First Tank! Need setup help!

[fishfeeder]

I just purchased my first tank!

90 gal tank, stand/canopy, emporer 400, 80lbs. sand, salt, heater, ect, ect.
Next week I hope to add 20lbs. of live sand and some LR!
what should I do first, second, ect.?
I know put sand in! Should I wait to fill with water until I get the live sand & rock?
After I get everything setup...sand in, water in, heater, filter, ect.
then what's next?
I mean what to do to start the cycling?

 

[thangbom]

fist thing id do...( it's somthing i reeally like to do ) is line the bottom of the tank with eggcreate.. ( lighting section in hawdware store) then add sand.. then add water.. then rock.. when u add the rock.. make shure you sqush it around some so that it sit on the eggcreate.. then you atart your cycle.

 

[rainfishy]

Starting your cycle means spiking your ammonia, which will start the whole nitrogen cycle. most people on this board will recommened that you use a dead, raw shrimp (from the grocery store), although there are other ways to do it. Anyways throw the shrimp in your tank, after you set it up with water, sand, rock etc and let the shrimp decompose. This will turn to ammonia, which will turn to nitrite and then nitrate. When your ammonia and nitrite levels are at zero, you have cycled you tank. Then whole cycle will take approximately 2-6 weeks. HTH. Good luck.

 

[adamc1303]

You might want to try adding some "cycle speeding" addiditives. They are basically live bacteria in a bottle. Fritz 900 turbo start worked very well for me.