Filtering Systems

[tHeHEYzeus]

I was wondering what the best was to set up a filter system for my 45 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump is.

What I'm currently doing is having the outbound flow go into the sump through a filter sock, into a a chamber with a protein skimmer, then through some live rock in another chamber, then through a filter pad into another chamber where the pump is. This will then be pumped back up into the show tank.

I don't really want to spend a whole bunch more money but I was just wondering if there was any key stuff I was missing. I've also been hearing a lot about carbon in the filtering process and was wondering if it was at all necessary.

Thanks

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