How mature should your setup be before adding sticks to your reef???

[LakeCityReefs]

So I occasionally hear that SPS will struggle until your tank matures.
Is there a certain time frame when you noticed your tank really taking off?
Did you do anything in particular to help your tank reach it's maturity?
Was there a certain SPS you used as an indicator that the setup was ready to support SPS successfully?

I'm almost to the 4 month mark on my new 50 cube setup. I used about half live rock and purchased new live sand. The macro algae I used dumped a ton of little critters into my setup. I can see tons of tiny bugs crawling in the sump and display.
I first placed a Meteor Shower covered live rock and a Green Birdsnest into my setup to see how they would do. Both looked great and still do so I added more SPS. I cant help but feel that the new SPS has lost color and reduced PE.

I know that stability is key. Parameters have remained stable through BRS 2 part dosing however, recently I have taken my P04 reactor offline and started skimming less to bring nutrients up from near 0.

I was hoping to hear from some successful SPS reefers that could maybe point me toward some sort of timeline expectations or helpful tricks with SPS colors, polyp extension, and growth.

Thanks!

 

[Harry_Y]

Sticks???

 

[cloak]

Sticks???

sps corals are sometimes referred to as "sticks."

 

[luke33]

IME i have always had better luck with sps after a year to a year and a half in my tanks. Regardless if i have perfect parameters its something about the rock maturing as well as the sump, and everything else. That being said i will always add in sps before that point, usually after 3-4mths, but they are hit or miss. After my tank mature's its usually safe to add in anything and feel confident it will color up and start growing pretty quickly.

But everyone has different experiences, i've only been keeping sps since '06

 

[aabjones888]

I completely agree with what Luke said. It's hit and miss with sps after the 3-5 month mark and after a year it just for some reason helps extradinary, and u will start to c growth, everything extending and your tank just starts to look more healthy.

 

[LakeCityReefs]

Did you do anything in particular to help your tank reach it's maturity?

Was there a certain SPS you used as an indicator that the setup was ready to support SPS successfully?

 

[1MJG1]

Everyone has their own luck but from personal experience I waited 7 days after adding live rock, cleanup crew, fish and Dr. Tims all in 1. I added about 6 SPS frags a ton of Zoas, lps etc. my SPS has been doing better than everything else in the tank. Before I added my sticks (pink lemonade acro, star fire Millie, malificent acro, asd toxic Radion, sunset Millie, rainbow acro, etc. ) I made sure Ca, Mg, Kh, potassium, iodine, iron were all perfect. To each their own, but adding quickly after a new set up is possible. In the first 30 days all my frags went from no encrusting to covering the plug. So very good growth. I use Red Sea salt, Red Sea coral colors and everything Red Sea lol it helps to get all the trace elements in check. Good luck! Hope my experience helps you.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Did you do anything in particular to help your tank reach it's maturity?

Was there a certain SPS you used as an indicator that the setup was ready to support SPS successfully?

You'll know. Start with the cheap and the easy too. Don't get frustrated
Every tank is different.
Fwiw. Saying SPS is just like saying people.

 

[G8trBait16]

I put 2 SPS (Red Monti cap and Hawkins Echinata) in at 4 months. They grew a lot in a month and colored up. I now have about 45 SPS frags and it is 8 months old now. I just order a battle box from Adam today, so I should have 50 frags by next week. It is different for everyone, some people wait a year some people can make it work sooner.

 

[LakeCityReefs]

Im sure you all know how challenging it can be time stay patient. This isn't my first reef tank but it's my first time with some decent acros. I have seen success in other tanks in less than a year.
My birdsnest frag has doubled in size in 2 months but that's about the best I have seen in my system. Im just not getting the growth or colors in most of my SPS so I'm waiting before I stock anymore.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[DanP-SD]

IME, I usually let the tank run with softies and LPS for about 3-4 months first. During that time, I don't run a bio pellet reactor (or zeo or whatever nutrient reduction method you use), but start tuning ionic balance and driving up Calcium and Alkalinity (in my case, using Balling method). Then between 4-6 months I introduce a bio pellet reactor and, a month later, easier SPS like montipora, merulina, stylophora. Then I watch for growth and, more importantly, color. If the corals are brown, I work on nutrient level. If they get pastel-like, I work on supplements. Once they have good, vibrant color and growth on the tips, I start adding acros. They're still hit and miss and don't really take off, IME, until the tank is at least a year old, but some will take. I'd encourage sticking to cheap frags at this stage until you see real signs of growth in acros.

