Starting from scratch and afraid to FOWL(R) up my FOWLR... looking for help

[mk1151]

Ok - so, I've had freshwater tanks before but salt is oh-so-much more fun! (right?)

BUT - I've been reading all these "things you should know" articles from how to cure live rock to watching your fishes poop and everything in between.

It all seems a bit overwhelming.

So - I have a tank now - it's running. It has 200 pounds of live sand from Fiji. It's getting (Friday) 250 pounds of live rock.

Now - I've read a few schools of thought, but they all agree that once the live rock goes in I should wait a few weeks or a month before sticking a fish in there. I've also read that a piece of cocktail shrimp will get the right bacteria going in the tank during that first cycle as well.

So - fast forward and I've done that. Bio balls are growing happy things on them, the live rock is living, and the sand is, well, sandy.

What fish are good fish in a community tank? What about cleaner teams?

If I want to deepen my migraine by converting to a reef tank, what fish should I avoid so I don't have to displace anything?

Sincerely,
Dazed and confused

Current setup: reef ready 220 gallon tank with (3) powerheads @ 1400gph, (1) 1100 GPH pump, and (2) 36" T5 HO lights with (2) bulbs each (one white and one blue).

Water temp has been a constant 77-78 degrees with no heater.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Now - I've read a few schools of thought, but they all agree that once the live rock goes in I should wait a few weeks or a month before sticking a fish in there. I've also read that a piece of cocktail shrimp will get the right bacteria going in the tank during that first cycle as well.

There is not set or common time frame as to when a tank is finished cycling. A cycling tanks progress can only be monitored accurately though the use of test kits (at the least, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and Ph.). Each tank and system is different. I've heard some had their tanks cycle in just a few weeks. Others, a few months. Mine took two months. The tank should be left fishless for a week or two after ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and stay there. That will ensure a stable bacteria population.

For fish only tanks, bio balls can be used but for reef tanks, they should be avoided. They tend to trap crap and become nitrate factories. High nitrate levels are bad for corals. If you think you might be going the coral route, it's best to remove the bio balls now to prevent future problems. With a sufficient amount of live rock, bio balls are not needed anyway (applies to fish only tanks too).
If there's a chance you would convert to a reef tank, it's best you treat it like a reef tank from the start.
I noticed you didn't list a skimmer. Do you have one? Both fish only and reef tanks benefit from a proper skimmer.
As far as fish selection goes, most webistes that sell fish tell you weather or not it is reef safe. Angels, puffers, eels, a bunch of wrasses, etc... Are typicaly not considered reef safe. You're better off making a list of the fish you would like to have and then researching each specific fish's needs, requirements, and habits. That way, you can eliminate the fish that don't apply to your tanks configuration and narrow the list down to the best candidates for you. Another good idea, is to post your final fish list in a thread for others to see. Maybe someone will see something in your list that they know won't work and you'll know about it beforehand.
When you do start adding fish, make sure to add the least aggressive fish first and the most aggressive fish last. That will help keep the agression to a minimum in the community.
One last thing to consider... You didn't list weather or not you have or are going to have a quarantine tank. If you don't have one, you may want to reconsider. IMO, using a QT should be a basic fundamental for marine tanks. I've never heard of anyone ( who uses a QT for their livestock) wishing they didn't use one. But I hear of plenty of people who wish they did.
Sorry if I didn't really answer any of your questions directly. I just though I would point out some things in case you didn't already know.

[mk1151]

There is not set or common time frame as to when a tank is finished cycling. A cycling tanks progress can only be monitored accurately though the use of test kits (at the least, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and Ph.). Each tank and system is different. I've heard some had their tanks cycle in just a few weeks. Others, a few months. Mine took two months. The tank should be left fishless for a week or two after ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and stay there. That will ensure a stable bacteria population.

For fish only tanks, bio balls can be used but for reef tanks, they should be avoided. They tend to trap crap and become nitrate factories. High nitrate levels are bad for corals. If you think you might be going the coral route, it's best to remove the bio balls now to prevent future problems. With a sufficient amount of live rock, bio balls are not needed anyway (applies to fish only tanks too).
If there's a chance you would convert to a reef tank, it's best you treat it like a reef tank from the start.
I noticed you didn't list a skimmer. Do you have one? Both fish only and reef tanks benefit from a proper skimmer.
As far as fish selection goes, most webistes that sell fish tell you weather or not it is reef safe. Angels, puffers, eels, a bunch of wrasses, etc... Are typicaly not considered reef safe. You're better off making a list of the fish you would like to have and then researching each specific fish's needs, requirements, and habits. That way, you can eliminate the fish that don't apply to your tanks configuration and narrow the list down to the best candidates for you. Another good idea, is to post your final fish list in a thread for others to see. Maybe someone will see something in your list that they know won't work and you'll know about it beforehand.
When you do start adding fish, make sure to add the least aggressive fish first and the most aggressive fish last. That will help keep the agression to a minimum in the community.
One last thing to consider... You didn't list weather or not you have or are going to have a quarantine tank. If you don't have one, you may want to reconsider. IMO, using a QT should be a basic fundamental for marine tanks. I've never heard of anyone ( who uses a QT for their livestock) wishing they didn't use one. But I hear of plenty of people who wish they did.
Sorry if I didn't really answer any of your questions directly. I just though I would point out some things in case you didn't already know.

So I just read the QT piece - it looks like a freshwater dip is also recommended and has some good upsides.

I do have a protein skimmer - I forgot to list it. It's setup and calibrated but I was told not to turn it on until I had at least a few fish in there.

Do invertebrates (starfish, crabs, anemone, coral) need to be put through a QT as well? The article only mentioned fish...

Also, I think the fish we'd like to have will probably mean that we won't go reef tank - we like Lionfish, puffers, Mandarins, etc. We will see.

[Original Fin]

Lionfish are fish predators. Anything that can fit in it's mouth (like a mandarin) would be done for. Best in a species only tank.
Puffers are not reef safe because they eat invertabrates. You would most likely not be able to keep a clean up crew of snails and crabs with a puffer, and they might develop a taste for corals too.
Mandarins are fantastic reef fish, but unfortunately they can be difficult to train to eat prepared foods. Unless you find tank raised mandys already trained for prepared foods, they will only eat live copepods. Most tanks younger than a year don't have enough pods in place yet to be self sustaining with a mandarin in the tank.

About the skimmer...I've read many different opinions on that while cycling. Don't forget that a byproduct of skimming is aeration of the water column. If you didn't have some other mechanism in place to do that, then I'd say run the skimmer to helb stabilize PH. If you are using a wet dry sump filter, thats probably taking care of your aeration needs. If all you had was live rock and a skimmer, I would definately run the skimmer durring cycling.

[leebca]

mk1151,

It's good to do the reading. But the one post you should follow and which contains the answers to your questions is this one:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

The link to the post above will contain other links to provide more info and details about certain things.