cycling a tank without fish
 

Hello,
Im trying to cycle a tank without fish at the moment and im trying to figure out how much food i should be seeding the tank with to mimic the waste products of a fish? certain types of food better? at what point would i be able to add a hermit or some snails to help with the algae? would appreciate any help on getting this tank going.

Cheers!

No food is needed, or very little if you really want to, add a little part of a raw shrimp, and After 4 weeks you can add hermits and snails. they will eat algae and produce waste. This is very ! good idea to cycle your tank with out the fish.
After your tank has gone through a few algae/ciano cycles (it could take from 2 to 6 month) you can add fish, make sure to add No more then one fish In a two week or longer period to provide sufficient time to adjust for new bioload.
You can buy corals that you DO NOT have to feed like mushrooms, polyps etc, at any time after you tank is ready for live stock.
Congrats, you doing it right from the start, good job ! Learn from our mistakes !

I cycled my 90gal with 1 piece of cocktail shrimp.

Phhhppht, I've cycled all my SW tanks with nothing but live rock.

The die-off caused by the transportation process provides all the NH4 you need to cycle. In fact, if you get enough "cured" live rock in there you don't even need to cycle.

Sorry for being super noob, what is ciano?

ive got alot of green hair algae growing and some brown slimy stuff on the glass making bubbles. a couple feather dusters that came with my rock seem to be happy as clams... everything going as it should?

Slimy staff is ciano, could be brown and or red.
If you already have algae, you do not need any dead shrimps or fish in the system. The cycle is on its way just be patient and do not buy anything that you will have to feed as it will only make it harder to fight hair algae.

Consider phosphate removal with two little fishes reactor media.
protein skimmer is a must from day one, buy the best one you can afford but nothing for less then $500 retail. Used skimmer is as good as new as long as it works, look for one with larger air mixing volume, at least 600 L/hr anything less then that is not worth your money.