needing some suggestions

i have been taking care of a 10 gallon tank for only a few months and ended up getting really into this hobby quickly. and i just now purchased and set up a 38 gallon tank. its still in the process of decoration. and making sure its been treated before i go into the cycling the tank

1) for a freshwater tank. is live plants necessary, because it seems like most people recommends using live plants. i have no back ground with keeping live plants in any aquarium.

2) what is the ideal time to let the system run on the 38 gallon tank before i continue to start on cycling the tank. (i have treated tap water in the tank)

 

If you have treated tap water in the tank, I would do yourself a favor and remove it. Then place RO/DI (or just plain RO) water in it. RODI water has had imputities removed from it (silicates, nitrates, phosphates, etc).

I would put and 1&1/2 to 2 inches of aragonite sand and some base rock as well. If you want a fish only tank, you are looking at about 40 lbs. If you want a reef tank, about 70. That is all the 'decoration' you will need. Plop about 5 lbs of live rock in with the rest and the cycle will start just fine. Some say to put in a piece of dead shrimp. I like the idea of one small cycle fish (a yellow tail damsel does just fine IMO).....or a small clown.

Your tank is going to cycle for about 8 to 12 weeks from there......giving you plenty of time to think on things.

Here is something while you are beginning. When you have the water out......do you want to paint the back of your tank instead of using the paper background? If you are interested in doing that, now is the time. The two colors I considered with mine were black and royal blue. I finally went with black.

 

i'm gonna have to do a search on the RO/DI water (any links to research or if its buy able at most places where can i get it and whats the approx cost?) . but currently the only choice i have is conditioned water. and really its just gonna be a few tropical fish in there I'm sure

as far as the cycle goes. I'm planning on doing a fish less cycle that way i don't have to end up spending money for the starter fish and end up dying due to the cycle. which i did not like doing to the 10 gallon tank. like i said i just set the tank up just a matter of probably 6 hours.

There for I'm still in the process of running the system. and making sure all the components work correctly and get the water stable. and doing research on the fish less cycle. from what I've read it tends to be a bit quicker. and i wanna make sure i do it the right way. in that time i can decide what fish i will stock and so forwards.

regarding painting i have a specially made royal blue back drop for the same aquarium.

*note* i have already done the research and i have the knowledge of everything i need to do but i wanna be well prepared when time comes to start the cycle, fish selecting, etc... i have done a lot of planning for this larger tank as well. i just hope everything goes smoothly