POLL: when do you consider a tank mature?

[SlvrZ]

For me it's when you get to the point your tank doesn't need you for anything other than fresh water top offs, food, dosing, and cleaning the skimmer.

My planted tank I just top off and throw food in it every other day. The tank is so well balanced that I don't even bother doing water changes anymore. The plants and fish complete each other. That to me is a mature tank.

 

[MnFish1]

No. Give me the commonly accepted and scientific definition of the term we all use. Mature water.
I actually can.

You may also want to add in what ozone does to seawater in a tank as well and how you believe that would effect maturity.
I know the answer to How ozone works.

Go ahead.

Your point here seems to be refuting most Scientific principal set before you and and avoid direct questions that would verify any knowledge possessed by you on the subject.

Scientific articles are not anecdotal when they are on the topics of biology and chemistry. These are the facts that have been presented to you. And I have head no facts from you that would refute them.

No offense, I have not seen a single scientific article presented in this discussion. If you have been using data from scientific articles you have not referenced them. I have also clearly stated 'my opinion'. In fact this was a 'poll' asking for 'opinion', no more no less.

Starting with your second question first - That is a topic on which one could write a book, let alone ask me to answer it on a chat-room. I'll assume you're just trying to be ridiculous asking me or anyone here including Randy Holmes-Farley 'what ozone does to seawater in a tank' as a general question.

As to your first question - about 'mature water' - There is a concept of microbiologic maturity of water - used mostly in research in larval fish farming. It is not a widely used term - IMHO - which is why I asked you about it in the first place. Using the search feature on the site, I don't see a lot of references to 'mature water' here either - so Im not sure its commonly used, understood or well-defined. Since you mentioned the term first, I assumed you would know the reason it is important from a scientific basis - which is why I asked the question in the first place.

 

[1stNoel]

I think we're confusing mature with stable. My tank is mature in that it has all sorts of copepods, starfish, and coralline algae...but it's not stable in the sense that I don't have it to where I get the SPS polyp extension and coloration I'm looking for.

This causes me to constantly tinker with my reefkeeping regimen, such as:

• trying to achieve the Red Sea recommendations of higher KH (always caused a negative impact on SPS and I finally accepted my tank is happy in the 7.5 range),
• water changes (large water changes caused parameter swings),
• no water changes but adding trace elements (I was getting admonished for this, and now all of a sudden I'm hearing about the Triton method that pushes the same concept!),
• biopellets (caused an outbreak of cyano),
• Red Sea colors & NoPOX (most effective so far, but wasn't pleased with the colors I was getting or polyp extension),
• and now zeovit (I'm 2 weeks into it).

So my tank is 1.5 yrs old, mature, but not stable. Part of my issues involved continuous adjustment and addition to my aquascape, along with additional bioload from adding fish and feeding more often, plus the issues that I've already covered above.

In summary, this is a long winded way of answering "6 months of solid stability with no major changes or issues".

 

[MnFish1]

You are incorrect.

LOL - based on what. Compared to the bacteria present on the surfaces of 'things' in the tank, I say that the numbers of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in the water column are trivial.

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Well what is a mature tank? It means different things to different people, I say a mature tank is where you have micro fauna populations built up, and your parameters are completely stabalized, this can take anywhere from 6 months to 5 years, it depends on your reef, obviously if you use live rock this process will be sped up, but if you never add live rock, and it's a fish only system, it can take years for a population of micro invertebrates and plants to build up, usually by accident via hitchhiking.

 

[burtbollinger]

my tank is at 9 months....and its not what I'd consider mature yet. My vote is @ 1 year +.

 

[DMan]

When my tanks get to a year old I don't automatically say, ok my work is done. But I'm able to relax a bit not just because the tank is more stable. But mainly because it is much easier to catch a problem early with a " more mature " tank. In the early stages of the tank, first few months. Numbers ( water parameters) don't really mean a whole lot. Except the tank is changing. And settling. Then a point comes where you are getting the tank dialed in. Things like alk/cal/mg, are tuned and fined tuned a few times.
Once the tank settles in and good results start showing consistently about a year has usually passed. I think by default as your tank matures so do you as an Aquarist, even if it is just a hobby. There are all kinds of people out there that don't even need to test regularly. They look at the tank and instinctively know when something is off.

 

[Grey Guy]

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.

A mature tank has little or no undesirable algae and no algae problems for several months. When your tank is mature, you know it, rather than hoping it is. A mature tank has problems with the good things growing or spreading too fast.

 

[reefwiser]

Your tank is always a balance of too much or too little. Too much phosphate and your get algae growth also too little bacteria can cause issues too. Too little trace elements and corals are not getting what they need to grow and color up. This is an never ending balance on the edge of a knife blade. If one is not watchful things and slowly tip out of control and once you release what is happening in many cases it is too late and one get's a "Crash" when your tank in out of your control. Creating a reef environment in a glass box is not "natural" it is a artifact created by man and so it must be constantly checked and controlled to maintain a health balance.

 

[Ashish Patel]

A mature tank has little or no undesirable algae and no algae problems for several months. When your tank is mature, you know it, rather than hoping it is. A mature tank has problems with the good things growing or spreading too fast.

This is so true.. I had very minimal algae problem for the first 6 month and now I had a diatom and cynao bloom. This was triggered by few factors one being I dosed nitrates too fast and some of my chaeto slimed up causing some cyano outbreak. I never realized just how unstable my tank was and that in one day you can watch you bright white sand turn brown and black with a minor increase in nitrates. Softies and LPS are not effect with these changes but SPS like stable environment and an established tank is free of these changes. If I had to do it again i would have added few hardy sps frag after 6 month or after going through these natural phases

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

What I learned from this poll:
- A system becomes "mature" about 1 year after being set up because that's the consensus on here (and not really based on any kind of scientific method or specific calculation of some kind) but based more on reefers 'feel' of their systems or 'knowing' of their systems.
- There are different elements (stages?) to a system becoming mature:
= Water maturity
= Nitrifying bacterial maturity
= Algal growth maturity
= Coraline algal growth maturity
= Benthic fauna maturity (ie: pods reproducing)
= System inhabitants maturity in general

- The term 'mature' is closely associated with 'stable' somehow
- A mature tank has problems with the good things growing or spreading too fast. (quoted from Grey Guy - thank you for that btw)
- The hobbyists are also partly involved in the maturing of the marine system in that their husbandry experience also matures.

About me: I'm not mature at all because my gf keeps asking me how old I am: "What are you? Three years old???" heheheh

So did I miss something?