[quote author=cbc link=board=Newbie;num=1079290619;start=0#0 date=03/14/04 at 10:56:58]If all the other readins, ph, ammonia, nitrate, calcium etc... are good am I suppose to believe the water is good for adding fish, and rock?
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first, welcome, glad to meet you
for a brand new tank, after you get the salinity and the temp set, which i agree with above, refractometer are the way to go, but not a must
, then you can start the cycle
depending on what you want, as far as a reef tank, fish only, this will decide the best way to start the tank
for a reef, try to get as much Live Rock (LR) as you can afford, for a 55g i say try to get around 55lbs to 75lbs, more the better, add the LR and this will start the cycle for you, (if you add fish to a new tank, this will stress the fish out and might kill them)
the cycle will take around a month or a bit more to complete, in either type of system
for a fish only, get a piece of coctail shrimp and throw it in the tank, as it decays it will start the cycle, you can take it out after a few days(maybe a week)
an feel free to ask all the questions that you want
td
New guy... new tank 
