Here is my 45 gallon tank. I set it back up in early march after taking a break. The cycle took about 2 months to complete maybe a little less. The rock and sand were "dead" as I had dismantled my saltwater tank about a year and a half ago and let everything cure due to terrible green hair algae and bubble algae after a tank crash that killed everything. I used good old fashioned time and microbater 7 to help recreate the live environment. I added reef pods, snails, and some macro algae in late April. Added coral in late May and just added my first fish this last week. I am running sumpless at this time do to lack of space. I have an aquac Remoro backpack S series skimmer, two waver makes, and a little surfer skimmer just to keep the oily gunk of the top (works like a champ). I am using T5 lights because I am undecided on LED's right now. We are planning an addition on our house after the first of the year and plans at this time are to install a custom 300 gallon tank with a "fish work room" behind it.

