red slime

I would set the lights to turn on when it is best time for you viewing. Like if you get home from work at say 5:00, Then I would have the atinic come on about 1pm, then MH on at 2pm. MH off at 8pm and atinic off at 9pm. That would give you the best timing for when you are at home. Then for night time viewing I would invest in some nice lunar lights that will give some light after dark. Nick will help you get some of them if you don't have them yet.

With the bio balls. I would put live rock in. The bacteria in the live rock will help filter your water. The bio balls collect waist, and then cause nitrates to raise, that is why I wouldn't have them in my sump. My opinion would be to have some kind of filter sock to collect the big stuff and help clean the water. But with that you will need to chance them every few days. They can be cleaned by soaking them in bleach water and washed in the washing machine with hot water and bleach, then you can let completely dry and reuse. After that I would have it go throw the live rock and cheato, and then to the return section of the sump.