Have patience?

[leezard]

I am what is commonly referred as a "newbie".

Odd feeling, admitting that.

Anyways, I'm brand new to the forum and new to the saltwater hobby. I do have a freshwater tank, but there are many differences in practice and opinion through the sites I've checked out.

Without further ado....

A friend of mine has recently given me a 20 gallon saltwater tank with a fluval 303 can. filter and heater. They ran the tank for a year and then upgraded, so had no use for this one.

Anyways, when we moved the tank we also brought all of the water home to make the setup easier. Since then I've done some reading, and while I have a few changes to make, I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

1) The filter seems to be leaking slightly so I have been looking at getting the upgraded fluval, and using the old one for another project in the basement. Will this do, or are there better suggestions?

2) There was nothing in the tank while it's been running recently -- just regular aquarium gravel. They started the tank just over a year ago and have claimed that they have not done a water change, just top ups. The water levels balanced well. I have recently added 5lbs of live rock, will be exchanging the gravel with live sand and adding another 20-30 lbs of rock over time. Is this reasonable?

3) I have had mixed reviews on a protein skimmer for a tank this small. Thoughts?

4) Possibly a dumb question -- what's the difference between a reef and a marine tank?

5) Any reading suggestions (both online and in print) would be more than welcome!! Like any hobby, there are alot of conflicting suggestions.

THANK YOU!!!!!