How long should you wait to Add Corals

[roxsburyrage]

Hey guys new to the Reef World here.
I just got my tank setup this weekend its been running for two days now.I have a 90 gallon tank with a 30 gallon fudge.I also have 6 red mangroves and some chamo algae.
I have 2 50/50 65 watts 2 65 watt atinics and 2 250 watt dual mh HQI bulbs.
I added 160lbs of live rock mostly Fiji with some tonga also.Also about 10lbs of live sand with lots of critters to the tank.
I dont have anything in the tank but the live rock .Would you add fish first or corals to the tank.There seems to be a debate some people have told me corals first then add some fish little by little.
I have no sign of a cycle going on as of yet .Also would you run all your lights right now or just atnics.What would be your next step.I also dont want to add Damels or mollies to my tank at all.
What would you recommend me do next.Thanks

[sir_dudeguy]

first i wouldnt run the lights right now..if theres die off from the rock (if it wasnt cured) then you could end up w/a ton of brown all over if the lights are on.

Was the rock cured? if so, you prolly wont see a cycle, but if it wasnt, then you will, and it would take a while prolly...i'm not sure how fast the stuff cures.

If it was all cured, wait a week at least, just to make sure everything is stable, such as pH, and sg and everything...then if its all good, i'd say you could add some hardy corals...a good one to start w/is a green star polyp...lots of people consider them as an "indicator" coral. If there is any water problems, they're the first things to show it, thus letting you know there's a problem...they're also one of the hardiest, so they're more than likely gonna live thru most problems...mine are just now opening up after about 2 weeks of high nitrates..i actually think that most of it died, becuase the polyps that are coming out now look brand new, like little baby ones or something.

HTH
mike

[roxsburyrage]

Thanks Mike.All the Rock is fully cured so you wouldnt run the lights with them.I have nice coraline Purple and pink on almost all the rocks with some nice feather dustsers and mushroom on some of the rocks also.I just sont want that stuff to die off by turning the lights off.

[Nu2SW]

you could run the lights for like 4-6 hours if your concerned about the FD and mushies.

[Sk8r]

Get your own test kits if you don't have them.
YOur water should be:
Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, all zero
alkalinity 8.3-9.3
calcium 400-420
magnesium 1200-1300.
salinity 1.025
temperature 80.

Get everything stabilized. If you have mushrooms you already have corals---corallimorphians. Corals hate swings of even a few points in those parameters. Temperature is one of the hardest to regulate. Get all lids off. Turn the heater down so it won't come on in summer temps. Do this at the crack of dawn so the tank is at its coolest, and do not believe the heater dial. Just dial it up and down until the heater is on the verge of going on, but doesn't. Take it down one more degree to be sure.
Then set your lights on timer, the actinic 1 hour earlier and later than the rest. You can start with a few hours a day, then work up to your full photoperiod as the tank stabilizes.

You are feeding, right? A little phyto for the dusters and mushroom. A tiny, tiny daily pinch of flake just to get the bacteria multiplying. You should see something happen after a week of this, if only a tiny rise in nitrate, then a fall, as the bacteria win out over the muck. This is your cycle, and its end.

Remember that every fish and snail you add will spike it just a tiny bit. Don't put everything in at once.

A cleaning crew will be your best early addition, and at that point stop feeding flake food: a snail or hermit for every gallon. Their waste will provide the bacteria more fuel to grow. Cultivate bristleworms. They're said to reduce that stuff to digestible size for your corals. Certainly they're invaluable undertakers.

Then corals, if you like. Start small, start low in the tank and move things up as they acclimate to your light. Increase your photoperiod. Go on feeding phyto, a little at a time.

Ultimately a few fish, top of the food chain. One of the easiest tanks to go off and leave if you must is a tank where every fish eats either algae, waste, or copepods [no-see-ums that eat phyto, too.] It's a pretty efficient arrangement, if you want stability above all.

[sir_dudeguy]

oh, in that case i would run the lights..4-6 hours like nu said is good. Since its fully cured, then you shouldnt have any problems as far as re-cycling. I'd say just run the lights for that time period for at least a week, and if everything is still good, i'd think youre good to go.

