I'm glad you found this site. I know I was sure glad when I found it!!! Here's a few things to think about.
Crushed Coral is fine in your tank. IMO, it is easier to vacuum than sand. CC is more likely to grow algae than sand though. Sand also normally doesn't need as much cleaning because of the nature of sand and your cleaning crew in your tank. With a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) you may decide not to have a cleaning crew though, it'll depend on what fish you want. One of my tanks has crushed coral and the other two have sand. I do have a small problem in one tank with sand being displaced on a regular basis by my flow and by sand sifting critters. With Crushed Coral, you won't have that problem. I have a lil' more of a problem with algae in the tank with Crushed Coral. I just vacuum the algae off of the substrate on occasion, something that's near impossible with sand.
A Protein Skimmer would go a LONG way to making life a lot easier on you but isn't mandatory. If you have large fish or a heavier fish load, you'll end up with a pretty high nutrient level without a skimmer. Save your money and invest in a good skimmer down the road. Your LFS wasn't all that wrong when he said you wouldn't need one for a few months.
Sump...you don't need one. I have 3 SW tanks and only 1 has a sump/refugium. All of my tanks have skimmers but they're all reef tanks.
Take your time in cycling. I would urge you to NOT use fish to cycle. It's very inhumane as even a hardy fish will go through a lot of stress during a cycle period. Your live rock will cycle your tank for you. If you have access to someone else with an established tank, try and get a cup or two of either crushed coral or sand from them. That will seed your crushed coral. Don't worry if it's sand, it'll sift it's way through your crushed coral and after a few days, you'll never see it. As for how long your cycle will take...that varies but about 3-4 weeks. If you don't have test kits yet, get some. You can spend the money to get good quality, accurate Salifert test kits which come individually boxed for each type of kit, or you can get a master test kit that will have most of what you need in one. They aren't quite as accurate though. I use Salifert now, after using the master test kits for awhile. To start with, you'll need to be able to test Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Alkalinity and pH. Here's how your cycle will go.
You'll test regularly to start with and notice a rise in Ammonia. Then as your Ammonia peaks and starts to drop, you'll notice a rise in Nitrites. As your Nitrites peak and start to drop, you'll notice a rise in Nitrates. Once your Ammonia and Nitrites read 0, you're cycle is pretty much complete. You'll reduce your Nitrates with water changes. Once your Nitrates are under 20 ppm, you're safe adding fish. If this were a reef tank, you'd want to have Nitrates less than 5 ppm. Speaking of Nitrates...that cannister filter you got...if you haven't used it yet, take it back. You can use it but plan on cleaning the media inside it once a week. Otherwise, it'll become a "Nitrate Factory." This is caused when detritus builds up on the sponges or floss or other media that's inside it. THis detritus will feed Nitrates...which will feed algae. This is also where a skimmer is so effective. It removed dissolved organic nutrients from the water.
Add fish slowly. Test your water for a small ammonia and nitrites spike for a few days after each fish is added. You'll probably get small spikes of each.
In the meantime, while waiting for your new tank to cycle, WELCOME TO REEF CENTRAL!! Welcome to the wonderful world of saltwater fish keeping. You'll soon be as addicted as the rest of us!! I predict that within a year, you'll have a second tank and one of them will probably be a reef tank!! lol. Then plan on NEVER retiring because you can't afford it!!! It's the lighting that gets ya!!! With a FOWLR tank, lighting isn't as important and normal fluorescent lighting is adequate. Better lighting would look better for your viewing pleasure but that's about it. Read all you can find on this forum, on
www.wetwebmedia.com and on
www.reeffrontiers.com (Hope it's okay to recommend another source of great information on here.) Also, if I could only recommend 1 book, it'd have to be "The Conscientious Reef Aquarist" by Robert Fenner.
Good luck and again....welcome!! Take your time, be patient and above all, don't get discouraged. Your LFS was correct in one point...you CAN do saltwater fish!!
