Can someone help me with some general questions

[kyarnkid]

Hi I am new to the marine world and I would like to know some general things before I advance. I have a 55 gallon tank and I filled it up a couple of days ago. I think I have stabalized at 78 and I have a sandman filter and a prizm protien skimmer. I am planning on starting with fish only and then working my way up to a reef tank.
My questions are - When would be a good time to introduce live rock? What kind and shape should I get for my first one? I have some dead rock from my friends previous saltwater aquarium, could it become live again and when could I introduce it? Could I build a reef tank by starting it fish first? When should I introduce snails and crabs or fish? how do I measure my saltinity? Is saltinity very important? I have a 1 inch think sand bed should it be deeper and what are the benifits of a deeper sand bed?
Please answer these questions for me if you will. Sorry if some of them seem stupid

 

[kyarnkid]

What kind of benifits does a sand bed have to offer? I added live sand then I added water. I was told to only have a one inch bed. How would I go about adding more sand since I already have water in the tank. Yes I used regular tap water, I let it sit for 12 hours then I added my salt mix. Is that bad?
What if my salinity is to high, what if it is to low? What is a good way to place rock in there if I have alot of water in the tank? Can I add some dead rock now and will it grow bacteria since I have live sand with bacteria or do I have to add dead rock only when I add the live rock? I think that is all the questions I have right now. Thank you so much for your help

 

[kyarnkid]

Also when would be a good time to start my protein skimmer again, When I add fish? Why si it bad to run it now?

 

[crispcritr]

its not that it's bad to run it now, it's that there nothing there for it to pull out yet. if you use tap water you should use a
de-chlorinater you can buy this at any pet store.

 

[karlas]

a dsb will provide nnr(natural nitrate reduction), if left alone. this in addition to lr, will become your filter(all you need to add is circulation), breaking down detritus and removing nitrates from your system.This, with a skimmer you should need no additional filtration
you really should make sure there is no chlorine or minerals. which you can get from tap water ( should probably be done before adding salt), tetra make AQUASAFE which seems to work pretty good, about $5-10 for abottle, a bottle lasted us 9 months so far(with one 40 and one 75 gallon tanks)
if your salinity is too high or low, and you just add fish, it could be lethal for them, normally they will adapt if it is done gradually, but it is not the best for your fish, invert will not tolerate poor water quality
you can ass dead rock, or live rock at any time, however, it is easier to do this at once, before you stasrt your system, adding the dead rock will grow bacteria, but you want other stuff onit too, which you can get by seeding with lr(just add a couple of pound to your scape, even if you add the lr at a different time)JUST MAKE SURE, that you know the full history of the rock, be sure it came from a marine aquarium, also, the type of rock may be of importance(ie. lava rock, which is often used, is not a good thing)
read this
i delieve pretty much everything in there, only i don't buy the shrimp, i just use enough lr and sand to cycle
Another thing, if you are considering reef at all, stay away from cc