<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central Jay and Peggy</b></i></big></big>
The cycling process in a saltwater tank is a little different then in a fresh water tank.
Both use bacteria to break down ammonia to nitrates. In fresh water you remove the nitrates by a cannister filter and vacuuming the substrate regularily
In salt water the live rock and sand bed process ammonia to nitrites to nitrates and then to nitrogen gas.
As in both tanks a small level of nitrates won't hurt the fish but in a salt water tank nitrates will affect small inverts and corals very quickly.
When you cycle a salt water tank you let the live rock cure(give off dead stuff) The dead stuff stimulates the bacteria in and on the live rock to grow in numbers(called cycling) to handle the waste. this process takes about 3-5 weeks to completely happen
At this point there should be enough bacteria in the tank to handle the addition of small inverts, and some hardy corals--then finally some fish
In a fresh water tank you can put tap water in the tank, add de-chlor and stabilizer to reduce the ammonia and almost immediately add some fish to the tank.
NOT the case with salt water---it takes time for the tank to prepare itself.
Therefore I would suggest you not add any other inverts to your tank and measure the ammonia daily. If it spikes(rises quickly) do a water change to protect the small star fish and any other small inverts that have hitch hiked into your tank.
To follow the cycling of your tank:
Measure the ammonia and nitrates daily
The ammonia should rise and then fall off to zero
The nitrate will do the same
When ammonia and nitrates are zero your tank has cycled and is ready for you to start adding a clean up crew to it
While your tank is cycling you might want to read up on these starter articles:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1031074
also here is a blog on tank cycling:
http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=289
Good luck and keep posting
