I was giving this some additional thought (can't seem to edit my prior post -- too old?). Is your objection to live rock because you don't want it, or because it's too expensive? If you don't want it, then don't get it. It's not necessary. It's a good natural filter that you'll have to compensate for mechanically, but it's not necessary. If it's expense, you should explore other options, one of which is buying a little bit of live rock and then a fair amount of base rock (in other words, "dead" or "dry" rock). Base rock is often much less expensive, and within a few months should have nice colonies beginning to grow on it that were seeded from the little bit of live rock you purchased.
