Have I made a mistake?

[GeorgiaMan]

I have not had a saltwater aquarium in over 17 years. I set my new one up like I did back then and it seems much has changed! I put crushed coral over an undergravel filter and placed a 300 gph powerhead on it and also am running two magnum 350 canister filters, one with carbon and the other with a filter sleeve. My aquarium is a 44 gallon corner with currently about a 3lb piece of live rock and two damsels (domino and yellowtail). I did not plan to put corals in and was making it a fish only tank. I was very successful 17 years ago but wonder if I need to look toward making changes in the future. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[pbrack]

Hello,

your questions might be better answered in the marine section, but I'll give it a try

Instead of a lot of mechanical and chemical filtration (cannister filters and UGF'S), the popular consent is live rock... lots of live rock (1 to 2 pounds per gallon). This will give a lot of area for the "good" bacteria to colonize.

Also, I would add a few powerheads. On my 25g tank, I've got three powerheads (1 at 290 g/h, and 2 160 g/h). So, I think a bit of extra water current around the live rock will help with the filtration.

You should also look into a protein skimmer. You'll be ok for the first little while (1 or 2 months). But after that, you shoudl seriously consider buying one.

I'm no expert by any means, but I hope this helps. I'm sure people in the marine section can answer your question a lot better than I can

 

[liv2padl]

i have three suggestions ... protein skimmer, protein skimmer, protein skimmer.