New Tank Question...was I dumb?

[nate_dogg]

Allright, so I'm doing my first saltwater tank, it's a 55gal. I am using aragonite and i'm doing a undergravel (well i guess under aragonite) filter and a canister filter. So my question is, I was down at the beach for spring break and found an awesome piece of driftwood, so bright me thought "i'll just drop it in the tank and it'll cycle the tank a lot faster'. Now i've got some really cool looking things on it, I've got this little moving shoots growing from it the i can see stretch out and move, i've got other things in the holes of the wood that I see open and suck in stuff and also close and also what I looks to be a few bristle worms (?). So what do ya'll think. I've read that I shouldn't have put the driftwood in, but with all this sweet stuff that is on it should I still take it out? Also, the wood has not discolored the water or anything.
Thanks,
The Newguy.

 

[saltn00b]

well first you want to get rid of that undergravel filter and canister filter. that is way old technology for tank - keeping and will cause you a lot of headaches. replace it now while you dont have livestock to complicate the issue. lose the driftwood and cycle with raw shrimp.

 

[nate_dogg]

So......None of the 'cool' stuff is good? And what is wrong with the filtration I have and what should I use then?

 

[max22]

you can keep the canister filter but you should get rid of the undergravel and add a skimmer and probably a powerhead or two. You can keep the wood in there if you really like it and it is not causing any problems.

 

[nate_dogg]

Well, I have a powerhead hooked to the undergravel. Why are undergravel filters so bad? The way i have it set up is, i've got foam over the filter to keep the aragonite from clogging the filter.

 

[saltn00b]

you might get some answers by searching 'under gravel filters' or the like on here.
also be careful with things you put in the tank from the wild. i once grabbed a bunch of mirco hermits and a fighting conch and a little cute crab from the florida shoreline. the crab quadrupled in size in 3 months, ate 3 other crabs, a blenny, and took the claw off of another crab before i could catch him, and iD him as a juvenile flordida stone crab!