

 

[rayjay]

what are "THE" filters to have now also is having a hob filter a bad thing?

This question can be answered so many ways, depending on who is doing the answer, that one post can't handle it all.
Everyone has his/her own opinion, and in the almost 13 yrs I've been in the hobby, I have seen the wet-dry, Berlin method, shallow sand bed, deep sand bed, fluidized filtration, plenum, refugiums and many hybrids of these combined.
I've probably left out a few that I'm just not thinking of at the moment.
However, my ten tanks are basically the Berlin method, after experiencing the above methods and reverting back to what I had 12 years ago.
For me, the bare bottom Berlin, with lots of quality live rock and heavy protein skimming, suits my wants/needs.
As for HOB filters, as mentioned, they can be a pain because you need to clean the trapped detritus from the filtration material several times a week as it decays and adds nutrients to the water.
That being said though, I've seen a few excellent running tanks with HOB that have found the right combination of inhabitants and the right stocking density to fit with the particlular HOB they were using.

 

[mysis]

High maintanence would still occur though, that is why they are not recommended, it is easier to have a skimmer, and they work better to.

 

[sharpie]

High maintanence would still occur though, that is why they are not recommended, it is easier to have a skimmer, and they work better to.

i was told that skimmers are a waste of money and that i didnt need one.

 

[mysis]

Skimmer is the best mechanical filtration for a marine aquarium. If they are a waste of money why has nearly everyone owning a marine aquarium got one?