Here is my tank: Red Sea Peninsula 500. DP - 105 gal, sump 32. 160 lbs of dry Marco rock. 60 lbs CaribSea Special grade sand, 60 lbs CaribSea Special grade live sand. Filled tank on 1 Nov. Used Fritz Turbo start 900 + Ammonia Chloride to 3 ppm (accidently overdosed). Goal is to have a mixed reef aquarium. For the past 7 days my parameters have been stable:
Salinity: 1.027
Temp: 79
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates:0
Nitrites: 50-60
You can see from the pics that the tank is clean, almost too sterile looking but ok since only 2 weeks old. I could add a couple of clownfish now, but I would prefer to give the tank another 3-6 (or 2 or 3 months?) weeks to more fully mature. I am in absolutely no hurry and would like to wait until the tank is more mature in order to set the stage for long term stability. So..what does a mature tank look like? Yes, I know that this takes sometimes years, but for a new starter, what should be a "minimum" period of time and stable parameters? I know I will get a wide range of answers, but that is good, there will be a "theme" pattern of answers develop. Main question: During this period should I be ghost feeding or periodically adding some ammonia chloride to "feed" the bacteria population? Or can I just sit back and watch/monitor? THANKS!
Salinity: 1.027
Temp: 79
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates:0
Nitrites: 50-60
You can see from the pics that the tank is clean, almost too sterile looking but ok since only 2 weeks old. I could add a couple of clownfish now, but I would prefer to give the tank another 3-6 (or 2 or 3 months?) weeks to more fully mature. I am in absolutely no hurry and would like to wait until the tank is more mature in order to set the stage for long term stability. So..what does a mature tank look like? Yes, I know that this takes sometimes years, but for a new starter, what should be a "minimum" period of time and stable parameters? I know I will get a wide range of answers, but that is good, there will be a "theme" pattern of answers develop. Main question: During this period should I be ghost feeding or periodically adding some ammonia chloride to "feed" the bacteria population? Or can I just sit back and watch/monitor? THANKS!