ok i think i got it lol right ???

[jrb27]

what i am trying to do is have a 48 gallon with a little bit of liverock live sand some coral and a couple fish not overstocked . i'm gathering info right now i have come to a concluion i will not buy a wet/dry .......but i will buy the good skimmer , heater, hydrometer, 50 lbs of liverock 25lbs livesand what else do you think i will need i want a couple clown fish , shrimp , and one of these Dwarf Octopus i seen on ebay so how do i go about setting it up ??

1 get the skimmer
2 get the oceansalt mix
3 get the water turning over
4 in a week or so order my cured live rock and sand
5cycle it then get fish

is this right ???

i would like to also say sorry for the 100000000 questions i am askin but i hate killing fish over not being prepared

[poppin_fresh]

You are close, but you still need to do a little more research. Please note, I'm not bashing, but you did say you wanted to get it right.

Honestly a skimmer is a very nice/usefull thing to have, but its not number 1. You need to get the tank full of water, mixed to the correct salinty, and add the LR. You do not need to buy live sand, the regular aragonite dry sand is fine. Even cured LR can cause a big cycle which could be harmful to fish.

You might want to check out some of the free podcasts that are available free for downloading. If you have Itunes (free) you can download and listen to them. Most of them provide a lot of information for the beginner... all FREE!