New Aquarium

[PeaceLoveFish]

Hello,
A friend of mine, who has lots of experience in reef tanks, gave me his tank yesterday and helped me set it up. I have intermediate experience myself. We used play sand that we cleaned real good and rock that I assume was dead since it was dried out. It still had color though. Anyway, we attached two powerheads and a hang on power filter. He has had success with HOB filters. We put in bacteria and enzymes to get it started. My question is, with the powerheads, is the filter necessary? It's moving the sand around and making the tank cloudy.

 

[Sniperhank]

Once your tank cycles, the sand will get more sticky and won't be pushed around as easily. To help with this, point your power heads at the surface of your tank.

In terms of filters, power heads only move the water. Filters provide actual mechanical filtration to remove anything that can become toxic.