@Firefighter, when I first started, I went really slow and am happy I did. I waited 3 months to add my first fish (2 clownfish). And 6 months before I added anything else. (My first tank was 180 gallons + 55 gallon sump). Basically, I recommend:4 inches of sand from bottom glass.Roughly 50lbs of live rock.Minimal lighting at first. The reason is once you add the live rock there will be a nitrate cycle.If you have heavy lighting you will have a heavy algae bloom.Some people advocate just overskimming but, overskimming strips water of nutrients.If you wait to add live stock until the nitrogen cycle has finished (become balanced) your tank will become more stable (at least that was the old theory). The other benefit is my live rock came with a mantis shrimp and several aggressive rock crabs... (Not things you want in an aquarium). By waiting I basically starved them out - one of them lasted longer than I hoped and it got a few fish :'(-point being untreated live rock can have predators - better to wait them out.After 6 months, I also had a very very health pod colony in the tank.Finally, of you decide it is not for you, you haven't invested that much money!