What is the Meaning of a Mature Tank?

[Billldg]

The title says is all, what is the meaning of a mature tank. I have read hundreds of threads about fellow reefers loosing frags and the saying the tank isn't seasoned enough, or the tank isn't mature enough comes up a lot, myself included. OK, I get it, but how long then. What is needed to be done to help tank mature. How long is long enough. What do I need to look for to say, OK, my tank is now able to hold SPS frags. I'm sure their r hundreds, if not thousands of fellow reefers who would like this answered also as it seems to be a gray area in which their is no definite answer. So please, veteran reefers, chime in and let use newbie reefers know what to look for, Thanks!!!

 

[James M]

Following but isn’t a mature tank, a tank with stability

 

[bubbaque]

I think it means your tanks parameters are stable and you are well past the algae and cyano stage.

If you are still having algae issues I would say your tank isn’t ready, as algae growing can make nutrients unstable.

 

[Jason mack]

The title says is all, what is the meaning of a mature tank. I have read hundreds of threads about fellow reefers loosing frags and the saying the tank isn't seasoned enough, or the tank isn't mature enough comes up a lot, myself included. OK, I get it, but how long then. What is needed to be done to help tank mature. How long is long enough. What do I need to look for to say, OK, my tank is now able to hold SPS frags. I'm sure their r hundreds, if not thousands of fellow reefers who would like this answered also as it seems to be a gray area in which their is no definite answer. So please, veteran reefers, chime in and let use newbie reefers know what to look for, Thanks!!!

I would say that a mature tank is a tank 12 months and older ... in the first year of its life it goes through many changes .. your stocking with fish and invertebrates..which alter the bio load .. adding corals so your parameters are all over the place .. and as mentioned sps corals need stability in parameters.. you will probably change or add too your scape in the first year too .. remember it’s an eco system .. this takes time ... these are a few of the reasons that make a tank mature imo ....

 

[Jason mack]

A good way is too just try ... buy a small easy sps frag.. and see how it does .. just research first !! That would be my advice

 

[roberthu526]

I would say a tank that doesn’t get tinkered and all the routine has been in place for at least a year and everything is thriving. It’s the kind of tank that rarely have surprises.

 

[Crabby48]

I think if you look in the dictionary for the meaning of mature tank it would say:
@Paul B

 

[Ashish Patel]

Its when the LR becomes established and covered with life.. This life is the so vital to the ecosystem and it shows with simple things like PE and healing abilities. SPS wont thrive until a reef is mature or close to it as theres is an symbiotic relationship between them and this maturity.. I would say LPS and softies do not really care and will do just fine with some nutrients and appropriate light and flow.

 

[Punchanello]

I have my first reef tank which is about 7 months old, I think I am somewhere about the half way mark. I think I have achieved a level of stability in the sense that I am keeping my alk, calcium and magnesium steady and keeping SPS alive. I am still struggling with algae and nutrient issues though.

 

[YumaMan]

Our retiring reefer friend Matt from Boom Corals always said, "If you are growing coraline algae, you can maintain acros." I would add that if you can maintain acros, you can maintain a great many of the more common coral species. I don't know if that makes for a mature tank, but it does describe a tank that's ready for some serious coral collecting!

 

[Reef of Fillory]

The title says is all, what is the meaning of a mature tank. I have read hundreds of threads about fellow reefers loosing frags and the saying the tank isn't seasoned enough, or the tank isn't mature enough comes up a lot, myself included. OK, I get it, but how long then. What is needed to be done to help tank mature. How long is long enough. What do I need to look for to say, OK, my tank is now able to hold SPS frags. I'm sure their r hundreds, if not thousands of fellow reefers who would like this answered also as it seems to be a gray area in which their is no definite answer. So please, veteran reefers, chime in and let use newbie reefers know what to look for, Thanks!!!

