Sudden filling a reef tank with corals

[DarkReefer]

One of the last couple of times I was at one of my LFS one of the workers mentioned that with their tank they would buy corals in bulk to 'plant' the tank all at once, rather than buying a coral here and there and so on. They claimed that doing it this way added a lot of natural filtration and bioload immediately and that they sort themselves out etc. and that buying a few corals here and there sees worse results in the long run as corals more likely to die off in the tank.

To me I kind of thought I understood where they were coming from in a way that adding a lot of biodiversity immediately, which would allow a lot of natural filtration etc.
However, my understanding is this would also mean a sudden big change in the bioload and what nutrients would be used up, so I'd assume you'd see quite the swing in your alk/calcium/mag as the corals settle in and consume these. If not caught and adjusted with dosing in time I would assume this would see a big negative impact.

What have you guys seen/experienced?


My tank has been on the recovery after the dinos from late last year and into early this year and is looking a little bare so was thinking of grabbing a batch of corals whilst I'm at the LFS this weekend (hopefully getting myself a tuxedo urchin). Just unsure how few or how much I should attempt to get (provided they have some nice stuff).

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

One of the last couple of times I was at one of my LFS one of the workers mentioned that with their tank they would buy corals in bulk to 'plant' the tank all at once, rather than buying a coral here and there and so on. They claimed that doing it this way added a lot of natural filtration and bioload immediately and that they sort themselves out etc. and that buying a few corals here and there sees worse results in the long run as corals more likely to die off in the tank.

To me I kind of thought I understood where they were coming from in a way that adding a lot of biodiversity immediately, which would allow a lot of natural filtration etc.
However, my understanding is this would also mean a sudden big change in the bioload and what nutrients would be used up, so I'd assume you'd see quite the swing in your alk/calcium/mag as the corals settle in and consume these. If not caught and adjusted with dosing in time I would assume this would see a big negative impact.

What have you guys seen/experienced?


My tank has been on the recovery after the dinos from late last year and into early this year and is looking a little bare so was thinking of grabbing a batch of corals whilst I'm at the LFS this weekend (hopefully getting myself a tuxedo urchin). Just unsure how few or how much I should attempt to get (provided they have some nice stuff).

If it were me, I'd try some test coral to see how things go. If they are good for a month, then buy a few more next time, etc. Depending on tank size, parameters could shift a little by adding a lot of sps or lps at once. But up to you. Either way can work.

 

[Coralreefer1]

I tend to think that adding too many living animals in a closed system biotope would not be a good thing. Like anything else in the marine aquarium hobby doing too much too fast is never a good thing.
Adding to many fish, corals or inverts at once puts stress on the tanks water parameters and both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that have not proliferated to handle the increased bioload In that shot a time frame.

 

[SaltwaterandLime]

I've had good success with adding multiple corals from multiple (trusted) sources early on with a new tank. Adds a lot of good bacteria sources also. But yes, you have to be mindful of testing frequently and adjusting dosing as needed

 

[DarkReefer]

If it were me, I'd try some test coral to see how things go. If they are good for a month, then buy a few more next time, etc. Depending on tank size, parameters could shift a little by adding a lot of sps or lps at once. But up to you. Either way can work.

I've got some existing corals that are still alive thankfully, but probably less than half I started with originally. So there's lots of empty space on the rockwork. The ones that are there, there's a couple that are the happiest they've been in months but still coming back from the issues.
I do kind of feel this might be the way to go though as I don't want to drop too much on corals for things to go south for any reason and lose them (though I think I've solved the major issue I was having which was caused by storing NSW for too long, uncirculated before use).

Tank has been much more stable and predictable in the past month or two since changing to mixing my own salt water and only doing this hours before it gets used whilst being circulated and heated.

I tend to think that adding too many living animals in a closed system biotope would not be a good thing. Like anything else in the marine aquarium hobby doing too much too fast is never a good thing.
Adding to many fish, corals or inverts at once puts stress on the tanks water parameters and both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that have not proliferated to handle the increased bioload In that shot a time frame.

That was my thoughts when the guy was telling me. He seemed quite knowledgeable though and had been in the hobby for 10-20 years or something so I gave the benefit of the doubt that he knew things I didn't but something inside me made me think he's just trying to push a sale. (granted I did buy some corals at the time, but not the quantities he was talking).

I've had good success with adding multiple corals from multiple (trusted) sources early on with a new tank. Adds a lot of good bacteria sources also. But yes, you have to be mindful of testing frequently and adjusting dosing as needed

I did have issues early on for my tank when I first started in the hobby back early 2021. Would buy several corals almost weekly and did this for several months. There was definitely no stability in the tank and was manually dosing nutrients so my tank was swinging hard.
Certainly a case of far too much, too soon and was too inexperienced to keep up with it. I'm a bit more wary with my spending these days which forces me to consider the stability of the tank and it's inhabitants first.

 

[Coralreefer1]

The other thing about adding too many corals at once is if you have an issue with your tank, it is better to loose one or two corals as opposed to 6,8 or 10 corals. Also have to think about hitchhikers, acclimation and dipping oh my.

 

[DarkReefer]

The other thing about adding too many corals at once is if you have an issue with your tank, it is better to loose one or two corals as opposed to 6,8 or 10 corals. Also have to think about hitchhikers, acclimation and dipping oh my.

Exactly, and that's obviously something I'm trying to avoid. I'll likely get a few, but given the price of corals these days I'd be very surprised if I walked away with 6-10.

The urchin is the main reason for the visit this time (want it to help get rid of some hair algae that's been hanging around) and maybe a couple more snails, if I can nab a few interesting coral pieces as well then I'll definitely do that. Going to stay away from SPS this time. Tend to always get 1-2 sticks to see if they'll grow yet and haven't had any success with them so it'll be LPS or softies if they have anything nice.
Also probably go drool over some larger tanks too but the missus probably wont let me spend too much Haha.