quick question about filtration

[jhrivera]

Hello everyone. I'm setting up my 50 gallon tank so that it'll have 50-60 lbs. of live rock, 70-80 lbs. of live sand, and I have an AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer with a Maxi-Jet 1200 Powerhead on it. Is this enough filtration? I was thinking of also getting an Eheim 2206 Canister Filter for extra filtration, but I won't if it isn't needed. Someone told me that if I do get a Canister filter, that I should run it empty. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the filter?
I plan on stocking my tank with 2 tank bred percula clowns, a firefish, a royal gramma, a flame angelfish, snails, crabs, shrimp, and NO coral of any kind.

Thanks

[BrianH]

Your set up sounds pretty good. I would suggest not getting the eheim as your friend is correct, it should be run empty or with live rock. I would also suggest that you buy enough sand for a 4" to 6" sand bed and at least a couple of powerheads. The general concensus is that you should have about 10 x your tank volume turnover per hour so I would suggest at least 2 250 to 300 gph power heads.

Brian

[jhrivera]

Is it okay to use bagged "live" sand that has water in it such as CaribSea, or would it be a lot more beneficial for me to use real Fiji live sand (from liveaquaria.com). The bagged live sand is a lot cheaper than the Fiji live sand.

[DeltaUguy]

I would suggest the Fiji LS. There is much more "stuff" in it such as beneficial critters and bacteria. I'm not sure the pre-packaged stuff from Caribsea is even worth it. I've never heard any one raving about it. The Fiji stuff is more expensive, but most often in this hobby expensive is almost always better.

[BrianH]

Use mostly playsand. I'm not sure where you live, but go to your local home depot and look for southdown playsand. If you can't find it, buy the finest grade playsand you can find. After cycling, you can top this off with some of the fiji live sand. I would estimate that you only need about 10 lbs of the fiji live sand. That plus your live rock should be enough to get your sand bed going.

Brian

[jhrivera]

Should I put the play sand in the tank with the live rock in the beginning of the cycle, or should I put the live rock in first and wait a certain amount of time before I put the live sand in?

[BrianH]

Add the play sand at the beginning to include it in the cycle. After the cycle has completed, add the live fiji sand. If you plan on adding the so called "live" bagged sand, you can add it at any time since IMHO it really has no life.

Brian

[jhrivera]

Thanks for your help guys :D