New SW tank, need lots of help

Question
Hello, I am setting up, or have set up a new SW tank.  I have gotten 4 different response from 4 different people.  I need to know what I need to do at this point.  I have a 35 gallon tank, with a magnum 350 cannister filter, regular flourescent light at this time (old one from FW tank).  I started it yesterday afternoon with live sand.  My salinity or whatever it is called as of 10 minutes ago was at 1.022, temp was at 75.  I just added my heater and have it turned to 76 for now as I don't want to overheat, but had to let the water cool down as my tap water (i did treat and uncholorinate) is hot as I live in the deep south.  Now what do i do?  I was told by someone, nothing let it cycle, then I was told add a fish (maybe a damsel) I was also told add some live rock no fish and then told add a fish and some live rock.  HELP!!!!!! Is adding a little bit of live rock and one damsel enough to cycle this tank?  If so is it a good idea?  If not what do I need to do to cycle it.  My ph is 8.0, my ammonia when tested last night was the reading just above 0, I can not remember and I am work and my nitrites and nitrates were at 0.  Any help you can provide is great.

Answer
In short, everyone who has already given you advice is correct, and each of those methods will get your tank moving in the right direction. There are, however, some pitfalls to each which I will cover below.

"I was told by someone, nothing let it cycle..."

This may seem too simple to work, but it will indeed get your bio-filtration going and the tank ready for fish. The bacteria in the live sand you used will create enough nutrients to feed a fresh bacteria culture in your canister filter and thus get your tank ready for fish in about three to six weeks. By not adding rock at this point, you will make it harder to do later due to the fact that live rock may start a fresh cycle later. If you go this route and decide to add rock later, be sure to either use fully cured rock or dry rock. I would recommend you add a small amount of either fish food or table shrimp to get the cycle going if you decide to use this method.

"...I was told add a fish (maybe a damsel)..."

Like the above method, this will also yield a fully cycled tank, however, I would not recommend adding a damsel for cycling for two reasons. It is first and foremost cruel to add an animal to conditions that are known not to be ready for life, and it's is secondly just plain annoying to remove a, typically aggressive, damselfish later. As I said above, adding a small amount of fish food or table shrimp will add the necessary nutrients to get the cycle started.

"...I was also told add some live rock no fish..."

This is the method I would most recommend. Live rock is an extremely effective means of adding bio-filtration to your reef tank, and the bacteria that lives in it will also help get your cycle going. Tanks that are cycled with live rock in them often become stronger systems quicker than those without. As with before, I would recommend adding some fish food or table shrimp just to be sure the cycle is moving along.

"...then told add a fish and some live rock."

In contrast to the last method, this is the one I would least recommend. The reasons against cycling with a damselfish, listed above, are even more relevant due to the addition of live rock. Cycling with live rock will often cause conditions that are extremely harsh to fish with high levels of ammonia and nitrite and catching a damselfish out of a tank with plenty of live rock to hide in can be nearly impossible.

To sum up, cycling a fish tank is all about growing a bacteria culture that can properly process fish wastes and other nutrients that may find their way into an aquarium. This bacteria can be grown on many surfaces including the media in your canister filter, within the sand bed and within live rock. No matter where you are trying to grow your bio-filter, the first step of the process if to add a nutrient food source. In simple terms, this is a source of ammonia which can just as easily be dead animal matter as live animal waste.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.