When can I add corals to my new tank?

[kensterp]

Hi all! So I’ll start by saying that I bought my first pair of clownfish and a few hermit crabs for my newly cycled 16 gallon bio cube on October 4th. Everything seems to be going good, not seeing any spikes in ammonia or nitrite exceeding .25 ppm which I’ve heard isn’t harmful in saltwater aquaria. My question today is when can I start to add corals to my tank? I have yet to have any kind of algae bloom in the tank but I’m using Carib sea life rock which is seeded with corraline which I’ve seen is what you want to look for in your tank before adding corals.

 

[The_Paradox]

You can start adding the easier corals now in my opinion. Pretty much any of the softies or hardier LPS.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you can add corals whenever you want, it has nothing to do with rocks being purple or not.

The issue is to do your research, understand what the corals needs to survive (lights, flow, and nutrients), if you feel your tank is adequate, then go for it. Understand that some corals can adept to a new tank like yours, and some will die quickly in a new tank like yours. Its a lousy feeling to buy a coral and it just dies in a couple of days, so research is really important.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

There's really no time frame when to add coral, if your parameters are good then you would be good to add some hardier coral (zoas or mushrooms for example). Do a little bit of research to look up what you want for your tank and what would be best for you. Have fun adding new coral to your tank!

 

[jpmazzone]

You have a small tank so I would think about what you want the overall aquascape to look like. You run out of real estate very fast in a small tank.

 

[Drake2910]

Hi all! So I’ll start by saying that I bought my first pair of clownfish and a few hermit crabs for my newly cycled 16 gallon bio cube on October 4th. Everything seems to be going good, not seeing any spikes in ammonia or nitrite exceeding .25 ppm which I’ve heard isn’t harmful in saltwater aquaria. My question today is when can I start to add corals to my tank? I have yet to have any kind of algae bloom in the tank but I’m using Carib sea life rock which is seeded with corraline which I’ve seen is what you want to look for in your tank before adding corals.

What power head are you using?

 

[JayM]

If parameters are acceptable for the coral you want to keep and are stable - anytime is fine.

 

[Macbalacano]

Anytime! And actually contrary to popular belief, you can put a lot of corals in shortly after setting a tank up. Mine were in (albeit using live rock) within a couple of days of setting up the tank.