Almost ready to add water - advise please!

[jostafew]

I started my system exactly the same way; I had all my aquascaping done with dry rock (BRS Reef Saver in my case) and the sand in the tank then filled with RODI over a couple days. Started the pumps, set the salinity (SG), then waited for the cloudiness to clear which took a few days for me. Once cleared up I seeded with a few choice pieces of live rock.

You didn't talk about cycling but I'll pass on a tip that you might not have heard; you don't need actual fish making poop to cycle a tank, just nutrients. Throw in some shrimp meat or fish food or whatever you have handy, let that break down and that will feed the ammonia cycle. Once the bacteria population gets this start the cycle with real fish will be reduced and not nearly as stressfull for them. I find the whole idea of buying hardy fish and subjecting them to poor conditions to cycle a tank to be somewhat cruel.

Happy reefing!