You are gettinga mechanical filter I assume, like a canister or HOT filter? I wouldn't bother, many fish and coral that live in marine aquariums are much more sensitive to the presence of nitrates in the water, so if you have a mechanical filter you would have to be switching out the filter media about once a week, especially if you don't have a sump and if you are stocking your tank near it's limits.
Your best bet is to get a protein skimmer like an AquaC remora. I have been using one for about 2 months now and it takes more gunk out of the water than any skimmer I've ever used, and it doesn't use an air stone! Check them out.
If it was my tank I would do the following.
1. Put in about a 1.5-2.5 inches fine aragonite sand bed
2. Get as much live rock as you can afford (up to about 45 lbs. worth) from an established tank and put it in your tank. If you can add the live rock to your tank the same day that you pick up the live rock, then add one small tough fish like a clown fish, and feed the fish normally.
3. One day after adding the one smal fish, start protein skimming
As you start to find a definite direction that you want to go with the tank, you may want to think about adding a sump, that houses your heaters, protein skimmer, and return pump on one half of the sump, then on the other side your refugium (which is one of the best ways to lower nitrate levels!) This will not only make your aquarium more suitable for viewing and add a refugium to your tank, but will also add water volume to your tank and will aid in keeping your water chemistry more stable.
That is my opinion.
8) !!
Isn't that really overpriced? At my lfs its only about $8. . . 
