How long does it take a tank to “mature”?

[ReefGeezer]

Mature means the tank recycles a lot of nutrients and uses a lot of organics. The substrate is covered by biofilm, coralline, corals, and etc.. Sponges and tube worms are growing in the dark areas of the reef. Maintenance tasks are established and water chemistry is stable. It means skimmers, GFO reactor, algal filters, and etc. are less important.

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

id say two years for "fully". one year for 70%... in the first year there are just too many changes being made and some changes sometimes set us back a bit

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

That's for sure, I'm at 18 mos with my set up, and I've had a lot of nutrient swings. one month coralline is hard to keep off the glass next month noting.... one month my N&P sky rockets, the next its undetectable. I'm still waiting on a balanced system. That doesn't mean I can't keep coral alive, but it does mean that the coral I have aren't getting the stability to grow like it should.

 

[krash7172]

It took about 18 months for the tank and owner (me) to mature as new reefer.

 

[klimfish]

So my tank was up and running for 3.5 years when the original owner had to. Move out of state very quickly. I've had the tank ten months. I took 100% of the water and rock and rookie mistake sand as well. Tear down to up and running again less than 3 hours. Pod population sky high. Is my tank mature? Ive also upgraded equipment along the way as well.

No, test your parameters and use observation to determine this.

 

[Enchanted Reefs]

I'm sure a tank can mature under a year but it would need stable parameters and for you to not mess/move things around or continuously add livestock which for us reefers is impossible to

 

[ca1ore]

Don’t have the foggiest. New tank needs to progress through the various bacterial and algae cycle (which would be my personal definition of ‘mature’), but a tank is changing and evolving all the time ....

 

[Omar Marambio]

I think it depends on the tank but between 12 months and 18 months, however adding fish, corals and rock may re start a mini cycle.

 

[AeldariDrukhari]

How long does it really take a tank to “mature” as people commonly call it. What are they key factors to properly maturing a tank. I’ve seen a lot of people say 1 whole year for a tank to become fully mature. Do you agree. Could this process be speed up and if so how. Also how do you know you have a mature system? Tanks

I have been in the hobby for quite a while now. On and off, but maybe it's me, or does it seem the topic of a mature tank is only being discussed more recently? For me it makes sense because most people drop out of the hobby because it's very tedious and cumbersome trying to get all the parameters right. This should help hobbyist be more patient and look forward to an establish self sustaining aquarium.

 

[Benray4fun]

The tank cycles in roughly in 6-8 weeks if that's what you mean. Maturing depends on what you're trying to keep, if it's clown fish then you're there, if it's a bunch of corals then you're not.
It takes time to mature a tank depending on what you want to put in...

 

[RP709]

Minimum 1 year of complete system stability and natural coraline algae growth can also be a good yardstick.

 

[vetteguy53081]

When you dont have to change water as frequent because your parameters are satisfactory and you are experiencing coral growth and fish and coral are happy with little change to be made to sustain them- Tank is CONSIDERED Mature.

 

[nmqtrhrse]

Probably a year. Very few water changes needed. Parameters are steady. Clean water. Happy corals. Happy fish. Red Sea Reefer 250. I have matured as well because I research all the time.

 

[FishPersonFL]

Overall at least a year. For me it took almost 2 years. A big part for me is getting in my head what is the right combo of attributes that make my tank and corals health. It seems I'm quite stable after 18 months, after all my algae cycles -- I just have some bubble now. My nitrates were low for a while then spiked for instance, and they are back down with some tweeks. I know my combo for my tank is lower nitrates, with lower phoshpate, medium alk, and medium light. That took maturity on my part with failing and fianally success at my set point. So maturity is a mix of the tank itesself "setting" in and the keeper learning what attributes work best for that tank.

 

[X-37B]

When you dont have to change water as frequent because your parameters are satisfactory and you are experiencing coral growth and fish and coral are happy with little change to be made to sustain them- Tank is CONSIDERED Mature.

Nice! I think it depends on your experience level. If a tank is set up right and the reefer knows what he is doing then you can have a mature tank in a short period of time imo.
You need all equipment in place and know how to operate it efficiantly. Stability wins! My 120 is 7 months old with zero water changes.This is a pic at 6 months. Coralline and corals are growing. Is it mature? Maybe? But its stable for sure.

 

[Justin Opheim]

After one year when the tank is mature is that when you see the most coral growth? Also when a tank is mature do you have to do water changes still?

I would disagree on this thought. I think stability and making sure corals are happy ( parameters) is key to growth. I'm less them 6 months into my tank and it is thriving, and the same can be said for a tank I have at work. That is about 6 months as well and is heavily stocked with SPS with tremendous growth.

I think the key to a mature tank as some have said is the stability of the eco system.

 

[X-37B]

I would disagree on this thought. I think stability and making sure corals are happy ( parameters) is key to growth. I'm less them 6 months into my tank and it is thriving, and the same can be said for a tank I have at work. That is about 6 months as well and is heavily stocked with SPS with tremendous growth.

I think the key to a mature tank as some have said is the stability of the eco system.

Well said!

 

[Cro55bonez]

I think the main thing people to point to is copious amounts of coralline algae

How long does coralline take? Ive been up and running for about 5ish months and I dont have any signs of coralline. Definitely do not need to clean glass.

 

[X-37B]

Depends. Did you start with live rock? My tank was started with 30lbs live 30lbs caribsea. The live rock came from my 2 year old nano.
I just set up my 45 frag tank 1 month ago with 2 pieces of live rock in the tank and about 20lbs in sump. Already getting spots on the power heads and overflow. Dead rock will take longer. My caribsea lost all its color but now looks like live rock with all the coralline on it.
Parameter stability is a must too.

 

[afuel]

This is a loaded question lol. First it depends on what kind of coral you are talking about. For softies and LPS you can have "dirtier" water meaning that they can tolerates more phosphates and nitrates, or even swings in alkalinity. For SPS, you want a stable tank. SPS are not so forgiving when it comes to temperature and parameter swings. They can bleach on you in a hurry.

So you can enjoy coral growth for softies and LPS while you are waiting for your tank to mature, but you will probably see the most growth once it is mature.

You will have to monitor your water chemistry. I would recommend doing water changes still because it is a method of nutrient export as well as a way to kind of keep everything in line if you aren't dosing anything. You can possibly get away with no water changes with the Triton method, the Balling Method, or Reef Moonshiners method.

First time I’ve heard carbon dosing called the reef moonshiners method Good stuff