OK, I should be getting my stimulus check tomorrow, which means that I will be able to have my tank up and running soon   Just wanted to go through my list to make sure I have everything, and I've still got a few questions.

The tank is 45 gallons (36x12x20), and I am having it drilled by a member of Michigan Reefers.  He is also going to install a 700gph overflow that I got from Glass Cages.  Another member is going to make a sump out of 1/4" acrylic, seperated into three sections, one for intake/skimmer, one for fuge, and one for return.  The sump will be around 24"x10"x13", so roughly 13 gallons.  I have an Aqua C Urchin skimmer, and I still need to get a return pump.  What size return pump would I need?  Also, this will probably sound silly but what connects the tank to the sump?  Am I going to need to get anything else for it? 

As far as equipment, I bought a Nova Extreme T-5 fixture with lunar lights, which has 156 watts.  I also have a 150-watt Visi-Therm Stealth heater, and 2 Hydor Koralia 2 powerheads.  I bought 100 pounds of base rock from Select Stone, and I plan on creating a nice aquascape using pvc to hold the rocks in place.  I also have about 20 pounds of live rock to seed it with (thanks RJ!).  I plan on getting some Aragonite "Oolitic" sand.  How much do you think I would need for a 1" sandbed in the main tank, and a deep sand bed in the sump?

I still need to purchase some test kits.  I was planning on getting the Seachem basic marine kit, which tests for pH, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.  Is there anything else that I need to test for? 

I know that the cycle is going to take quite a while since I'm using mainly base rock.  I am meeting the members at Choice to pick up the tank and sump, so I might pick up some more live rock while I'm there.  Does the tank have to be completely cycled before I can add any corals? 

I'm not quite certain on my stocking just yet, but these are the fish that I am contemplating.  A pair of clowns, probably false percs but the b/w occy's are starting to catch my eye.  I love the look of juvenile b/w occys, but I'm not sure that I like the adults when they are pure b/w.  I also want a firefish and a goby of some sort, probably a yellow watchman.  And I'm debating between a flasher wrasse or a dwarf angel, either a flame, coral beauty or lemonpeel.  I'm not sure about inverts right now, probably a shrimp of some sort.  As for corals, I want lots of colorful zoas

If he isn't putting a bulkhead in where he drills the hole you'll have to get one of those. Then run pvc from there to the sump.

If it were me I'd probably go with a mag 9.5 for the return. You'll probably be able to run it wide open because of the head loss but put a valve after it so you can dial it down a little if it's too much for your overflow.

If it isn't go to be a reef those are all the tests you really need. Seachem is an excellent choice I love their test kits. If it is a reef I would also get calcium and phosphate.

I would actually wait about 6 months to add corals. There are many things going on in a new tank during that time, this includes things like ph swings and the like.

Yeah, he is putting a bulkhead in.  So I would just need pvc to attach to the bulkhead?  And then the pvc just goes into the intake section of the sump? 

It will eventually be a reef, but with easy corals like zoas and shrooms.  I also want to get a hammer coral, some rics, and a sun coral. 

Here's an example of some plumbing...

http://www.fishtankforums.com/28-diy-aquarium-projects/1227-diy-sump-refugium-project.html

the list looks good, the only thing I would change is I would use alot less base rock and more live rock. you are going to choice and they have the best live rock I've seen and all the goodies that make live rock live are well worth the extra money. we dont put rocks in are tanks because they look good its for the stuff in them. If you are going to have a watchman goby your going to want to put your base rock on the bottom of the tank ( on the glass) because they dig under everything. then put the sand around it. this creates a good base so the rest of your aquascape doesnt start falling down when they dig.    good luck and enjoy!     have fun at choice your going to love it.

Wow, thanks for the link.  Its a little more high-tech than I imagined I guess, looks like this will be a project for hubby :)

I want the water to drain into a column filled with live rock rubble, then go through the skimmer, then go on to the fuge and lastly the return.  Guess I'll have to do some more research on this  

I would say between 20-25lbs of sand to get the 1" sandbed, depending on just how fine the substrate is. A 20lb bag should do just fine since the rockwork will displace some of the sand anyways.

Here is a handy tool: www.reefbuzz.com/modules.php

youngtimothy said :

the list looks good, the only thing I would change is I would use alot less base rock and more live rock. you are going to choice and they have the best live rock I've seen and all the goodies that make live rock live are well worth the extra money. we dont put rocks in are tanks because they look good its for the stuff in them. If you are going to have a watchman goby your going to want to put your base rock on the bottom of the tank ( on the glass) because they dig under everything. then put the sand around it. this creates a good base so the rest of your aquascape doesnt start falling down when they dig.    good luck and enjoy!     have fun at choice your going to love it.

Since the tank is only 12" deep, I wanted to be able to provide as many caves as possible to give it more depth.  I thought that the easiest way to do this would be to use base rock, that way I could drill it and place it with pvc, so that it will be pretty sturdy.  I'm always worried that my rocks are going to fall over and crush my fish, so this gives me peace of mind :)  I will definitely get some more live rock from Choice to kind of fill in the gaps in the base rock.  I know it is going to take a lot longer to cycle, but I would rather be safe than sorry, and it would really worry me if the rocks weren't stable.

Burks said :

I would say between 20-25lbs of sand to get the 1" sandbed, depending on just how fine the substrate is. A 20lb bag should do just fine since the rockwork will displace some of the sand anyways.

Here is a handy tool: www.reefbuzz.com/modules.php

Thanks for the link.  I can fit a 28" sump under the tank now, so that gives me a few more gallons to work with.  So in order to have a 1" sand bed in the main tank, and a 4" sand bed in the fuge, I would need about 50 lbs of sand.  I'll just get two 60 lb bags, and then I have an excuse to set up a nano eventually

Or a good start to a remote deep sand bed.