What started the notion that upon completing your first nitrogen cycle you are ready for CORAL?

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

This is exactly why it doesn’t matter. Corals have a very small bioload and are not going to produce ammonia levels like fish do. Physiologically they are also not as sensitive to ammonia as fish are. Not saying they do not respond negatively to ammonia (although there are always exceptions) but they are definitely not as sensitive to it as fish.

Also I’ll argue that it is better for your reef tank’s microbiome to add a variety of corals earlier rather than later. In my head it’s along the same lines as the hygiene theory for children, I think my baby tank will be healthier and more resistant to disease if I expose it to more biodiversity early on rather than later.

Corals use ammonia as food, so having them in an "uncycled" tank is not an issue.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Just wanted to say hi! I informed me earlier that I'm not allowed to play here or I'll get in trouble. I was right..

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Back to defining tank maturity! This is like full R2R circle for me lol my first thread on here besides my build thread was a discussion asking “What makes a tank ‘mature’?”

I think what is triggering to me about this, is that it puts people who do tons of research both online and at their lfs or with local hobbyists and who put a lot of time and preparation into setting up their first tank with the people who saw Dory at the petco grabbed a 10g tank and some salt off the shelf and plopped them into a tank and a week later come on here and ask why their fish is playing dead on the bottom of the tank.

This is why the absolutisms don’t work, the spectrum of people on this forum is too wide.

Can Vouch...

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

I was hoping someone would say what you just said here, and don't get me wrong, I am TOTALLY not against biodiversity in fact I am a huge proponent of it. The issue I take is with how "maturity" is measured, and while you and others may not mean to, you attach timeframes to maturity, which we all do to some degree, but it's something I try to stay away from.

So what if I was to tell you, that I started my tank with my LFS's used Biomedia, Miracle Mud from IPSF, Actual Live Sand from the ocean, and actual Australian Live Rock, and on day 1 I also added copepods, amphipods, phytoplankton, and ghost fed the tank while waiting for my fish to arrive. Would you still say that after 2 weeks, my tank was less mature than his tank?

I'm just trying to break a habit here that is occurring with the trend of talking about "Mature" systems...

You will find this very ironic but see my thread below:

Thread 'What is a "Mature Reef Tank"?'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-is-a-mature-reef-tank.915696/

I would totally agree with you but I would argue that your tank is not 2 weeks old at that point. Your tank is as mature as what you have put in it.
If you cut a piece of a reef from the ocean and took everything with it including the water, sand, and fauna then I would say your tank is as mature as that part of the ocean is. You could have had the tank for a day and I would still consider it mature, as long as things could be maintained of course. Reef tanks can be matured in many ways, not just time.

 

[JNalley]

Would you say a tank cycled with complete dry dead rock is bio equivalent to a tank started with all live ocean rock? Of course not right, the mature ocean rock offers a significant advantage in tank start up.

sorry, I missed this one in the shuffle. But see my post above, this is kind of what I was getting at. A lot of people correlate age with maturity, and lots of conversation in here shows how people feel like it's intertwined. But, through knowledge and experience, someone can create a mature tank out of thin air.

 

[Jedi1199]

*Reasonable and ethical risks maybe not trying to test whether you can raise a healthy naso tang to maturity in your 5 gallon desk tank lol

Not to venture too far off topic here but, "reasonable and ethical" is a matter of perspective.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Here's a thought...
Assuming a tank is started with dry rock (and, yes @Lavey29, we ALL know your thoughts about this!), adding hearty, "easy" coral frags early on is a great way to start building the biodiversity that seems to at least partly define a mature system.

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Can Vouch...

Can vouch that I was triggered or that we had a great discussion about this a couple of weeks ago? Lol

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Not to venture too far off topic here but, "reasonable and ethical" is a matter of perspective.

Off topic? I think the train has fully derailed already OP gave up and went bed already haha

 

[JNalley]

You will find this very ironic but see my thread below:

Thread 'What is a "Mature Reef Tank"?'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-is-a-mature-reef-tank.915696/

I would totally agree with you but I would argue that your tank is not 2 weeks old at that point. Your tank is as mature as what you have put in it.
If you cut a piece of a reef from the ocean and took everything with it including the water, sand, and fauna then I would say your tank is as mature as that part of the ocean is. You could have had the tank for a day and I would still consider it mature, as long as things could be maintained of course. Reef tanks can be matured in many ways, not just time.

Haha! But, I would argue, that 2 weeks and 1 day ago, that tank didn't exist, so in our construct of time, the tank is only 2 weeks old, however, it's as mature as the sum of its parts I'm also a firm believer that a 16 year old can be more mature, even in an overall manner, than a 21 year old, and their age has nothing to do with it.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

To answer the question about coral shows, the water is generally supplied to the venue and vendors fill empty tanks and add their coral. Temp and salinity are at general parameters (1.025-1.026, ~78 degrees F). Vendors supply whatever is needed with regards to flow/gas exchange, and maintaining heat, that's it. Lighting is almost always as blue as possible, but that's supplied by the vendor as well.

 

[rtparty]

The ACTUAL lie is waiting for the cycle to add corals.

Once salinity, pH, and temperature are stable... you're good to add corals.

The cycle is not for corals. It's for fish. Adding corals early on will bring a diverse biome and that's exactly what a young tank needs.

 

[rtparty]

From this:

To this:

In less than a month. Took me longer than I planned because I had to build the light rack.

 

[Jedi1199]

From this:

To this:

In less than a month. Took me longer than I planned because I had to build the light rack.

beautiful tank

 

[Jedi1199]

To answer the question about coral shows, the water is generally supplied to the venue and vendors fill empty tanks and add their coral. Temp and salinity are at general parameters (1.025-1.026, ~78 degrees F). Vendors supply whatever is needed with regards to flow/gas exchange, and maintaining heat, that's it. Lighting is almost always as blue as possible, but that's supplied by the vendor as well.

thanks for the input.. I have never seen a show startup before.. might be fun to go see sometime.