Have I made a mistake?

GeorgiaMan

GeorgiaMan

All Salt!
Dec 6, 2005
103
0
0
59
Macon Georgia
Posted in the wrong forum earler:

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.
 
Undergravel filters are, for the most part, not very good for the saltwater trade as it was "OK" awhile back. People have found it can hold bad spots in it and keep nitrates and phosphates flowing through your system and algae growth can become problomatic.

Just use live rock, skimmer, and a live sand bed of about 3 inches and you should be fine as far as filtration is concerned for fish only. Some people still use canisters, they just require you clean them often and some people don't like the hassel. I personally like a bit of filter foam in my tank to make removal of larger crud easier and another source of denitrifying bacterias and a home for pods to reproduce in my sump. Some people even recomend no sand at all for easier cleaning.

Keep in mind that when using carbon it can become part of your biological filtration and when you remove it from it becoming *Used up*, you take part of the biological filtration out and it can disrupt your denitrifying process and possibly set it back.
 
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