what your going to want to do is , i know this seems like a pain in the ass , but transfer your water into a garbage bucket (an unused one). get your uncured LR and LS , set your LR up in the tank the way you want it , then pour the LS in , you dont need alot of LS , getting a 20 p[ound bag is a waste of money , just get the 10 pound bag and mix it with DS crushed coral rock or whatever. Put a plate into your tank and put your syphon hose onthe plate so you dont mess up your aqua scaping then syphon your water into the tank , now with the uncured lr your not gonna need anything else no shrimp no fish , the LR is going to kickstart the hell out of your cycle , my tank cycled in 13 days , i did a 20 percent water change , then added my creatures , i now have (23 days into this hobby) a clown fish huge turbo snails , a chocolate chip starfish , 30 slugs , and 10 hermits , and they are all doing awesome , Just make sure you get uncured , and dont scrub it , no matter how nasty it looks , its going to smell pretty foul to , but once you get it in the tank it wont be much of a problem. Also during your cycle Do not run carbon , dont run your protien skimmer and for your own sake do everything right the first time, So when you add the LR , you Will see your Ammonia Spike , then your nitrites will spike and your ammonia will slowly go down , and your nitrATES will go up then your nitrites will slowly go down, when your Iates and ammonia hit 0 and your ates are in a safe level , you are ready to do your big water change , Using RO Water , and get a fish the next day , (i suggest a hardy fish ) doesnt have to be a damsel if you dont want to be stuck with one , a false perc will do fine , if you go with a false perc , get 2 of them , also add your clean up crew , and start running your skimmer if you have one
Also Yes The Conscientous Marine Aquarist is a great book , I highly recomend it .
Hope this helps
Ben