 

[Seth401]

Agree with everyone here. My 60 cube be a year old the first of July and I've had lots of sps since the first 5 weeks. You risk losing coral with a tank that new but it certainly can be done. If you've added sps that are doing well I wouldnt be afraid to add more if parameters are stable. That being said I lost a few acro frags when my tank was 6 weeks old that I'm sure would have survived if I had waited a while. But most that I added in the first 8 weeks are still with me doing great. I think my first Battle pack from Adam was within 10-12 weeks

 

[Sharvey103]

Agree with what everyone is saying. I have put SPS in after just two weeks with live sand, live rock, Dr. Tim's etc. with great growth rates. However seems like every tank I have ever had there is always a certain coral that does not do well. My current setup it is acans while everything else looks great.

 

[Russ265]

go to your lfs. grab a birdsnest frag for a few bucks and pop him in.
does he live beyond 2 weeks? great.

if not. check parameters and a different spot and try again.

i dont notice much of a difference between 9 months and a year except that corraline becomes a nuisance. (stop robbing my sps of resources!)

really. i couldnt wait an entire year before keeping sps in a tank. im not that patient. usually i start "spot checking" after 3 months

another thing to note:
when you start your first 3 months with a new setup/tank/etc. you know nothing of it's quirks. usually people will correct during the first 6 months. (ahhh not enough lighting) (not enough flow) (need pellets) (need gfo) (need to dose no3) etc etc

after a year the aquarist and the glass box become pals.

 

[Chris Ferrell]

For me it was a green slimer and a red cap that went in about the 5 month mark. I also agree with Russ, it took another month getting flow and lighting to their liking. Dosing is a big factor too. Just a few frags and water changes may be enough but as they grow will have to start dosing. Take it slow and try to keep things consistent and it will work.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

after a year the aquarist and the glass box become pals.

well put.

 

[WetWhistle]

In my experience if it is a new setup they should not be added till at least a year. A year and a half is better. Experienced people can do it before hand but even then you still can have issues that are associated with the tank being new.

 

[edosan]

Me? 1 week on test frags (small frags from parents prepared 1 month before) and 2 fishes, if all good, 2 weeks on montis and 8 fishes and 3 for acros and a few more fishes, 4 for delicate acros and last fishes.

All growing good in less than 4 month from scratch.

Dr tim product, marinepure, zooxantelas from algagen, pods seeding. Or something like that . No diato blooms (bit of diato some days) and no cyano (so far).

Just what I did

 

[Myka]

another thing to note:
when you start your first 3 months with a new setup/tank/etc. you know nothing of it's quirks. usually people will correct during the first 6 months. (ahhh not enough lighting) (not enough flow) (need pellets) (need gfo) (need to dose no3) etc etc

after a year the aquarist and the glass box become pals.

I totally agree!

Sometimes you see people have great success with SPS right off the hop, and I think that has as much to do with luck as it does with experience. Owning an SPS reef for 20 years isn't the same as setting up 10 SPS reefs over 20 years. The first 10-12 months are challenging and I think many of us forget this once our reefs are 4, 5, 8 years old. You have to stay one step ahead - and sometimes even read the future and make changes before the issues even manifest. Sometimes people just get lucky. You ask them how they did it - did they see a need for carbon on day 32 and added it on day 31? Did they see a need for adding aminos on day 102 and started dosing on day 101? They say, no they didn't do anything special, didn't have any miracle foresight, it just came together. That's the luck part, and it happens here and there.

I added SPS frags to my newest tank on day 5 I think it was. I'm now into the 12th month, and it's really starting to take off. I lost a lot of frags in the first 6 months compared to now. I didn't start off with "tester" frags or anything - I just started stocking it the way I wanted it and the strongest survive! The frags are cultured - I didn't add any wild pieces until the tank was 6 or 7 months old, and they're all still alive.

 

[DiSo]

I started with SPS after first cycle, lost some due to being a noob and learning the hard way but if you have control of your water values you will do just fine is my experience (Temp, Ph, Mg, Ca, Kh, N3, N2, Ammonia and Po4)
I regularly (every other week) check temp, ph, mg, ca and kh, rest if I see anything is wrong.

I use a doser with Balling+ to control water values.