New tank owner . do i use live rock/sand ?

Rule #1) Never listen to your local fish store (referred as lfs from now on) They generally are just after your money.
Rule #2) Always ask on your fish board before buying any equipment or fish. I guess this is part of rule #1.
Rule #3) Take everything you read on a fish board with a grain of salt. Pun intended.
IMO, you need the live rock and sand. They will be your best filtration. As fas as treating a sick fish in the lr/sand tank, he is right. That is what a quarantine tank is for. (small tank with only pieces of pvc pipe for the fish to hide and sleep)
Biowheel filters will eventually lead to high nitrates. It is not needed. Again, the lr will be your best filtration.
I don't think you need your caribsea reef sand either. You can use Southdown(playsand) as your base sand and add a cup or 2 of live sand from an established tank to get the southdown seeded.
I'm glad you got books to read. The whole key to this hobby is to read, read and then, read some more. Check out the sticky on the top of the forum. And, no matter what you decide, have fun. This is the most stressful hobby there is but the rewards are so well worth it. Good luck. Keep on reading.

This is what I did. I bought base rock from hirocks.com. I think that it is $1.00 a lb. I bought 30lbs from them. I also bought 4 bags of Southdown. You can find that at home Depot. I also use the red sea prizm skimmer. I can't remember how many lbs. of lr I bought but it was something like $200 worth. I did buy the caribsea sand, then found out it wasn't worth it. Definitely take back the biowheel.

The sticky at the top of this forum.(link) Is a great place to get some starter info. The LFS will probably tell you to cycle your tank with Damsels as well. (I wouldn't even if you don't mind toturing the fish getting them out of the tank when you're done is a nightmare) Ask Orion Girl about that (she's the moderator here and advocates fishless cycling). I used 2 cocktail shrimp which I put in with my sand and base rock. Once my levels of ammonia and nitrite hit 0 I did a 30% water change and bought some cured live rock. I monitored all of my vital levels for a week. (ammonia, nitrite, Ph, Specific gravity,) and when it stayed where I wanted it I got a pair of clowns. I monitored the levels for another 10 days and then added my tang.

The sand you have isn't going to be bad just a bit more expensive then home depot sand.

Stuff I suggest you have.
Test kit. Not just dipsticks.
Hydrometer. to monitor your salinity.
Quarantine tank. You might get away without it but with a 90 gallon you will have a lot of money in that system by the time you are done stocking. A nice 20long with a power filter and a heater will go a long way to keeping your main system healthy.
Water change set up. I use a 30 gallon (new) plastic garbage can. This allows me to mix my water and salt before my water changes. I use a maxijet 1200 power head and a submersible heater to keep the water flowing and heat the water. I also use the powerhead to pump the water out of the can into the buckets and out of the buckets into the tank. A piece of 5/8 tubing fits perfectly over the nozzle of the powerhead.

I just use sand and LR in my 15gl aquarium, no artifical filtration or skimmer, just sand and rocks.

well i already bought the sand. can i just buy the live rock and have the bacteria move from the live rock to the sand on their own ?

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While this will do part of the job of live rock, you miss out on most of the fun. The worms, corals, sponges, macroalgae and little invertebrates that come in on the rock add a whole lot to the experience. It would be worth adding at least a little live rock from the ocean.

Originally posted by Snarkys
So should i just skip useing the bio wheel filter entirely and go with just the protein skimmer and live rock/sand ? will this be enough ? what is the ideal way to set this up keeping in mind that my stand has no room for a sump?

the skimmer i am useing is the redsea prizm pro deluxe.
http://www.redseafish.com/Product.asp?dir=&catID=93&subID=34&proID=129

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Like so many things in life; there are many different ways to do things and get good results.

I use the Emperor 400 filters on my tanks. they are great. Most I've taking the bio-wheels out and run the rest. Some I still have the bio-wheels. Have not seen any difference in tanks health. I now leave the bio-wheels in.

I do agree with the use of LS (live sand - two types 1-sand with bacteria 2 - sand with bacteria and a lot of other lifeforms ). I use #2. I also use LR. Your tank is healthier with it than with out it.

Personally, I would take the prizim back and trade it for a second Emperor 400.

I use LR from www.tampabaysaltwater.com

Ray