90 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium Filtration Setup

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I have a 90 gal tank with about 30lbs base rock and 40;bs live rock.  I have 80lbs live sand as a substrate and for powerheads I have a Maxijet 1200 (270 gph) and a Koralia Hydor that does 600 gph.  I have a 20 gal sump underneath.  No fish yet as the tank is cycling.  i will be looking to add a Volitans Lionfish, Blue Hippo Tang, Maroon Clown, Some other type of Tang and eventually further down the road some easier corals.  My question is for this bioload do I need more live rock (I need lots of open space for the lionfish and don't have much room for more rock)?  Could the rock just be added to the sump even if there is no light down there?  Also, I currently only have a CPR Bak-Pak 2 protein skimmer rated for 60 gal, is this really that under-sized? My LFS said it should be fine as skimming is not as important as the live rock for filtration.  How long will it take for my base rock to become "alive" and act as biological filtration?

ANSWER: Hello Dennis. You need as much live rock as you want to put in your tank. Live rock works very well as a biological filter but there are many other things that can be used in your sump that won't cost you 5- 8 dollars a pound! There are many different kinds of biological filter media on the market, that I don't see a need to add live rock to your sump. Some are made of plastic like bioballs or bio-bale. Some are made or ceramic and are highly porous. Personally I use the ceramic type added to my filter directly in the water flow. Eheim makes one called substrate pro and this can be used in your sump. Do some research on these and you will find that it will save you some money. As for the protein skimmer, no amount of live rock can do what a good protein skimmer can. It removes harmful wastes from your tank where  live rock provides a porous place to help grow those all too necessary good bacteria. I recommend using a protein skimmer that is rated higher than what your tank is. If you plan on only having fish the one you have may be enough but for corals a good high quality skimmer is a must!

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QUESTION: Ok, I will look into the ceramic substrate for additional Biological filtration.  I have my tank cycling right now.  It contains some fully cured rock (25 lbs) from an established aquarium as well and semi-cured live rock (15 lbs) and live sand(80 lbs).  I also added biozyme every day.  Do I just let this run for 3-5 weeks? I don't see where the ammonia source is coming from to start the cycle and feed the bacteria.  I was wondering if I should add a small damsel or snails, any advice is helpful thank you so much for everything already!

ANSWER: Hello again. I would say that as long as your temp.,pH and salinity are within normal range then go ahead and add some creatures. I usually don't recommend starting with damsels because they can become a little difficult with other fish down the road. In the store where I work we are constantly having damsels returned after the cycling process due to  quarreling. So much so that we were actually considering figuring out a way to rent them out to our customers! I do recommend however starting up a new tank with a good clean up crew consisting of hermit crabs(like blueleg, scarlet or Mexican redleg) and snails(like turbo, cerith nerite and/or nassarius). They are inexpensive,hardy and serve a purpose. They will eat anything that might have died in transported or re-established live rock and produce some ammonia in the process. You are absolutely right! Without the steady introduction of ammonia in your water your tank will not cycle properly.Just remember to go slow only adding a few things at a time.I would also suggest making a list of exactly what you want long term in your tank and buying the hardiest fish on that list first. Whatever you decide to do just remember to add fish gradually as to not overwhelm your good bacteria and within four to five weeks your tank should be fully cycled.

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QUESTION: What protein skimmer do you recommend from experience?  I have been looking at aqua c, current fission, ASM, and coralife.

Answer
Hello once again. I would recommend the Aqua C. I don't use sumps in any of my tanks and only one in the ones I maintain so if you are planning on putting it in your sump I have had a lot of experience with the Aqua C EV series. If you are putting it on your tank than I would recommend the Aqua C Remora.I am not very familiar with the current fission other than the nano skimmer and some of the coralife products are not so good. Aqua C has been highly recommended by the guy I buy corals off of (who has many tanks) that he propagates to sell. We sell a lot of them and I havn't heard very much negative feedback.