How old should a tank be before adding corals?

[Andreas' Reef]

How old should a tank be before adding corals? and which ones should I add? I'm thinking zoas, gsp, kenya trees, maybe some rhodactis shrooms. I also want to add euphyllia down the line. I have a biocube 32 and I'm kinda eager to add corals. The tank is almost a month old.

 

[ZoWhat]

Your rock appear to have slime on them? Or are they still whitish?

Tank is not ready for corals until your rock is darker than when you first put them in... indicating the rocks have enough nutrifying bacteria growing all over them.

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[Idech]

I start to add 4 weeks after cycling and having fish. Start with one or two easy ones, like GSP and pulsing xenia and if they do well, continue adding slowly.

 

[shakacuz]

for me, i waited until i hit the 6mo mark to add corals. i added corals before this and they all inevitably died due to no nutrients. once i added fish and my rocks were more mature everything stabalized

 

[wmb0003]

All those you mentioned are pretty hardy beginner corals. As long as you have tested your parameters and they look good. I would feel comfortable adding them now.

 

[BVF]

I added a candy cane, mushroom, and a hairy mushroom on about day 10. The mushroom eventually dislodged and disappeared, but the other two are still going strong. Won’t know until you try.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Depends what kind of corals....
I added easy stuff right away after my tank was cycled.
I was given a free leather by a local reefer, so that was my first coral.
put it in the tank and within a few hours, it was inflated and put out polyps. still have it.
Then I added a frogspawn, hammer, and some monti's. All lived so I started adding others as my comfort level grew.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Your rock appear to have slime on them? Or are they still whitish?

Tank is not ready for corals until your rock is darker than when you first put them in... indicating the rocks have enough nutrifying bacteria growing all over them.

.

3/4 of the rocks I started with were live rocks

 

[PBnJOnWheat]

It can be the day of for some tanks and sometimes a week or three. Personally I’ve never had a tank running more than a week before I’ve added coral. I always start with bacteria boosters from the bottle combined with pre-existing live rock out of my tank or someone else’s.

 

[chipchipbro]

If your params are in line why would you wait?
Ive added even SPS beofre the 1 months mark and everything is doing fine...

Edit: I did add a Pocillopora after 5 days :O

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think everyone will have a different answer for that one. I say just go buy a $10 frag, if it dies, wait another month, if it lives, try another cheap frag.

All tanks, all corals, are different, so there is no single answer to your question

 

[Neon_Devil]

I add corals once I start showing coraline algae actively growing on my tank. Reef chemistry stability is the biggest factor for being successful in growing coral.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

3/4 of the rocks I started with were live rocks

Were those rocks wet when you got them? Sometimes rock is sold as live rock and has only been seeded with bacteria or was once live rock, but allowed to dry out.

You should be fine to add some easy beginner corals if all of you water parameters are good.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Were those rocks wet when you got them? Sometimes rock is sold as live rock and has only been seeded with bacteria or was once live rock, but allowed to dry out.

You should be fine to add some easy beginner corals if all of you water parameters are good.

They were from my older tank. So yeah they were wet and riddled with good bacteria

 

[bpbonds]

I added Corals 2 months after Cycle.

 

[Cool tangs]

According to Jake Adams from @Reef Builders its actually good to add corals first and it's add a bio diversity. Plus you could run fallow before adding fish if you plan to QT(recommend QT, youself and your fish will thank you).

I tore my tank down and corals and inverts (including clams) went into a brand new tank with fresh salt water no issues what so ever, longs if your chemistry is good then there shouldn't be any issues.

I'm no expert by all means though, but I can say when I cycle next it will be corals first and fish after

Happy reefing

 

[flashsmith]

I'm going to be setting up my frag system in the next couple of weeks when everything gets delivered. I have 2 polyp lab bio blocks in my sump on one of my big systems. When I do a water change that is going into the frag setup IM25 lagoon. Add frag racks and bio blocks add coral. As long as parameters are good I say add when you want.

 

[X-37B]

Their is no one right answer, imo
Depends on your experience level and the plan you have in place prior to starting.
If you do not have a full understanding of what this hobby demands then the slower the better helps.