my first marine tank!

ok here goes!
i noticed i was getting a bit involved in the beginners section so i thought id actualy start the journal today.
this is the first marine aquarium i have tried to attempt so majority of this is all still very new to me.
im aiming to have a nice/ peacefull display tank mainly with corals ect (dont ask me what yet as i have no clue) and a light stocking of fish.
manual top ups and water changes are not a problem for me as it keeps me busy "and at home as the boss likes to think"
im not aiming to do this as cheeply as possible, but more on the simple side for now as this is the first.
if i get hooked "please excuse the bad pun" i may even convert the 4x18x18 in the dining room, OR upgrade to the likes of a 6x2x2 or 8x2x2 later down the track.
today i moved all my breeding cichlids and rocks ect into the display tank,
now im left with a tank in my lounge with nothing but water in it.

so now i guess i need salt water natural or artificial, and live rock to kick start it all off


ok i did some home work and found out that the lights in the unit are T5's, im not too stressed about whats in there atm as i will most likely change them.
and as for the tank top trickle filter, im going to be using activated carbon and a phosphate remover, also because the pump for it has a built in powerhead (but im not relying on that alone for flow),

heres a lighting question: do T5's come in standard lengths???

t5'some in all sorts of lengths tbh just a matter of finding them what size have you got and i will see what i can find for you

first step tho completly clean out the tank with vinigar and rince throughly as well as any equipment you will be using then you should be good to go

It's going to look great bg, a nice size tank to start off with

well i emptied the tank today, substraight out! and every thing cleaned.
that took longer than i thought.

so tomorow im off to the lfs to get some salt water and new substrate.

also found out what lighting i have..... they are T5s 2x39w 14000k wite, and 1x 39w red????? (im not too sure about that one as it isnt red??? it actualy puts out a dull green/blue????) so im going to change the globes to 2x 39w 20,000k and 1x 39 actinic, lol i can see the $$$$$$ going round and round atm but it will be worth it in the end

leave the whites as they are or go for 10000k as the corals grow better under this light and go for a narva blue for the actinic's and possible a strip of led's for night

the higher the kelvin the lower the par so their is less light available for the corals to grow reason y people go for the higher kelvin is they want to make it more ascetically pleasing as they want the corals to floures all day and not just under the actinics or night lights

leave the substrate till you have the rocks in as this will give the rock base more stability

so the 14k are good? even better! less $$$ to be spent lol. as the unit is only 4 months old too so i wont need to replace the globes for a while.
and thanks on the tip for the substrate too

14k are ok but 10k or 12k are better t5's only last g4-6 mths depnding on the quality of the tube as they drop in par

this is the nice time to do reaserch on the fishy side of things and the cuc

how is this comming ??