65 gallon update. few questions

[one800nak]

so ive had my 65 gallon running about 4 months now. i had some deaths in the beginning due to a bad LFS recomendation of adding too many fish at once. im taking it slower now and currently have 2 clowns and 2 pj cardinals. all seem happy so far. now i ditched the bio wheel and just running a HOB skimmer. i have about 70 lbs of rock (mostly dry, about 15 lbs live from local store). and 60 pounds sand. I recently made a screened in top which came out really nice. i just ordered a 36" T5 fixture with 6 bulbs and plan to add some corals soon.

most of my dry rock that i started with is still very light in color. how long does it take to start turning dark?
what are some good corals to start?
can i be just as successful with a HOB skimmer as opposed to running a sump?
im currently doing a 20% water change once a month but think im going to start doing 10% every 2 weeks. hopefully ill add some pics later.

 

[over my head]

Sumps really do help so if you could swing on do so. the rock will darken and grow algae in time so just hang in their and check out some zoas

 

[salt_for_brains]

I have seen some beautiful setups that run HOB skimmers so there is no reason yours can't be another one. Now with that said I am a believer in sumps but sometimes it just isn't feasible. Changing your frequency of water changes would be a good move.

 

[one800nak]

a friend of mine gave me the tank for free and there a big sticker on the bottom that says do not drill. so from the beginning i decided just to run a hob skimmer. i was running a biowheel along with it but from alot of people on here i stopped because most said it would do more harm than good.

 

[Jml32788]

You don't have to drill the glass to use a sump. You can use a HOB overflow box. Just an idea.

 

[one800nak]

not really sure what that is...can you explain? thanks

not even really sure how a sump works either.

 

[over my head]

i run on onmy 50g its a box that hangs on the inside of your dt with a you shaped tube to another box that hangs on the outside of your dt check out the http://DrsFosterSmith.com/Eshopps overflow

 

[one800nak]

I noticed this morning that I'm starting to see some small green spots on the tops of a few of my once dry rock. It's been about 4 months now. Hopefully it's a good thing...? Not too sure what it is. Any thoughts?

 

[salt_for_brains]

It could be coraline algae or a nuisance algae starting to develop. Not sure without seeing it.