so far, i have heard of two ways. the most popular is with the live rock. the other way that i've heard is with a dead shrimp, not exactly sure how that works, but it seems to be pretty popular. however, it is not a good idea to cycle a saltwater tank with fish. as far as i know, it has nothing to do with how mean the fish are, but rather that they are fish and chances are that they might die. hopefully somebody that has started more tanks than me will help you out, but i would stick with just the live rock. welcome to aquarium advice by the way. good luck