[roxsburyrage]

I have all the test kits.They are all zero so far.I added some food today just a dusting.I will keep an eye on it.So just keep the MH on for 4-6 hours.Or I dont need them right now could I just run the dual 65 watt 50/50 and the two 65 watts atinics.WOuld that be ok for a week or so.The water temp is 80.I dont run a heater on this tank.I had it with fresh water and never got below 75 even in winter months.My house runs hot from the solar heat panels.Plus I fiqure my lighting will raise the water temp a few degree's.Or do you think I should still put a heater on it.I have one just havent put in in the sump yet.

[Sk8r]

What you need heaterwise is stability. If you can hold it within 2 degrees of 80 and never vary high or low, great. I'm surprised you can be that warm in NJ, but solar panels might do it. That's the main thing, stable params. If it starts getting too hot, use fans in the sump. You can run the lights minimally: mushrooms tolerate low light. But they also migrate if they don't like the conditions, and will never go where you want them once that happens. If you see it start to detach, up the light a bit.

[sir_dudeguy]

i'd say just run all your lights that you will normally run on that short schedule for a while.

and since you've got the heater...go ahead and set it to like, 78 or whatever, and just leave it in the sump...cant hurt anything. also, are you gonna have a glass top on this tank? if so, i highly encourage you to take it off and either run open top, or have a canopy w/an open back/sides...the reason is the glass keeps heat in too much (specially in arizona lol) and i've found that just by takin that off can lower the temp about 3 degrees, and if the lights are still giving it too much heat, put a 6-10 clip on fan from walmart to blow across the water...more airflow will drop temp, cause more evap, which will also cool it down.

hth

[PatMayo]

But to answer your original question, I waited some 4 months before I put any corals in my tank. I have two Clowns that were in from the start of the tank. They came from my 46 when I graduated to the 90 gallon.

Some people think I am nuts for waiting for so long, but I found that it gave me time to learn the chemistry of the tank, learned to keep the tank parameters stable and as learned how to dose kalkwasser etc in anticipation of corals.

Once the corraline algae started growing in my tank that gave me opportunity to understand the dosing scheme that worked best for me and the tank and it gave me lots of opportunity to procure the most accurate test kits and learned how to use them. I feel Salifert are the best.

Basically the more time you give you tank the better your husbandry skills will be and the understanding of your tank.

Currently all I add and test for in my tank are Alkalinity, Calcium, Ph and Magnesium. Everything else the tank needs it gets from the IO salt that I use. Anyway, it's commonly called letting your tank mature and age. You will find if you have the patience to wait you typically will have more success with the corals you try.

Regards,

Pat

[ReefWreak]

I just moved a tank, and set it up in my house. It's a FOWLR, and it's got crazy high amonia and nitrates. Would the best step for me to let it cycle through until the amonia is gone? If so, should I wait on putting lights on the tank until it's fully cycled, or will having lights help make the cycle faster or anything?

Once the amonia is gone, I plan on running some nitrate-absorbtion stuff and putting in some caulerpa in an area where I can control it's growth. Does that sound like a good plan?

[Sk8r]

Actually, once your nitrate goes, reefwreak, the ammonia ought to go, too. If you're 2 lbs of rock per gallon, with a skimmer, you should see your nitrate-trite-ammo hit 0 across the board, just from the natural processes in your lr, ls. It'll bounce a bit when snails go in, then settle back to 0, ditto each fish addition.

[ReefWreak]

well, I won't have a skimmer (no $$$ after purchasing the tank) and I've got about 100 lbs of rock or so. It doesn't fill the tank, but it's enough that if I wanted to I could cover the back wall. I've got them in a lagoon formation though. I figure if I give it some time, and maybe a few water changes this summer, it'll cycle itself out, and I'll have a nice tank in order, just when it's time for me to go back up to school and hope my parents don't crash it. I'll save up for a skimmer though, even though I want a refugium more.