Initial set up and filling question

[daplatapus]

Ok, I think I'm ready. I've got everything set up and had fresh water running through my tank and sump and everything seems good to go. I have 120 lbs of Aragonite sea floor sand and have bought but not picked up yet 130 lbs of tonga live rock that's been at the LFS for 2 months, so it should be really well cured. The questions I have are:
1) I was initially thinking of waiting for a new shipment of LR to come to the LFS so I could get some cool hitchhikers, both coral and invertebrates. I'm not in a hurry to be putting fish in so I don't mind playing around getting rid of any unwanted little guys if need be if that means I might possibly get some cool stuff too. On the other hand, I do want to get my system going, and the rock the LFS has on hand is well cured and there might be stuff on it, it might just need good lighting etc to make it come alive again. Do I wait, or get what's there?
2) Because I have everything but the rock, should I fill my system up with the salt water, put in the sand in my display and sump and start the cycle without the rock or wait until I have the rock on hand and start it all together?

[sporto0]

If you go with the already cured rock, you can start now, make sure you rinse the sand & then rinse it again & then rinse some more, until the water is almost perfectly clear, you would be best served to remove most of the water in your tank if possible before adding your sand to avoid the dreaded sand storm. If you get the new shipment of Live Rock, wait & cycle all at once. One more thing to note, never mix salt in the tank, in this case I would mix the salt in the tank before adding any substrate or rock & make sure to have good circulation for about 20-24 hrs. This is the only time mixing salt in the tank is doable but still not the preferred method. Enjoy & good luck.

[daplatapus]

I just removed all the fresh water out of my tank and right now everything is empty. I've got 60 gl of RO/DI water sitting in a couple of Brute cans and will probably mix in there and fill the tank and sump in 2 shots as my RO/DI is only a 75 gpd unit. I can easily put the sand in first after giving it a good few rinses.
My other quick question I forgot to ask was regarding egg crate on the bottom of the tank. There seems to be a 50/50 split on whether to do this or not. Any harm in doing it? Will the 1/2" squares of dead space be able to be cleaned by the snails and stars? Because of the narrowness of my tank, the rocks will most likely be placed as a wall along the back of the tank and I think a landslide is a very real possibility if any one does any real burrowing.

[sporto0]

There is no harm in using the egg crate on the bottom, it will prevent rockwork from shifting too severely if the burrowing critters tunnel underneath them. I wouldn't be concerned, if there is something edible in those spaces, pods & worms will get to it.

[pandimus]

i ran my ro unit right to a float valve in my sump (just for the initial filling), every so often i would just kick on my pump and it would pump the water to the dt. I would then add salt with power heads on. when i got to my target salinity i added my rock. a few days later i put my sand in. My sand was in bags, i just cut the corner and poured it right in to the spot i wanted. I would turn system off for this, wait like 12 hours for sand to settle then turn everything on. Im very happy with how it all turn out.. Now just waiting on my cycle.