My work in progress....okay so far?

I’m still in the planning phase for my 46 gallon bowfront and here’s what I have going so far:

Tank
Stand
Filter – my son is working on a sump, probably with a 20 gallon tank. His friend has a nice SW tank and built his own and is helping my son with the sump.
Protein Skimmer – next on the list. Not sure what to get.
Lights – I want the T5, but will probably have to wait for Xmas. The LFS guy said it would be okay to cycle without the light and would probably cut down on algae – is this true??
Substrate – I’m guessing 40 to 50 pounds of sand. I was discouraged from spending the money on live sand – said the "live" sand would probably be dead sand?
Rock – the LFS guy (of course) wants me to do mostly LR and little base rock. Everything I read says I could go higher on base rock and less on LR. What would be a good ratio?

Any suggestions? Comments? I’ve been researching this for months and am not sure if I’m heading the right direction or not. I’m not in a big hurry and really want to get it right the first time.

 

u can cycle with out lights
i never used "live sand" in my tank as when u add the live rock the sand will liven up
when i setup my tank it was about 90 percent live rock 10 percent base

 

Actually not only is it ok, but it's recommended that you cycle w/o lights!! And for the LR vs base rock...i haven't had any experience with base rock...maybe the reef gods will chime in and explain!!

 

Unless your in a rush I would 25% live rock and just use dry sand. Within 3-6 months all of the rock is going to be covered in coralline algae and all of it will be live rock, this is also about how long you should wait to start adding things. Get a little bit of live sand from a fellow reefer or buy a kit to seed it.

 

As for the skimmer buy the best one you can afford. This is one of the most important parts of your system. An inexpensive one will cost you lots of money and irritation in loss of corals when you start keeping them. In a fish only tank it is still important but not as important.
T5 lighting is a very good choice. Check ebay for some good deals. PCs will also work but will limit the types of corals that you can keep.
The sand 40 - 50 pounds sounds like a lot for a tank of that size. I would mix some live sand with non live sand (inside the tank). There are benefits to buying some live sand. Most of the packages are dated with an expiration date. I would not make my sand in the main tank over an inch thick.
I would say 30% or so base rock. Look for larger pieces of base rock. I would chose my live rock carefully for shape and any signs of life. Some live rock in LFS dont contain much life in them. You might consider buying some live rock from the suppliers like Walt Smith on the internet or others on ebay. I started out buying a few pieces at a time rather than all of it at once. The benefit of buying a few pieces at a time from different sources is you get a bigger variety of life within the rocks and you can pick the shapes you like.
I would buy a R/O DI water purifer real soon also. Shop around they really vary in price.

 

cycle with out lights is a ok.
live sand i kinda a waste of money if you get live rock, alot of stuff dies in the bag.
the live rock to base rock thing is all about money money money. you can do all live rock or you could do all base rock with a small chunk of LR for the seed. IMO i would only use base rock for the back of the tank were you cant see it because it looks different and its not as fun because no hitch hikers.

tips
you could build a support structure out of pvc and cover it in rock to save money.
i would stay away from particularly large pieces of live rock as they are harder to place and they could hide some bigger more dangerous hitch hikers

 

I use the "agra-alive" sand in my tanks...they say it is "live" sand..Im not so sure about that though. One benefit is because it is sent wet, it is also pre-rinsed...so no need to rinse the dust and junk off like with dry sand. Most would say this is probably not a big deal...but for the extra few bucks I am all about making my life a little easier.

My tanks cycled quickly as well, not sure that is a function of the "live" sand, or just good quality live rock. I use the aquacultured live rock you can get on line from Florida. Reasonable cost, even with shipping. It looks like you live in TN. I live in GA, and had no problems with shipping from FL to GA using DHL. You may want to look into that. Typically it is a lot cheaper then what you can get at your LFS. Here is the link to the place I have used Florida Live Rock

One other note...IMO...it is more environmentally friendly to use aquacultured rock then other forms of harvested live rock. Lots of arguments around this topic...so not trying to start anything with anyone...just my humble opinion

 

Wow! Thanks for all the fantastic responses!

 

+1 on above comments. I personally used alomst all base. I used about 60 pounds base and maybe 10 or less pounds of live rock. As said, there isnt a solid, needed ratio, as it will all be live after it has cycled. I would just use one small peice of LR that has some decent coraline on it to seed the system if I had to do it all over again.
Judging by the choice of your lights I would say your going for a reef tank and not a fish only tank? If it is going to be a reef, go for about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of rock per gallon.
As far as the skimmer, make sure to get a good one. I really like the Reef Octopus brand. They are really good skimmers, and are about middle-of-the-road in price.
When setting up the sump, ask your son to make sure it includes a refugium
The only other thing I can suggest is some powerheads for flow. A couple of Koralia 2's would be great in your sized tank
Then just set everything up, get it running, and enjoy watching that yellow tailed damsel for 8-12 weeks!

 

Sounds great...