is my filter necesary

[Justinthereefer]

I have kept the fresh water whisper 60 cartridge filter on the back of my tank since it has been running,I also have a sea clone 150 protien skimmer which i have heard bad things about but it works great on my tank,my question is is the whisper even necesary.I have a fifty five gallon and now i have about thirty pounds of sand and forty pounds of rock,i will get more,because i really hate the thing.

 

[Justinthereefer]

i also put on my Koralia 4 powerhead today, it kicks much needed current butt.

 

[mng777777]

you really dont need the HOB filter, in fact running carbon all the time can leach nutrients into the system and lead to disaster in the long run. If you are going to run it, then to be safe you need to clean it weekly. The seaclone, as you have heard, is not a very good skimmer. Many of us have wasted our money on them before deciding to get a better skimmer, so don't feel bad. The truth is that with a 55g you could probably get by just fine without a skimmer by simply doing frequent water changes. I would suggest you remove the HOB and set it aside for those times that you may need to "polish" the water, consider upgrading to a better skimmer, as you said add some more LR, and just keep up with your water changes.