Hey Britfish,
A reef tank that large of a tank is an expensive endeavor. However, I have a friend who is a microbiologist/cancer researcher who is doing an experiment on cycling of saltwater tank. He's been doing experiments on cycling and cycling time and it his data shows that his tank cycled in last then 7 days. He in fact, doesn't use "live" rock but got some "dead" rock from another reefer to cycle. But one of the main ingredients in a cycle was the use of sand.
He did a control experiment on cycling on a bare bottom tank without anything and using a bolus of ammonia, the ammonia was gone within the first 24-48 hrs. The bacteria required to break down ammonia isn't marine in origin but terrestrial (from the air/environment). However, the nitrates/nitrite remain high with a bare bottom tank because of no bacteria (nitrogenous) that breaks down nitrates/nitrite. With the use of sand, the excess nitrates/nitrites broke down within only 2-3 days, therefore completing the cycle.
It's a myth that people have to overload with a few dead cocktail shrimps or even fish for cycling. All you need to do is to seed or bolus with a small amount of ammonia/ammonium chloride and your tank should cycle within less than 7 days. So you can save money if you can find "dead" rock which are porous and placement of some sand.
He stated that this work will be publish soon in a reef paper. Stay tune within a month or two.
If you don't believe, try it yourself. Get a 10 gallon tank, add some sand, add a few ppm of ammonia, and measure your levels before the week ends. It should amount to zero. No need to bombard with dead cocktail shrimps and live fishes.
