Get some good base rock, save $ and it will become LR in the long run. Easy, cheap, good way to do things in the long run. As for your lights if you want the best of the best and not have any restrictions on what you can hold go with MH. If you can't afford them now then wait till you can. No sense in buying something in the middle till you can afford what you want. As far as your cycle IMO the cycle is not only judged by parameters. If it was most of us could add everything at 6 weeks and assume we are done cycling by parameters alone. You are building an entire ecosystem in your home, maturity of the tank and a biological filter are just as important if not more important than your parameters at this stage. These things can only be achieved with patience. Don't feel bad you are not the first nor will you be the last to trust bad advice from the local LFS, just be glad you found a good site with lots of info
. If you want to help at this point, get better lighting and keep your parameters rock solid. You should be testing for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, Magnesium, PH, Phosphate, Alkalinity at this point. The last 4 I mentioned are the most important for coral growth, but at this stage you should be testing for all. Get some good test kits from somewhere like
Aquarium supplies for your tropical fish tank, saltwater fish tank, saltwater aquarium fish, freshwater aquarium fish & reef aquarium. Aquarium filters, aquarium lighting, aquarium tanks, protein skimmers & more for your reef tank.. I like ELOS kits but that is personal preference.
