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As a coral vendor, I get to hear from all kinds of hobbyists all over the country every day. Some are outright beginners, some are bonafide master reefers. Others are just sort of “in between.”, in terms of experience. Yet, when setting up a reef tank, the common thread among all seems to be, “How soon can I add fishes and corals?”
We LOVE getting animals into our systems. Well, why not? We've done all the right prerequisite stuff to ensure their health, right?
Having set up more than a few reef systems in my time, I never seem to be surprised at my true hobbyist impatience! Let’s face it—once we get the plumbing done, the lighting tweaked, leaks sealed, and aquascaping set, we’re absolutely hell-bent on getting some fishes and corals in there! I mean—we’ve waited so long for “first water” in the tank that it’s time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We need to get the fishes and corals in there right away…even just a few, right?
Can’t really blame us, huh? However, there may be some compelling reasons to wait a bit…
Think about this for a minute. Would you like to move into a house which didn’t have a refrigerator full of food?* I wouldn’t, for sure. Unlike humans, fishes seem to have not lost their genetic programming for grazing and hunting for food. Let’s face it—most of the waking hours of reef animals are devoted to acquiring food and reproducing. They need to have some food sources to hunt and graze for. That’s reality.
My man Johnny Ciotti's creation. All ready to move into, right? Um, not really...
So why not help provide for your animals’ needs by supplementing their prepared diet with some “pre-stocked” natural foods in their new home? No, I’m not talking about tossing in a few frozen brine shrimp hours before the first fishes go in the tank—I’m talking about a deliberate, systematic attempt to cultivate some living food sources within the system before a fish or coral ever hits the water! Imagine a “new” reef system offering numerous foraging opportunities for it’s new inhabitants!
“Scott. You’re crazy! It could take months to accomplish this. I’ve just spent thousands of dollars *setting up this tank and you want me to keep this tank devoid of fishes and corals while the microfauna reproduce?”
Wow—you made a good argument! That’s what I would say too! I am a bit crazy. I’ll give you that.
Yet, with my last two reef systems, this is exactly what I did.* And you know what? I was keeping Pipefishes and Dragonets in the tank from “stocking day one” with no losses, and fat and happy fishes actively foraging for their natural food sources between regular feedings. And I’m no genius, trust me. I don’t have half the skills many of you do but I have succeeded with many delicate “hard-to-feed” fishes over my hobby “career.”
Isn't this a face worth waiting for?
Delicate fishes require careful handling, regardless of who the aquarist is. Why not utilize a simple technique to give these animals every advantage possible?
How do you do it? It’s really quite simple, actually. Once you’ve got the system set up, you simply start adding cultures of copepods, amphipods, etc., along with other live plankton and micro fauna. Our friends at Reef Nutrition, Indo Pacific Sea Farms, and others, offer dozens of different pathogen-free live cultures from which to choose, or you can obtain many for free by simply asking a buddy for a clump of Chaetomorpha macroalgae from his/her sump.
Just shake the Chaeto clump into your tank and you’ve “innoculated” your system with some natural food sources.* Of course, make sure it’s a friend’s healthy tank that you’re obtaining the Chaeto from, or you’ve also seeded your tank with Bryopsis, flatworms, and other nasty stuff.
Chaetomorpha- the perfect home for, well- everything!
Wait a minimum of four weeks—and even up to several months if you can stand it, and you will have an amazing population of micro and macro fauna upon which your fishes can forage between feedings. Having a “pre-stocked” system helps reduce a considerable amount of stress for new inhabitants, particularly for those fishes that have reputations as “delicate” feeders.
You can run the lights on a regular cycle, or you could be more economical and just run them a few hours a day until you start stocking with fishes and corals. You can lightly “feed” the tank with foods like frozen or live rotifers, baby brine shrimp, or even a pinch or two of dried food once in a while.
Break out the flashlight and the magnifier from time to time, and check out the action! You’ll see a large population of copepods, amphipods, and other creatures crawling about, free from fishy predators, foraging on algae and detritus, and happily reproducing in your tank.
"Free Range Amphipods"- delicious!
It takes a certain patience- and a certain leap of faith-to do this. I’ve been doing it for a while and I can tell you it works. If you like delicate or difficult-to-feed fishes, it’s a technique that could help you succeed where you’ve failed in the past. Trust me, I’ve been there. The point of this practice is to help develop—or I should say—to encourage the development of supplemental natural food sources in the system before they are devastated by your fishes and corals.
It’s not always easy to try something a little out of the ordinary, or a bit against the grain of popular practice, but I commend you for even considering the idea. At the very least, it may give you pause to how you stock your tank in the future: Herbivores first, micro predators last.* Allow your system to mature and develop at least some populations of flora and fauna for these fishes to supplement their diets with. What’s the big rush, really, except our own impatience?
One of Julian Sprung's high-biodiversity reef systems. It's all about patience, and it's a perfect habitat for many reef animals.
You’ll develop a whole new appreciation for the hobby when you slow down for success.
Anyone tried this type of technique before? And, does anyone still run refugiums? I'm curious. I enjoy discussing the pros and cons of biodiveristy in reef systems.
There are so many ways to start a new reef system...What types of outside the box ideas have you tried?
Until next time.
Stay wet.
Scott Fellman
