Some questions about setting up my tank

[Dial8]

First post, and thanks in advance for your help.

I got an absolutely killer deal on a Ecosystem Ecomini EM28p 28 gallon aquarium. Heres the link below.

http://ecominiaquarium.com/

and heres a youtube video showing the tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vIIO9DwFuM


The guy who is setting me up with the deal is shipping me everything i will possibly need besides water.
Tank
Stand
T5 lighting fixture

2 Chemi-pure Elite Full unit
AquaCraft Bio-Sea Synthetic Sea Salt (3 50 gallon mix bags)
Vita-Diet Fish Food
all test equipment

Once i get the tank and get it setup, he will be overnighting me

An assortment of fish, within suggestion
Hand picked and cured Fiji Live rock
live sand
Cleaner crew of snails, crabs, and shrimp
Sample pack of soft corals.

Will be doing weekly 5 gallon water changes.

What do you guys think of that tank setup? Im new to marine fishkeeping, so im doing my homework, and reading a ton of information but i have a few things im still hung up on

About WATER:

Im told that i need reverse osmosis, deionized water. I will probably have to buy it from the LFS to get started and will eventually buy a filter when the holidays are over. How much should it typically cost to buy from the LFS? whats reasonable?

And the cycling process. Im told that by using the live sand, and since the live rock will be hand picked and already cured, since it will be shipped overnight to me that i will be able to have the aquarium fish ready within hours.

To me that seems too good to be true, i thought it took a good couple weeks to cycle?

I would like to become a regular member here, and keep a tank log and post how i progress with this tank. And i thank you guys in advance for leading me in the right direction getting started in such a beautiful hobby!

[melvinudawl]

"To me that seems too good to be true, i thought it took a good couple weeks to cycle?"

if it sounds it, than it probably is. the truth is that cured LR/LS will minimize the cycle, but there will still be some die off during shipping and you should not plan to add livestock within hours or days of putting the LR in your tank. When you put the LR/LS in the tank, you should monitor water parameters and watch your nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia readings. You may not see a full cycle, but even if ammonia doesn't spike from the LR die off, you should still wait to add fish until you have steady readings of 0 on all 3.

Once the cycle is done and your tank has established itself a bit, you'll start to see algae and maybe diatoms. Assuming your readings are 0, this is a good time to add your CUC. Then, make sure you maintain stable readings, and add fish one at a time, allowing your system to adjust to the additional load with each addition.

Good reading: (sticky thread towards the top of the "New to hobby forum - with a '*' in front of it)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074

[Dial8]

What is CUC?

All of the sand, rock, fish, corals, cleaners, will all be shipped overnight to me at the same time. Its coming free from him as a gift, hes even paying shipping, so i cant exactly ask him to ship it to me slow 1 at a time, or it will cost him a lot more money.

Is it possible that i can have the tank acclimated well enough that it could support everything without totally crashing and killing everything off?

Heres the live sand he will be shipping me.

http://www.livesand.com/

"Instant cycling guaranteed"

I forgot to mention that everything being sent will be aquacultured as well.

[Sk8r]

You also need a quarantine tank, in case your fish come in with parasites or disease you do NOT want infesting your tank. This is SOP for a marine tank.
I really don't personally recommend live sand, but you got it, use it.
you could put all fish togeter into quarantine, just not into your tank.
Your cleanup crew should have a week or so to work before you start to add fishes.

A gift is good. Just get that quarantine tank set up with bare glass, corner filter, just like a freshwater tank, only no sand, no rock, no light, just an observation tank with a heater. Test daily or 2x daily for salinity (1.025) with a refractometer, and for ammonia (s/b 0)...if you get any ammonia, a gallon water change should bring it down.
Meanwhile stay connected with RC and ask before each move: we can walk you through this. But I'm very serious about that quarantine tank---it will probably save you from disaster. You don't have to cycle it: marine fish can survive for a while in just plain filtered seawater, no problem. Do not add sand to it: gives a place for parasites to hide. You can add a few pieces of PVC pipe for hiding places.
Feeding marine fish is tricky. First let's see what fish you get and then we'll talk about switching over to frozen.

Your corals can go into qt with the fish until your cycle is finished, then they can go in with the CUC and before the fish. And you SHOULD be dipping the corals: heaven help you if he sends you somehting with red bug.
And you'll need to id them and get their lighting requirements.
For food, they'll eat CUC poo.

[Dial8]

Problem is being christmas i dont have the money to go buy a heater, filter, and tank for a quarantine tank. how big would it have to be?

Its just bad timing but theres no way around it the stuff is coming and its all going into the tank per his instructions.

i guess i will just monitor the hell out of the levels in the tank for a while till it gets well established and work from there. I have no other choice

[melvinudawl]

For my qt I got a 20 gallon tank, sponge filter, ammonia alert, heater for $40. A quick look on craigslist may save you some $$ too, but a 10 or 20 gallon tank is pretty cheap to pick up anywhere.

[Dial8]

what do you guys think of the way the back of the tank is setup?