when is it time to add corals?

[Natalie Miller]

I am currently cycling my first saltwater tank, it should be done by the end of the week. Ammonia is dropping to 0 overnight and nitrites are going down. It is an all in one and its 12 gallons total (10 in the main display and 2 in the back) I have two clownfish in quarantine that will be added in the next couple weeks. I am using a Hipargero 30w light and I'm planning on keeping soft corals. How long after the tank is done cycling should i wait before starting to add some softies? And which would be best to add first? I was planning on getting mushrooms, and zoas mostly. And I've read that for softies calcium dosing isn't required, is this true?

 

[PatW]

Most new tanks go out through algae blooms. It takes awhile to get the nutrient levels down and fine tune the grazer levels in your clean up crew. I would suggest holding off until after the uglies have run their course. You can help matters by doing a few big water changes.

 

[Crazeh]

Yeah, give it a few weeks till you know you're running everything stable. Give your tank time to adjust after adding the clowns.

As mentioned above you will go through some uglies. I added a Zoa a little too early to mine and it was then irritated by an algae bloom for quite a long period - it took a while to recover and I wish I'd waited...

Zoas and some other soft corals like some nutrients in the water, so don't add things too soon when the tank is too clean. In my case I'm still on 0 nitrates after 9/10 month, so I target feed (and my skimmer is temporarily off) to ensure they are getting nutrients.

 

[Chilli]

i did it after 2 days with soft´s after 4 weeks the first fish after 2 month the first acros. was a good decision.
was an absolute death system.

 

[Amado]

If you can grow coralline algae then your tank is ready