Be honest...
- Thread starter reef dummy
- Start date
When I first started, I had a 14g biocube that I started with a bottled bacteria additive. I saw the tank cycle in 3 days. And I added a hammer coral 4 days later. And to this day my mother has the same colony I had when I started that tank. But that being said, I probably got lucky with it. The key is as mike said, consistency.
I would say it depends on how you set the tank up. If you used good live rock (rock with nitrifying bacteria on it) I would put soft corals in day 1 
If you used new rock then its a painful wait but you can at least know that you will have zero pests on the rocks. I moved my last tank with all the live rock,fish, and corals and set it all back up the same day with no issues at all and I used all new water.
If you used new rock then its a painful wait but you can at least know that you will have zero pests on the rocks. I moved my last tank with all the live rock,fish, and corals and set it all back up the same day with no issues at all and I used all new water.
Lol.. Such a good roll of questions?
My first salt water aquarium setup was approximately 65 gallons and about 2 weeks established... I thought that since my ammonia, nitrates and phosphate levels were at zero I was ready for fish and coral.. So I purchased 4 chromis damsels, 1 Tomato clown fish, and one stunning torch coral.. Big, big, big mistake!!! The only survivor out of all the purchases was the Tomato clown fish surprisingly.
So, with this said please be patient; like wine.. it will develop with time :nod:
Good luck!!
My first salt water aquarium setup was approximately 65 gallons and about 2 weeks established... I thought that since my ammonia, nitrates and phosphate levels were at zero I was ready for fish and coral.. So I purchased 4 chromis damsels, 1 Tomato clown fish, and one stunning torch coral.. Big, big, big mistake!!! The only survivor out of all the purchases was the Tomato clown fish surprisingly.
So, with this said please be patient; like wine.. it will develop with time :nod:
Good luck!!
Honestly, I got a small piece of gsp and a few mushrooms when I bought my live rock from another member. I think the key was using new "live" sand and live rock from a very established tank. I never had a readable about of ammonia or nitrite. Those are some of the easiest corals you can get and they did fine. I did wait about 6 months before I added any fish to the tank though!
I added corals at different times to all my tanks, depended on where they were in the cycle and how the algae was growing in the fuge. I also run carbon and gfo on all my tanks as well as using bactiv 8 each day/week:
My 60 frag I added corals at 3 months or so. Started with live rock that had been cycled already, added a bio additive, and had no fish until 6 month mark in it. Had calerp in the fuge grow crazy for months and added display algae as well. Added first sps at 6 months, first acros at 9 months and seeing good growth.
My 30L I started with cycled live rock, added a bio additive, added fish and nems within a week. I also let the algae in the display grow crazy and had a nice fuge area as well.
My old 65 I added corals too soon to it, didn't start with cycled rock and didn't use a bio additive.
My 60 frag I added corals at 3 months or so. Started with live rock that had been cycled already, added a bio additive, and had no fish until 6 month mark in it. Had calerp in the fuge grow crazy for months and added display algae as well. Added first sps at 6 months, first acros at 9 months and seeing good growth.
My 30L I started with cycled live rock, added a bio additive, added fish and nems within a week. I also let the algae in the display grow crazy and had a nice fuge area as well.
My old 65 I added corals too soon to it, didn't start with cycled rock and didn't use a bio additive.
