which way to cycle best

[meh]

I have almost all of my stuff in except my dry rock which is arriving. It's a 30 gallon and i am using crushed coral and aragonite sand for substrate. I was wondering. Should I buy 1 peice of live rock to kick start the cycle or just stick fish food in like a freshwater cycle? What's the best way?

[Diana]

The same as in a fresh water tank:
Bottled bacteria can help. The original Bio Spira is the right marine species.
You can grow this with ammonia while the other organisms develop in the tank. Some live rock to supply the other organisms could help.

[meh]

I'm gonna go the long slow way and throw some fish food and watch the cycle happen. I might add some live rock to it

[Crazygar]

Live Rock will generate a small spike, if you put in small pieces at a time. As suggested, you should re-arrange your rockwork to ensure better flow, dead spots in a SW Tank is not a good thing.

Gary

[meh]

I finished that yesterday and I got pure ammonia which has me a week in the cycle. I also purchased a 2 pound peice of live rock with it

[Crazygar]

Change your rocks around to ensure flow, I made this fatal mistake with my SW Tank and paid with Algae Outbreak and after Algae Outbreak and I assure you, unlike FW, it's a lot more work on removing... what's your Skimmer? Don't skimp on Skimming.

Gary

[Freshwater Tropic]

I am sorry for the late reply, I use the "Feed the invisible fish" method. It has worked well with me in the past. Plus, as the cycle begins to settle I usually start to feed the same amount I would with all the fish I intend on. That way the bacteria level present in the tank will be able to handle the bio-load early on.