Okay so I'm interested in eventually putting a couple BTAs in my tank but want to research more on this exact subject. Many people say you need your tank to be mature (6-8months) to start adding any nems. But why exactly? I'm not necessarily asking for just opinions or past bad experiences but what exactly causes a nems to not thrive in a new tank vs an old tank? Where is there actual research of this idea? They get their nutrients from lighting, periodically feeding, and nutrients from the water column so what does a mature tank have that a new tank doesn't that is going to be beneficial to its health? Outside of your regular parameters what else could be an issue causing people to be unsuccessful with nems in new tanks? I ask this because although people suggest having a mature tank I also see people post about adding a BTA to a 1 day, 1 month, 2 month, and 3 month old tanks with good success so what are they doing differently? It's obviously possible I'm just trying to research the cause of failure with nems in new tanks.
So I see a question but not anything regarding your setup. By setup I mean lighting, substrate, bare bottom, rocks, lighting, cycle method, type of rock used (dry vs live), and much much more. It isn't a simple answer as 28 days after your cycle completed. I am not trying to be vague but rather starting a dialog to set the level of expectations.
Here is the deal. Tank cycle != coral ready.
You can cycle the tank and it can process 4 ppm ammonia in under 24 hours. It is important because we want a foundation to remove toxic ammonia and nitrite, naturally. So once this is done you can add one or two fish. Remember you went from a cycled tank that can process 4 ppm ammonia without fish. Now you introduce fish which means you have to feed. They produce waste, and now your tank has to be able to process this. It is a slow process to add fish. You do not go big bang on day one, day two, etc. You add one or two and monitor the system.
So now you have your tank. It is cycled. You added a fish or two. Now you want to add a test coral. Again, not big bang but something you want but also a test coral or two. You introduce these and watch. You are saying but no, it is cycled and I want to go big bam boom. Nope, you can't. Why? Because now you are adding fish, you are feeding fish, you introduced a coral or two to test with, lights are on, skimmer is on, and the biological filter is saying wait a minute I'm not ready. You start to get diatoms, that clears. Then you get cyno, that clears. Next GHA / green hair algae. That clears. We call this the ugly phases. Ugly phases can impact water quality and it can impact corals.
You have to manage all of this while understanding how your tank is maturing. Two videos below talking about bare bottom, rocks, and cycle from BRS. May not be applicable, may not be useful, but even with me being in the hobby since 1999 I found it enjoyable. Also notice how I didn't say anything about adding that BTA? You are correct, not yet. But soon. How soon? Depends on your tank, substrate, rock type (dry, live) and overall occupants.
I'm a little over 2 years in my 210 upgrade. I used 150 lbs of dry rock as the base. I moved over about 50 lbs of live rock from my previous tank which was about 10 years old. I lost some corals during the upgrade process because while the tank was cycled and ran for a couple months establishing the dry rock the rock was so porous and full of nooks and crannies (pukani rock) that it took over 18 months to fill in. Even now I can take a rock, turn it 180 degrees, and the back side will look like I just put it in new. Same applies to taking it out and splitting it. Back to a mini cycle stuff. Just takes a while.
TL; DR - it may take a couple months. Cycle complete doesn't equal coral and fish ready. Take it slow so after you add something the tank bacteria adapts.
Used to special feed them once per week but really seems like they are just fine taking from the water column from fish feeding.
