New tank build, when to add first corals?

[BigDom75]

Hi Everyone!

I am new to the community and hobby, but I am jumping in the deep end. I just stood up a 220g tank and have a few questions. I am about 4.5 weeks in, the tank was cycled at about 3 weeks. I started with dry rock and used Fritz Turbo start to get things rolling. I began a quarantine process for my first 3 fish, 2 clowns and 1 royal gramma slightly before my display started cycling. After 4 weeks in quarantine and looking healthy, I moved them into the display and all went well. I cleaned and did a water change on my QT and left to the store to get my next round of fish and my first round of CUC.

While I was gone, we had contractors in the house doing some paint work. They sanded a door near my uncovered QT tank (my fault for leaving open) and when I returned, the water was covered in paint particles. I didnt want to expose the new fish to the tainted QT and I wasnt going to have time to change the water fast enough, so I decided to skip the QT process and add the new fish directly to the display (not ideal but felt like I had to take the risk). The new fish are 1 kole tang, 1 royal blue tang, 1 tailspot blenny, and 2 purple firefish. I got them from North Dallas Aquarium, who seems to be the premier provider in my area. The initial CUC is ~20 astrea snails, and 10-20 blue leg and scarlet reef hermits. All fish are looking healthy, eating, and acting normal (based on my research), but I am still watching closely. Meanwhile, the QT is cleaned and ready in case any need to be moved back. Question 1: should I just remove the cup, and let it flow out of the base? Overall, I probably just need to be patient and figure this out myself since I have seen it may take several weeks. The foam is still white as there isnt a lot of waste in the system yet and I have been changing filter socks regularly.

I dont plan on buying new fish for a bit, as I want the QT free just in case and and I probably need to see how the tank reacts to 7 fish added in the space of 2 days. Question 2: I have seen conflicting information on this. What are the circumstances I should feel good about adding my first corals? Is it just stable parameters for X amount of time? Any recommendations on what to start with past a few zoas? Its a big tank, but I want to increase the bio load of fish and corals at a reasonable pace for a beginner to keep up with the screwups that I will inevitabley make.

Please let me know if there are more deatils needed about the tank setup that would affect your ability to answer. I didnt want to inflate the post with too much info. Thanks in advance for any help and advice, I am sure this is the first post of many.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't see the word skimmer anywhere in your post but I assume your question 1 refers to the skimmer break in period? I personally keep the cup on and let it do its thing. For me its not just about a break in period, its also a period for me to learn more about this new skimmer. If you want to take the cup off thats fine too, the tank still gets the benefit of the oxygenation.

Question 2 I believe is up to the individual hobbyist. Depends on your knowledge and experience and confidence in the hobby. Many hobbyists can set up a tank and fill it with corals right away. Some others need to - or should - wait. Do you know about lighting, are your lights sufficient? You have good flow? Good maintenance habits? Do you know the difference between API tests and hanna tests? Do you know the types of coral and what they generally need to keep alive?

See where I'm going, thats why there is so much conflicting info, everyone is different so no one rule can apply to everyone.

 

[BigDom75]

I guess the part about the skimmer got deleted. I just turned the skimmer on a few days after the fish were added. Skimmer has been on 24 hours now. Here are some videos.

On the skimmer, should I raise even more? Its about 8" which is the correct height for this model. Also, are the bubbles leaking out of the control line an issue? Or should I just expect it to look like this until broken in?

On the 2nd video, I assume the bubbles in the tank are a byproduct of the skimmer issue. Anything I should do there?

 

[Aqua Ultraviolet]

1: Yes, remove the skimmer cup and let it run wet (overflow out the base) for now while it breaks in. Keep emptying it regularly and be patient it’ll start producing skim as the tank matures.

2: Wait for stable parameters (ammonia/nitrite 0, nitrates <10-20 ppm, consistent pH/alk) for at least 2–4 weeks with the current bioload. Start simple with easy softies like zoas, mushrooms, or xenia. Add slowly and monitor.

Sounds like your fish are settling in fine. Keep up the water changes and observation.
Good luck!