[siredmund]

Hi everyone,
I have been reading through the forum for a few days now and have basicly figured out what I want to do. I have had many years of Freshwater tanks and want to start a saltwater tank. I have a nice tall 55 gal plexi tank that I would like to use. I will use sand not sure if I will bother with live sand in addition to live rock is there a benifit?

I will use a mech filter and a protein skimmer sounds like heaters are a bad idea but what about a chiller I live in portland oregon and our max room temp gets to maybe 80. I will use the power heads too (are these just to provide current since they are not attached to u/g filters in saltwater).

Do I need to worry about the sump/ref or is that only for reef tanks?

What about lighting? The hood I have used for the tank is just a basic lighting hood is that all I will need or do I need to get one of those top covers hoods I have seen in some pictures here. The idea of a timed light cycle seems nice but is it needed for just fish?

And what about a quarantine tank do people use them at all or in a 55 is everything doomed if someone is ill?
Thanks and looking forward to all the advice to help me through the process.
Cheers,
Evan