How do establish a new tank cycle?

[lrtravia]

I have recently set up a new tank with saltwater the wet/dry filter, a protein skimmer, a heater and am looking to start with fish. We were considering the following:
1. Sand sifting star - we have a crushed coral and seashell bottom. Will this do for this kind of star?
2. Emerald Crab - I know relatively little about this but thought it looked cool.
3. Scarlett reef/hermit crab. - I thought this cool looking hermit would help keep the bottom clean.
4. Domino damsels - how many should I get for a 35 gallon tank?
5. Yellow-tail blue damsel - again, how many?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Rob Travia

 

[25gator]

i like liverock to start but if you want stuf from your list start with the dominoes and wait for the tank to cycle then crabs and stars i would go with about three or four!

 

[jastim]

If you put three or four dominos in a 35gal tank together they may kill each other. Dominos are very aggessive. Putting more than one in that close of quarters might be dangerous. I would not cycle your tank with anything live. Just put in a piece of raw shrimp from the grocery store and let that cycle your tank. Live rock is a good choice also. You don't need a living fish to cycle your tank.

 

[lrtravia]

What exactly is a cycle and what do I have to do to have this done properly? I wanted to start something relatively easy and have had the water at temp / salinity / pH running for about two weeks now without anything else but the crushed coral (dead) and some sort of rock with fake plants on it. Please advise. Thanks.

 

[wildblue4]

if you look on this site and do a search you can find more specific info on the nitrate cycle. in short you must put something in the tank that produces ammonia. usually damsels because they can get through the ammonia spike. after a few weeks the ammonia will go down and in the mean time nitrites will come up. when the nitrites go down then the nitrates will start to come up and then the tank has "cycled". this is general and the time it takes your tank to cycle may vary. if you leave your protien scimmer on during the cycle it will take longer because it is getting rid of the ammonia also. taking your time is the most important thing you can do. you must be able to test your water so get a test kit or take your water to your local pet store and have it checked.

 

[amphiprion]

Here's a good link to read: all the how's and why's of setting up your first saltwater tank. Read it and then come back and ask questions.
<a href="http://home.gardenet.co.za/landman/Starting%20with%20Marines.htm" target="_blank">So you want to start a Marine Aquarium</a>