mooric Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 ....should I let my tank mature before I consider adding in things more delicate than a fish? I have had the tank running since before Christmas, and tank parameters are nice and steady now. Only issue I have currently is a little GHA but the CUC is slowly working that down. So how mature does one's tank need to be? TIA Moo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mraeric Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 From the reading I've done, it seems that the general recommendation is to wait until you have all of the fish you would eventually like in the tank to have been in the tank for a while before adding corals/other stuff. Just because adding a couple fish can add to the bioload of the tank so quickly that the mild changes in water parameters can have an adverse effect on invertebrates. I'm not even close to an expert though, so I'm sure someone else can answer the question a little more specifically than I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mraeric Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 OOO! And if you have a skimmer, you usually want to wait a few weeks to 'break it in' and fine tune the skimming. Obviously pristine water conditions and quality are a must for anything more delicate than fish. So that could increase wait time as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 +1--->>I think if its corals you would be ok, they dont put a bio-load on the tank. If its fish u wanna add then do it slow. As long as all parameters are ok than you shld be fine for corals, but when u do u hv 2 keep track of all the water parameters and water quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 It really depends on what you are planning for your target organisms. If you want a couple of clowns and an anenome right now is probably a pretty good time for the clowns. But you would want to wait for another month or so for the anenome. If you have a refugium you may want to wait for it to mature more. 3 Months is really a minimum for a good food refugium before you start to put predatory (yes a clown fish is a predator) fish in the tank. Eueopean reefers reccomend 1 year before putting in anything that is not a strict herbavore including most corals. Most US people are not near that patient. That being said, in my 90 that has been maturing for 5 months or so i have a crazy amount of planktonic life in the sand and in the rock. So, what are you looking at putting in your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Eueopean reefers reccomend 1 year before putting in anything that is not a strict herbavore including most corals. Most US people are not near that patient. Yeah, Americans suck at being patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I wouldn't be as patient as I have been without a few life events forcing me to wait so long. That being said, I am super surprised at what I am seeing in my tank after leaving it alone with just the algae blenny. Copepods/shrimps 3/8" long all over the place. I'm very happy seeing it and anticipating happy mandarin's in a couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wippit Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Yeah, Americans suck at being patient. What?? Don't tell me there isn't a credit-card solution that will let me have an amazing tank in less than 24 hours!! <G> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wippit Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Copepods/shrimps 3/8" long all over the place. When I get my tank going I want a scoop of sand and some water from your changes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 What?? Don't tell me there isn't a credit-card solution that will let me have an amazing tank in less than 24 hours!! <G> Sure there is, it will not look the same in 2 weeks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 When I get my tank going I want a scoop of sand and some water from your changes! Not a problem. Just let me know when. The time is still essential though. I got sand and rock from ~10 different sources and still needed to give it much time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.