POLL: when do you consider a tank mature?

[mazoli]

I was wondering when do you say a reef tank has matured? After how many years (or months) would you say it is stable? Inevitably will always have smaller swings (user error or just by if something dies in the tank), but as time goes by, these fluctuations will be smaller and the overall system stability more and more robust. Looking for your feedbacks and opinions. Cheers.

 

[Medic755]

All my levels are even and holding steady and it has been a whopping 4 months. Albeit I used the red sea tank maturation program.

 

[brett_schn]

I got my 10g levels stable after the first week of having my tank. That is till 1 month later when my fish died of brook and screwed up all the levels.

 

[Sm51498]

To me it has less to do with time, more to do with the tank. A mature reef has gone through the many stages of establishing a stable population of all the small flora and fauna. This is the marker of maturity. It just so happens this usually takes 6 months to a year to complete.

 

[cdmckinzie]

What about a qt tank? Does it go through the same ammonia cycle like a dt? How soon can u put fish in a qt tank if there's no lr or ls or should you add those to make it cycle

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It ain't 6 months.

 

[cmcoker]

What about a qt tank? Does it go through the same ammonia cycle like a dt? How soon can u put fish in a qt tank if there's no lr or ls or should you add those to make it cycle

No rock or sand, yes it will need to cycle. I keep extra sponges, for my qt hob filter, in the sump of my display. I just pop one of those in when I need to setup quarantine, along with an ammonia badge to monitor.
You can also use the bacteria in a bottle products to seed the filter, will take a little longer though

 

[Stigigemla]

It depends most of what You do with the tank. If You buy new fishes and feed more it will go through a new maturing.
Or if You take out the fastest growing corals. Or if You buy a more efficient skimmer.
Or if You install a rollermat.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

It depends most of what You do with the tank. If You buy new fishes and feed more it will go through a new maturing.
Or if You take out the fastest growing corals. Or if You buy a more efficient skimmer.
Or if You install a rollermat.

I agree with this. It's less about time and more about processes (which of course take time...). I think in general it takes at least a year before you can talk about a tank being mature. There are things that can be done to speed along the process, but at some point you'll be able to see that your tank has established a mature rhythm of life in the ecosystem.

 

[KingJason]

Aside from time, I think a lot depends on the reef and reefer. People who have setup several tanks and had years of experience can probably have things established much faster than someone new. A nicely executed plan and minimal tinkering is going to help the environment settle and build upon itself faster than the opposite. My experience has generally been around 6-1y period but more time adds more stability and chances for success.

 

[d2mini]

Tank maturity has nothing to do with stability... that's all on you my friend.

For me, I usually see a change in how well the coral thrive at around the 1 year mark (and I start with true live rock and sand), and then I'm sure things continue to "mature" from there.

 

[david p.]

i'm a newbie in the hobby... but i think it's all about the reefer and his ability to have a good routine and maintain stable parameters.
Once a tank is cycled, all that matters is stability... regardless of the tank age... 3months... 1year... 10 year. Once the bacteria are establish, it's all about water chemistry.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

regardless of the tank age...

I will disagree. The definition of maturity is....

i think it's all about the reefer and his ability to have a good routine and maintain stable parameters.

This is a definition of how to achieve success.

A one year old tank started with dry rock and a good reefer is or can be successful, but I wouldn't say mature.

 

[david p.]

I will disagree. The definition of maturity is....

i would agree with you IF the term mature tank was used in that sense in the hobby, meaning the age of the tank . But to often people use 'mature tank' to express something else... like you need a mature tank to get coral (specially sps)... wich is not true.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

IF the term mature tank was used in that sense in the hobby, meaning the age of the tank .

It actually is.

like you need a mature tank to get coral (specially sps)... wich is not true.

Very often it it is, And fwiw most folks who say say "sps" mean acropora. Not stylophora witch can be a much hardier species.

Ill agree there are tricks to a "forced maturity". But the difference between that tank at one year and 5 years is still quite different.

 

[mazoli]

Thanks for your posts and comments. So far 70+ votings posted. If not done so, please vote ;-)

 

[roberthu526]

I wanna say two to three month after the last time you had a major issue like algae outbreak or fish sickness. The only thing you are doing is routine maintenance and your tank is still running smoothly means it has stabilized.

 

[BoomCorals]

Sort of begs the question how do you define maturity. With an experienced reefer and a skip cycle/transfer tank you can have corals like SPS thrive and grow in a month with parameters being completely stable. In my opinion tank "maturity" is used too often to look down at others, rather than a normalized hobby term.

Either way this thread poll is a conclusion not a question, as it implies tank maturity is defined only by age.

 

[Jonty]

When it crashes

 

[SethOF]

Maturity is when the tank can take care of itself.