Mature Tank !!

[Yasser]

Hi everyone.. I have always heard that expression, but I don't really understand what it means.. if my tank is two month old, all readings are undetectable (except Nitrate of 10ppm), readings are stable for the last 2 weeks, then will this qualify the tank to be "matured" ? or is there other parameters that we do not test that needs to stabilize?

I wanted to add a Xenia and a Mushroom, but everybody says that I need the tank to "age" first.. is this true ? and why ?

70Gal, 45 pounds LR, two rock with some type of Favia, "doing quite well", hermit crabs, three damsels,some snails including a conous textile, other crabs, etc.

 

[goldenmacman]

well mature tank refers to everything in the tank; live rock, live sand, actual bacteria in the water, on the rocks and in the filter.. also if your running metal halides, they take a few weeks to break in approx. 100 hours.. so being that your tank is 2 mo. old, it is not considered mature, just because the test kits say that your chemistry is okay doesnt mean your tank is ready for corals like flowerpots... answer your question?

 

[ReefGuy69]

just means you need to give your tank time. Look at it this way. a 6 year old had skin, bones, walks and talks.sometimes can even out smart an adult. that doesnt mean you throw them in the middle of NYC with a wallet full of cash and a car key to their very own BMW. you wait until they are old enough to handle themselves, have been through many life experiences. Basically your tank builds upall the good bacteria. and stabalizes and you will gain alot of experience asyour tank matures as well. you will both mature together.

 

[jnohs]

i would say a mature tank is on year old. but that can be trumped though. I have a 75 gallon for 3 months now. but i put all my rock and animals from a previous 2 year olld tank. so my tank matured very very fast. I would venture to say that my tank is mature. as far as a biological stand point. but in a year it will truly be matured. also if your tank is 2 months old and has cycled then you are ready to put corals in it. SLOWLY!!!!

I would be very carefull of the soft corals you choose to put in there. after you grow out of soft corals and move to hard corals. they can be very annoying. xenia is cool i think because it wont harm any other corals. but mushrooms and zoas can grow fast and they will harm your hard corals. generally. Then most people move to lps corals because they are genrally consideredeasier to grow then sps corals. I find that this is not true. for me sps have been a blessing. gorwing and multplying fast. and a lot of lps corals have strog stingers so they can not be placed near each other and can be very annoying if you ask me.


i dont mean to jam you with info but just read this and take what you want from it.

I would stay away from almost all lps coral because of there stingers and are genrally slow growers.

I would stay away from soft corals that generate toxic mucus. like mushrooms, polyps, toadstool. even though i have all of these only because i have them from the begening of my reefing experience.

I have medium light power. No metal halides just t5 and pc lights. and I have some sps corals on the very bottem of my tank because any higher up and they burn. so dont let the local fish store teel you that you cant keep sps with out metal halides. If you go with an sps start with a brown one they seem to be a little easier then the super bright colored ones. it might even color up anyway.

obvilousy i wouldnt start with sps corals. and definalty staert with some soft corals. just start with a few and not to many/ then go slowly in to sps corals.

one last very very very very very important thing that took me 2 years to learn. Dont feed!!!! Maybe once a week thats it. My corals never really grew fast untill i fanally stoped feeding. And i have 4 fish that are fat and plump and i do not feed. water clarity gets better parametes get better and less water changes are necessary.

sorry for the long blah blah blah but just putiing my 2 cents in.

 

[lcstorc]

Well here comes my 2 pennies.
To me a system continues to mature over time.
Personally I consider a system mature when it has had stable water parameters for a year or more.
I do not however think you need to wait that long for soft corals such as mushrooms, xenia, etc. For those you want to be sure your cycle has completed and your parameters are stable and then add slowly. IMO you are ready to start adding softies slowly. Always go slow and see how things react.
Also as you start adding corals you are going to want to run a few more tests. Calc, Alk, and Mag will all become important so you should get those tests now.

 

[islandcreation]

1 year. The only reason why I say that is based on corals (which is generally a good indicator). Around my one year mark my sps were having great polyp extension and growth. Nothing changed as far as lighting or water parameters. Just time...

 

[Yasser]

Thanks a lot for the wealth of info I really appreciate it.

 

[Yasser]

Thanks LYNN, Make sence, I will go slow, one Mushroom first then a Xenia.. I DO NOT want to have an animal and then let it die (that is my MAIN concern).
But just for the sake of my information, a hypothetical question: if everything is stable for 2,3 weeks -including Calc, and Alk, does this override the "time mature thing" ? or still there are some things still under construction, bacteria colonies for example ? Please note that the tank after 5 weeks now is teaming with life, some forms I don't know yet ! I have just noticed a Larva of something swimming this morning don't know what it is yet.
I can say based on these new emergings of life that the conditions are quite ok.

 

[lcstorc]

I would agree that the conditions sound just fine.
With every addition you adjust your chemistry. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
The addition of a few mushrooms is not going to tax the tank much at all and the xenia will be the same.
Adding fish or corals that must be target fed it is a much larger impact since your de-nitrifying bacteria needs a chance to catch up.
Stony corals you need to monitor and adjust your calc/alk additions to adjust for the new additions.
The other softie warning is with leathers. I have quite a few and love them, but they are known for their chemical warfare. Be sure you have good flow around them (not blasting just good) and run carbon to absorb the toxins)
For things such as anemones and the expert level corals you really just need the time for the bacteria to build up and the tank to settle in. It is partly for the tank to mature and partly for the reefkeeper to gain knowledge. These animals are very intollerant of any type of change and a new tank is much more likely to have an issue of some type just like a new reefer is more likely to make an error.
IMO the best plan is to grow with your reef. Start with softies, then move to LPS, then to SPS, clams, and anemones as you and your tank mature. This gives you time to gain knowledge and your tank time to settle.

 

[cheeks69]

A tank takes time to mature and don't just go by what your test kits tell you because there's alot going on that just can't be measured. Bacterial colonies {aerobic/anaerobic} take time to colonize the surface area in your tank and as your bio-load increases these colonies need time to adjust. Also your tank will go thru chemical fluctuations the first few months and needs time to stabilize {calcium/alkalinity/magnesium/ph} before adding any stony corals.

 

[burning2nd]

2 more penny's lynn

this question comes along every once and a while,
and this time ive come to the conclusion that, after a few crash's some lost live stock and loss loved fish, the understanding of what a Mature tank can do, that a new non Mature cant.


its more then just readings, and chemistry its time,

 

[burning2nd]

not to mention with this
"70Gal, 45 pounds "

you will have problems,

 

[Yasser]

2 more penny's lynn

this question comes along every once and a while,
and this time ive come to the conclusion that, after a few crash's some lost live stock and loss loved fish, the understanding of what a Mature tank can do, that a new non Mature cant.


its more then just readings, and chemistry its time,

Very in-lighting indeed.. Thank you.