how deep should a dsb be (and other newbie q's)?

[ryan]

I've done freshwater for years but i am completely out of my element here, so i surfed these boards and found out a lot of good information. however i am still sketchy on a few things.

first things first, the tank is a 29 gallon (small i know) i already have several Ac powerheads, and two med. sized hob's left over from fw tanks. I plan to get a small skimmer after the tank has cycled. My current lighting situation is a single 20 watt tube. i hope to upgrade this but the money has to be there first. Im kind of doing this in steps.

How deep should a dsb be and how much of it should be live sand off the bat (pre cycle) to seed the rest. Also i know the inverts stir up the dsb to keep it rotated, but where do they come from?

I was also wondering if this was an acceptable order of doing things...

put in X amount of white playsand from lowes (old castle brand i believe) along with dry lace rock from the lfs. Add Ro water from the lfs. run powerheads, empty HOB's, and add salt (instant ocean). once the salt has mixed in for a few days add live sand and a cocktale shrimp. Let the biological magic happen. after cycle add (cured or uncured?) live rock, fish and inverts (?)

ryan

[ozzy]

I plan to get a small skimmer after the tank has cycled.
you should have this first,and run it as your tank cycles
several Ac powerheads, and two med. sized hob'
add them as well for your cycle
My current lighting situation is a single 20 watt tube. i hope to upgrade
lighting in a Reef tank is very very important,however-a FOLR (fish only w/live rock) lighting is not as important,but more is always better,I would run atleast 100 watts over that tank
How deep should a dsb be
4-6 inches
how much of it should be live sand off the bat (pre cycle) to seed the rest I would not add this to my tank,I would order the 9 for $99. from IPSF (http://www.ipsf.com)
mmmmmm
HTH