Acros in New Tank

[ElementSquaredLLC]

Hey All,

I hear all the time that a tank needs to be a year or two old before it can have acros in it. I am curious why that is? Assuming you are able to keep Alk, Ca, Mg, and traces stable, along with nitrates and phosphates, what else is lacking that a more established tank would have? this is all assuming that the tank has gone through the initial cycling and gotten the ugly phase out of the way during the first few months. I am just trying to get ahead of anything. This is my tank. 4 months old right now. Went through ugly phase pretty quickly and No3 and Po4 have been stable since then. Basic parameters below....

Alk- 8.5-9
Ca- 420-440
Mg- 1400
No3- 5
Po4- .05

Lots of sticks obviously. They have been doing fine, not dying, but not seeing crazy growth either.

 

[Tahoe61]

Most experienced sps keepers don't buy onto that urban myth. However I like to get a couple months in and add an easy sps type for starters.
It's the same for BTAs, no your tank doesn't have to be 6 months old before you can add a BTA.

 

[edsbeaker]

^Agree with the above. It’s best to wait a couple of months. When you see that you are able to keep your parameters stable you are ready to give it a try. With a newer tank it is just harder to do this, and so it’s a recommendation that is probably aimed more at the novice and not so much for those with more experience who can achieve this skill quicker.