[Bruce]

Man, I wish i had known about 3reef when I started up my tank ha ha.

Ok lets see.

1. Although I used hose water my first fill...i think that it should be ok with the filter and etc. But i would not use the garden hose for anymore adding of water to the tank.

2. Sand...are you using live sand? Was it dry when you put it in the tank? If it is live sand, you dont need to do anything with it. If it was dry sand you should have rinsed it out.

3. I would stick to a temp of 76-79 F

4. If you are planning on getting coral and protein skimmer is a must. Most companies tell you what size a tank any particular skimmer can handle. I would say its always safer to get one size bigger than one size smaller.

5. Cycling. Well...i think that the best thing to do, im skeptical about the chemical cylinders, is to get a few beginning fish such as damsels or chromis. Of course this is only after you get the tank as fish friendly as you can.

6. Ok salt...well, what i did was pour all my water in my tank then pour the salt in...since it sounds like your sand is already in there, i would just do it in small batches outside the tank...in a clean bucket.

7. Eh...it probably wont really matter...all salts have some bad stuff in them. I use tropic marine and it seems fine.

If some of my awnsers are confusing let me know ^^