Many questions, PLEASE help.

[Riptide]

I have several specific questions I would appreciate answers for. The LFS doesn't really want to take the time to answer all of this, which I personally think isn't great customer service, but this is why I am coming here.

Help is very, very much appreciated folks.

R/O water, water changes -

a) What would happen if I used tap water instead?
b) If I use R/O water do I have to add a buffering agent or can I just mix the salt in there and use it? Crushed coral is the substrate in the tank.
c)Is aging the water truly necessary?
d)How often do I change water, and how much at a time?
e)Is distilled water OK for topping off with? How about tap water?

UV Sterilyzer -

a) Do they help keep algae down and cyanobacteria?
b) Will it hurt the live rock?

Filtration -

a) Are my current filters (Emperor 280/400, Prizm skimmer, maybe 36w UV) enough? Are they going to be to much?
b) Is it OK for the foam to spill over the top of the collection cup?
c)If I turn the prizm down so that no bubbles are in the output at all it eventually loses the siphon. Is this because it isn't broke in yet?
d)What does the protein skimmer remove?
e) How is nitrate removed from the water? Are water changes it?
f) How often should I put fresh cartridges in the emperors?

Stocking -

Eventually I would like at least 35-40 pounds of live rock. I want to populate the tank with the maroon clown, a small racoon or copper band butterfly, a small dwarf angel, a blenny or dragonet, and a small wrasse. Small crabs and snails as well. Is this acceptable for a 55? I am willing to sell the butterfly if it gets to large for the tank. I want fish that will subsist on flake, frozen mysid, and frozen brine. Occasional romaine leaves are OK if necessary.

Misc. -

a) How much longer should I give my clown (breaking the tank in with one fish, a maroon clown) before I bring him back in if he keeps showing no interest in food? Had him for about 5 days now and he won't eat.
b) Is it possible to get backing that is non-reflective?

Thankyou again! And FYI, I have been unable to find a FAQ that adequately addresses some of these questions which is also why I am here asking about this.

[MonoSebaelover]

Welcome to Aquaria Central! Okay, I will try and nail all questions but I might miss a few or might not know some. But here goes:
1.a. I only use tap water due to the fact that RO wastes so much water and here in CO we have an ongoing drought. My mom uses it in her reefs but honestly I don't really see a difference between her tanks and mine. So I find RO to be a waste of money and water, but that is just me.
1.b. My mom just adds salt, no buffering and does fine but it totally depends on your local tapwater. Ours is hard and alkaline, so I would say that is dependant on where you live.
1.c. To be quite honest I don't age my water. I put some salt in a bucket and run the water and mix it as it fills. I don't have spare 50g tanks for when I do a water change on my 209 so I don't use the pre-mixing, it is adviced though, especially for a novice just mainly to ensure salinity and such are in check.
1.d. Depends on your stocking levels and what water tests show. On all of my tanks I change about 1/4 of the tank volume per month.
1.e. IMO, both are fine
2.a. I don't use one but do believe they will keep algae down. They are more for zapping bacteria/parasites and such along with killing algae.
2.b. it shouldn't hurt live rock.
3.a. Should be okay as long as you have some live rock
3.b. Depends on where the skimmer is. If it goes directly back to tank then there is no point in the skimmer. It is best for it not to.
3.c. I don't know since I don't own one sorry.
3.d. Helps remove minute organics such as small amounts of ammonia before it can be broken down into nitrite and nitrate.
3.e. Water changes do remove nitrates. Most of the products for sale don't do a thing.
3.f. About once a month
4. If you are only going to feed frozen then skip the dragonet. Only go for a blenny of some sort. Honestly I would skip the Butterfly as they are not paticularily hardy and they will get too big for your tank. I would do a type of Basslet or Pseudo instead. Other than that your list looks fine. I wouldn't feed romaine lettuce. It is not good for them at all. Pick another type of lettuce or go for the sea veggies available in fish stores.
5. Your clown is probably stressed because of the ammonia. Fish cycling is the old way to cycle a tank. I would take the Clown back to the store, do a month of fishless cycling (add 3 Cocktail shrimp from grocery store and let them rot in the tank) then after about a months time add a new clown. Or set up a 10 gallon quarentine tank for the Clown then add him after a month. This way you can ensure he is eating before adding him back.
All fish see their reflections but it proves no real detriment, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Anyway, hope all this helps and good luck.

[Riptide]

Thankyou VERY much for answering those questions. I was beginning to be afraid that people would ignore me because I had so many of them. :) :D

Some people here swear by RO and practically *guarantee* problems with hair algae if I don't use it. The owner of our LFS says I should use it and so does a friend of mine from work. Thing is, a couple people I know use RO and still ended up having problems with hair algae. One of them told me that even with RO hair algae is a given with marine tanks and that it eventually dies off if you are patient. Ofcourse, this is one of those YMMV type of things from what I can tell. Our tap water is well suited for use since it is alkaline (PH of 8.0) which makes me very tempted to try it. It has worked very well with my 125g african tank. On the other hand, it's only a 55g tank so it wouldn't be real difficult to use RO for water changes since I'd only need about 10 gallons at a time. Choices, choices... ;)

Sounds like aging the water and stressing out to much about that is a waste of time. I will mix the water and salt well and check the salinity and a few other values before using it. Beyond that I'm not going to bother with worrying about it much more unless I get a reason to. I will change no more than 25% of the volume every two weeks, perhaps longer if nitrate/phosphate levels stay down.

Since I already got the UV sterilyzer on the way and I intend to house FOWLR I will go ahead and use it. Hopefully it will help keep algae down in the long run as well as zapping ich and other nasties.

One more question about filters... Should I get rid of the bio-wheels and depend entirely on my chunk of live rock for establishing the biological filtration? I have kept the bio-wheels out of my emperor filters since I hear they somehow raise nitrate levels not to mention cause a nasty crust all over the hood.

I will skip the dragonet unless I someday move up to a full fledged reef tank. For now it's only FOWLR on a small scale and it sounds like the dragonets really require copapods and other life forms to feed on that I don't really have. I am a bit heartbroken about the butterfly though... Could I keep one until he started to outgrow the tank, then take him back for credit at the LFS?

One last thing... The clown. Sounds like I may have to take him back. :(

If he doesn't eat soon I will do just that. He seems OK otherwise and isn't in any obvious distress. But if he doesn't eat... the end to that story is obvious and unavoidable. And it's a sad ending.

**Edit. Good news! The little maroon decided to eat tonight. Ammonia is still up there but I think I know what happened. The dealer apparently fed him on flake. I had been trying brine but tonight the flake induced him to eat. Happy day! :D :)

[MonoSebaelover]

Good to hear about the Clown. I have used regular tap water for years on my tank and NEVER have had a problem with hair algae. So I think that depends on the peoples tanks and what they are adding. I use the Biowheels in my tanks and find they work great. You don't have to use them it is optional. But if you don't you will want to have 2lbs of rock per gallon. If you really have your heart set on a Butterfly then go with the Raccoon rather than the Copperband. Copperbands don't have very good records and if you do go with the bfly I highly suggest mixing the saltwater ahead of time. They do not appreciate shocks in anything so it is best to mix prior and get everything perfect with the old water and the new water. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.