New Saltwater Filter Setup

Question
QUESTION: Hello
Im setting up my 180L saltwater aquarium and ive taken advice from many sources which has left me quite confused. I have an internal juwel filter system and ill be running a Eheim 2217 canister filter. Im planning to keep some clown fish and a few others, some live rock and possibly an anemone. Ill be keeping my juwel filter pump running to house the heater and provide circulation. What media is best to use in there, if any? Ive been told the conventional sponges just build up nitrates. Also, what media should i use in the Eheim 2217 and how should it be stacked?
Many thanks for your help
Chris

ANSWER: hi chris, it is pretty confusing to start with, everyone has a diffrent way of doing things and gives you advice based on their way.....me being 1 of them

i personally think its best to start off very simply, ditch the juwel internal filter, waste of tank space if you ask me. buy a couple of good powerheads, seio are very good for the money.
i rely on good skimming (1 thing you shouldn't skimp on is a good skimmer)and live rock for all my filtration, i also run carbon, phosban and a de-nitrator. you can buy media bags for you external canister filter, just fill them up with that media, pop a bit of live rock rubble in there too and thats all you should need.
the conventional media does tend to build up nitrates and leach them back into your tank over a period of time. to date all i run on my tank is these things, i have never needed anything more complicated to keep the fish and inverts happy.

quick bit of advice with regards the anemone, they are very hard to keep, they have a very poor captive survival rate. if you think you need 1 for your clown fish there are plenty of other corals that the clowns will host, either that or buy tank bred clowns and they won't have any need for an anemone....they won't have ever seen 1 before.

if you have any more questions just give me a shout.
paul.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ive invested in a Prizm protein skimmer so hopefully this is adequate for my skimming needs. What will I use to provide my mechanical filtration, a few sponges in my canister filter? Im finding this all a bit puzzling, too much too choose from.

Answer
the prizm leaves alot to be desired, lots of noise and not alot else. if you can take it back trade it for a TMC V2 400

all i use for mechanical filtration is a small bit of filter foam, if you have enough clean up crew in your tank, the need for mechanical filtration is minimal. the live rock should do all the filtering provided you have enough water flow through and around your rockwork.