new tank setup questions

The tank is a 53g 48x15x17, i will have an aquac remora HOB skimmer with a mag drive 1200 and a marineland 350b penguin HOB powerfilter with carbon and occasionally a polishing pad. I will also have one hydor koralia 1050gph powerhead, a jager 250w heater, test kits, a refractometer, thermometer, 75lbs of rock from reefcleaners and 80lbs of fiji pink sand. The tank will be a FOWLR for the first six months it is set up and then i will later add an odyssea 4x54w t5 fixture, a sump, better skimmer, and fuge. Is this everything I need?

 

Looks good but I would upgrade to a sump as quickly as possible.Also you will need at least one piece of live rock.And alot of patience.;D
And salt.

 

Sumps are nice and should be added when you can. I built mine out of an old aquarium. You're also going to need to add some live rock with the dry rock so it can seed the dry rock since that is what helps with the biological processes. Other than that I think everything looks ok.

 

Okay thank you, i wont have any coral and the tank will be lightly stocked until i upgrade to a sump

 

The piece of live rock will speed up the cycle a bit but is not strictly needed. The dry rock will eventually colonize on its own without the risk of unwanted hitch hikers being introduced with it, just takes a few extra weeks of patients while nature does it's trick. 8)

 

Ya I just forgot to add that to my list, I will make sure its cured LR to avoid some nasties and also I will add a handful of LS from an established tank. After my tank is done cycling should I add CUC first before any fish?

 

I did when I set mine up, I let it cycle for 6 weeks then added the CUC as the cycle finished. I did not actually get any fish into the tank for another 5 or 6 weeks due to my work schedule at the time, but I think that may have actually been a benefit to the overall health of the system once I began adding fish and corals.