My opinion is that the term/phrase "mature tank" is a cop-out for a lot of people trying to provide responses to others regarding why something might have gone wrong. The reality of our hobby is that we don't know a whole lot about what we're doing, why we're doing it or even whether what we're doing actually does something meaningful in terms of fish/coral/invert well-being. It's changing slowly [no-water-change movement, Triton, ATI, Red Sea etc.] and becoming more mainstream to question the "this is just how it should be done" with "alternative" reefing methods being suggested only for experienced reefers.

I do understand the reasoning behind responding to people who are seemingly new to the hobby by telling them "continuously change your water, if you change enough volume - often enough, you will avoid issues". And then when issues arise it's "your tank isn't matured yet".

Just my Opinion of course

 

[Oshengems]

In my opinion it’s about the lil creatures that we can’t see, the population of bacteria in your tank is not just the anearobic and aerobic bacteria but also pods certain algaes like coraline a lot of factor that matures a tank. It’s the overall balance of the tank that I think people refer to once your tank reaches that balance point where it’s stable is what people refer to as mature, when you can add stock and not cause crazy swings in any parameters because everything is in balance. It’s a food pyramid that’s starts with ammonia and continues to larger creatures like corals and fish. Don’t think it’s related to Ca Kh or Mag since I we can achieve that by simply testing and adjusting and that does not take a year to achieve.

 

[Yvonne Wong]

To me a mature tank is teeming with life, live rock have sponges on them, a healthy population of copepods, amphipods, etc that can feed demanding fish, stable water parameters, and the tank only need occasional water change, etc. A mature tank take years to develop. It is so stable that you can take off your protein skimmmer and tank still thrives.

 

[Ferrell]

I have my first reef tank which is about 7 months old, I think I am somewhere about the half way mark. I think I have achieved a level of stability in the sense that I am keeping my alk, calcium and magnesium steady and keeping SPS alive. I am still struggling with algae and nutrient issues though.

I’m in the same boat

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Here is what I look for when judging if a reef tank is "mature". Plenty of pods and other similar micro fauna are present and thriving, sponges are growing on the rock and low light areas, coraline is growing well all over, nutrient levels are stable and fairly predictable, algae blooms have passed. This can and does take some time and there is little that can be done to speed mature a tank. 6 months to 2 years may be needed to fully mature a new tank. If you use real, clean, cured live rock 6 to 12 months is a pretty normal time frame. Dry rock will take longer at up to 2 years but most peopel seem to see a real turn around just past a year. Dry rock takes longer because its dry and dead, live rock gives you a huge jump start.

 

[SPR1968]

I’m think it’s mature when it over 12 months old and has a balanced eco system with everything in place.

I couldn’t keep many SPS until the tank hit 12 months and then something happened and I can keep them fine now. As to what happened I have no idea, maybe it matured!

 

[Belgian Anthias]

A matured tank is for me a zero emission system that has found its balance between producers, consumers and reducers , the biological balance, can support the bio-load to maintain this balance and growth while keeping the water quality desired. It has developed an affective carrying capacity, based on the ability to reduce ammonia, to support the present and growing bio-loadn in balance to what is supplemented. A mature tank has a matured owner. It may take years. My first experience with marine aquaria I had in 1974, but that fact only does not make me a matured owner.

 

[GrouperBait]

I rarely post on R2R but your post triggered something in me and I can’t sleep so here goes so rambling:
I think a generic time frame like “a year” or the phrase “having the ability to grow something” is not a very good definition. My tank started its cycle thanksgiving last year and I added fish and coral around Christmas. Before the 10 week mark, I had added an anemone, montipora plate, stylo, and seriatopora. None of which should have gone into a tank before 3 months, but all of which are thriving. The stylo is growing up the glass. (55dt/29sump) and my clowns are showing signs of breeding any day now (got them as babies)
My first tank I had in college was 4 years old when I moved and broke it down and I’m not sure it ever even went through a cycle! I had absolutely now clue what I was doing, and that is an understatement! It’s hilarious to think I could even keep a fish alive. So I have an extremely hard time with people who slap the word “mature” or “established” just because of how old a tank is. Time means nothing without ability or effort or knowledge.

