Sorry, but LR is part of the basic setup. It's a large part of your biological filtration, and adding it later can cause ammonia/nitrite/nitrate spikes.
You'll need the tank, sand, LR, and your filter to actually cycle the tank. You'll also need ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph tests, to determine when your cycle is complete so that you can start adding coral/fish, and start turning your lights on. You'll probably want a heater before you start adding fish/corals to even out any fluctuations in temp.
The length of the cycle will depend on your setup, and the LR/livesand you use. It could run a week, it could run six.
The lights that you're going to use are determined by what types, (if any), corals you want to keep. If you're mainly interested in high-light-needing corals, then you'll probably want to go with metal halide lamps. If you are more interested in softies and LPS, you can probably get away with a low to moderate amount of PC lamps.
Your lighting will need to be in place when you want to start adding coral. Preferably at the end of your cycle. You'll want to go with a shorter photoperiod than your end goal. Which means if you want your tank lights to be on for 8hrs, from 4pm to midnight, you start them after your cycle running from 4-8pm. Then gradually ramp them up over a couple weeks til they're running the full photoperiod. This will help reduce algae blooms.
B
