when to add coral

[DS5000]

Hello all

I have started a mixed reef, now 2 months into new tank. Have cycled well, and current fish doing great.
I have kept my LED light off so far.
Looking to start adding softies, followed by LPS.
Question is when to start adding corals - i have read to either buy some cheap corals and 'test them out' vs waiting for coralline growth to be seen (no coralline yet in my tank as its pretty early)
my parameters are

alk 8.2, pH 8.1, Ca 480, Mg 1400, phos 0.2, nitrate 10

I saw BRS video where they waited 4 months before turning on light and adding corals.

Appreciate thoughts. I am in no rush, so if recommendation is to wait another month thats no prob.

Thanks

 

[living_tribunal]

Hello all

I have started a mixed reef, now 2 months into new tank. Have cycled well, and current fish doing great.
I have kept my LED light off so far.
Looking to start adding softies, followed by LPS.
Question is when to start adding corals - i have read to either buy some cheap corals and 'test them out' vs waiting for coralline growth to be seen (no coralline yet in my tank as its pretty early)
my parameters are

alk 8.2, pH 8.1, Ca 480, Mg 1400, phos 0.2, nitrate 10

I saw BRS video where they waited 4 months before turning on light and adding corals.

Appreciate thoughts. I am in no rush, so if recommendation is to wait another month thats no prob.

Thanks

You’re definitely ready.

If you used bacteria, you were probably ready after a week. The question is, are you mentally ready for coral addiction once you start?

Coral is a heck of a drug.

 

[Softhammer]

I completely disagree. You need to turn the lights on. Just because your tests are ok doesn’t mean it’s ready. The lighting is going to start a whole new barrage of the uglies no matter what. Let some coralline take root or you will be setting yourself up for an expensive lesson. Some of the beginner softies may survive but I wouldn’t do it. Out of curiosity why no lights for 2 months? That’s only giving you a false unrealistic sense of security, making your tank and rock look clean. Anything stays clean with no lighting.

 

[DS5000]

thanks soft hammer!- new to the hobby, and somewhere along my research I thought I came across several different sources recommended lights out for the beginning.
But I do see what your saying about false stability.
Anyone else agree with softhammer?

 

[living_tribunal]

I completely disagree. You need to turn the lights on. Just because your tests are ok doesn’t mean it’s ready. The lighting is going to start a whole new barrage of the uglies no matter what. Let some coralline take root or you will be setting yourself up for an expensive lesson. Some of the beginner softies may survive but I wouldn’t do it. Out of curiosity why no lights for 2 months? That’s only giving you a false unrealistic sense of security, making your tank and rock look clean. Anything stays clean with no lighting.

I've set up a couple of frag tanks where coral was added about 5 days after starting the tank and everything was absolutely fine. As long as the necessary elements are present in the tank for the corals, they will grow and remain healthy as normal. 2 months is more than enough time to have the conditions necessary for corals to grow.

 

[Reefer40b]

Yes I would turn on the lights also, don't blast them, but have them on. You could add a couple tester corals and continue to monitor your parameters.

 

[nicholasng11]

I think at this point I would Recommend turn on the light 5 hours a day for now and see how the tank does as increase over time. From my experience i have to clean the glass everyday due to algea bloom on the glass since I turn the light on.

 

[DS5000]

thx everyone, appreciate the opinions/feedback

 

[wolfthefallen]

Turn them lights on. If you can control the intensity setup a ramp up period of a month. I know AI has this feature its called acclimation. If your lights don't have this feature start turning the lights on for short periods during the same time every day, and slowly increase it until you got it to the length of the period you want it to be at. Don't panic you will probably get a green hair algae bloom, or something else. Get a Clean up crew in there and you will be fine.

Once you get that sorted out start slowly added one to three frags at a time. IF you have QT get that ready and grab coral now by the time you are done with your light it will be safe to drop the coral in.

 

[NatureHold]

Hey DS! Greetings from Dallas as well. I too am fairly new at the reef keeping game. I also saw many cycling guides that mentioned keeping the lights off, so I did just that. I cured my dry rock for a month in a dark tub at 80° before setting up the tank to cycle. I cycled the Display tank the "fishless way" (lights off as well) with ammonium chloride for 3 weeks before my tests indicated that the cycle was complete. I have been running the tank for almost 2 weeks with the lights on full power, and I have not seen 1 speck of algae show up, nor have my parameters changed other than the typical fluctuation (verified with Trident and Hanna Checkers.) I added in 2 clown fish, a small frag plug of Zoas and a small head of green torches a week ago as well.

If your parameters remain stable with the lights introduced, I would think that you are good to go. I don't think there is a "minimum" time that you have to wait for your tank to be ready for corals. I believe it is more or less the time that it takes for you to get familiar with your tank. Knowing the fluctuations in your parameters, how to dose when needed, how much to dose, and maintaining overall stability in the tank.

 

[DS5000]

Thanks NH!
Planning on starting with some small zoas - can I place the zoas initially in the sandbed? or should I glue them to my aquascape?

 

[NatureHold]

Thanks NH!
Planning on starting with some small zoas - can I place the zoas initially in the sandbed? or should I glue them to my aquascape?

Placing them in the sand bed will limit their growth only to the plug or rock that they are on from what i've read. If you put them on a rock in your hardscape, I believe they will colonize the whole rock and compete with other corals. So put them in your sand bed on the plug or small rock if you want to localize them, or put them on a rock in your hardscape if you want them to colonize the area and take over.

 

[terraincognita]

Thanks NH!
Planning on starting with some small zoas - can I place the zoas initially in the sandbed? or should I glue them to my aquascape?

you can def put them in the sandbed.

Dont glue any frags down until you are for sure you want them there forever

Top 5 rule in this hobby for has always been "never do anything with a contingency of "undoing" it, ever....ever.... "

But I only learned that the super hard way.... like 5 times.... before I really got it lol.

 

[Softhammer]

Keeping thing stable in the dark is not what the aim is. A reef tank is a lit tank and trust me battling algae is a 1000 times easier without a few hundred in corals getting in the mix. As for above, setting up a frag tank, not even a close comparison. Can you put in corals? Of course, I can and have kept 1000’s of Acropora in a fresh mixed 5 gallon bucket. That’s not a reef. If a sustainable reef is your aim versus a sterile artificial box of water, you need to really cycle. It’s not a simple matter of watching nutrients drop, that’s again not an accurate diagnosis unless you are going to keep you corals in the dark. Get those same parameters with a full lighting cycle, some signs of life on your rocks in the form or coralline and you’re ready to go. Can it be done other ways, sure it can but over my 20 years with zero tank crashes under my belt this is what I would and have done.

 

[Doctorgori]

I’m gonna say this over and over: get a good piece of pest free established rock with sponges, dusters and different algae’s. Just turn on the lights and let things duke it out. I’ve done a few cycles.