I think ‘stable’ needs to be an underlying factor, but again, stability is extremely dependent of the reefers knowledge and ability and willingness to do anything....which can imply daily maintenance (a UHM tank) or that can mean keeping your hands off.
“Stable tank” should really replace “mature tank” and a stable tank can be achieved at any stage of the game.
For example, if you dump a bottle or two of bacteria in a tank and do a 100% water change every single day, I bet you could grow any sps you want starting on day 1. And at that point, who cares if a tank is mature? Is the end goal to have an old tank or to have a thriving tank? We cannot forget that they are not the same thing! I know that’s a bit ridiculous but I’m trying to make a point. If I’m able to grow anything with my 100% water change every day schedule, then the definition shouldn’t include anything about growth or life because that can be achieved at day 1 if you put it the work. Just because a reef tank is 10 years old, that doesn’t mean it can grow GSP! It just means some has had water in a bucket for 10 years. The reverse is also true—a baby tank has the ability to grow anything if you put in the work and make it stable. So we are starting to see that “mature tank” is becoming less about time and more dependent on the reef keeper, you see?

I was (and still am) a huge tinker-er.
And I would do a water change of 30g in a brute at least once a week when it first started. I still change up my aquascape all the time because I enjoy it. But the tank is still “stable” and if I had more room I could add pretty much add anything without much fear. I took out my protein skimmer 2 weeks ago to go in my new build and there are no problems (fuge takes care of nutrients) but if there were, I would just buy another one and continue to monitor and adjust accordingly. If I am able to do anything to make it stable and grow coral and keep everything happy, then why does it matter if it is “mature”? If your tank is 100 years old and you corals are just barely hanging in there, I would chose my young thriving tank every time.

Reef keeping has come a long way in a short amount of time and I think it’s time we realize the same can be said about a “mature tank”. We have the ability now to monitor and stabilize basically every part of the ecosystem within days, so really, who cares about the level of maturity? That’s not really a reason for anything anymore. The biggest issue is that we don’t want to monitor and test and adjust. We want instant results and low effort. But neglect is not an ingredient for stability.
I agree with part of a previous post earlier—the phrase “mature tank” is generally used as a cop-out for when someone has a problem and then the person replying doesn’t know the answer.

So to answer your question of “what is a mature tank?”: 2 part answer:
First off, who cares? It means absolutely nothing and it isn’t an indicator of anything about the tank. If you’re looking to measure an ecosystems ability to do something, then that is dependent on the knowledge of the tanks keeper. Any tank can do anything if you’re willing to do anything to make it stable, and most people are not and they just use the cop out word “mature tank” when they lack knowledge or ability or motivation.
Second: let’s take the opposite and spin it around and we can conclude that a “mature tank” is a thriving ecosystem that can be maintained by anyone, including someone who does not have the knowledge or ability or willingness to understand and adapt and learn about their tank.
If you die and your tank is still thriving on its own ability to be stable (and you have an auto feeder), you have a mature tank. But I’m not ready to test out that theory quite yet

 

[GrouperBait]

Ok dont read my novel....Belgian anthias summed it up nicely

 

[Paul B]

This question was certainly answered by a few of the posters here. It has nothing to do with time. You can't say it will mature by Tuesday at 3:27PM eastern standard time. A tank is all dependent on chemicals and the interaction of bacteria, viruses, parasites, sponges, algae and all the rest of the microfauna that lives in the rock. Those things and the mood they are in determines how healthy and mature a tank is. There is no time frame but it will take over a year, maybe 5 years maybe 2.

If your tank uses 100% asw and never has inputs from the sea, it will mature later. I use some NSW and mud from the sea so my tank almost started out mature. But we all can't do that just like we all can't do the Tango.