What is a "matured" reef tank?

[mrhasan]

Well this is going to be a very interesting topic to discuss :)

In many articles, it is suggested to wait for six months to over a year in order for the tank to mature before putting anything that is considered moderately difficult in the hobby, like SPS, anemone and starfish.

To me, if I can achieve a stable system from the first day (consistent temp and salinity, proper dosage for the big three, proper lighting and so on), I don't see the reason for waiting a year to put in, say, an SPS. I can understand waiting for few weeks to tweet things up and I can also understand a new hobbyist taking time to learn about the system and taking things slowly. But I don't see the point of waiting for an experienced reefer for the tank to "mature". Overall, I struggle to see the reason behind associating a timeline with the maturity of the tank. To me, it seems more like the wait is associated with the reefer becoming matured (for taking care of the tank) than the tank itself.

Would be great to see the point of view of others. Hopefully won't start any ugly debate :razz:

[iamfrontosa]

I think mature in terms of biological filtration. Maintaining the big three is easy in my opinion.

[mrhasan]

I think mature in terms of biological filtration. Maintaining the big three is easy in my opinion.

I completely forgot to write about bio filtration, good point!

Using cured live rock would address that plus there are products out there that works great. If you wait for a year and then suddenly dump 1 fish per 10 gallon of water volume, the parameters will get thrown off no matter how long you wait for the tank to mature but then again, I may be wrong. To grow biological filtration, adding inhabitants slowly over time makes more sense (to me) than waiting for the arbitrary maturing time.

[whatcaneyedo]

As a general rule I like 1 year. Algae, bacteria, microfauna etc go through cycles and take time to build up and stabilize to match the bioload of the tank which continues to increase as the live rock cycles followed by the addition of fish and inverts. To me achieving a mature and stable system is not about constant temp, salinity and major trace element dosing, and intense lighting... its algae, bacteria and microfauna. Now if you can get matured live rock from an established system you can cut down on that time but for someone starting from scratch with rock fresh out of a shipping cooler its going to be a waiting game.

[Dearth]

You can put fish, coral and inverts in almost immediately after cycling the tank as there are foods and additives that can be used to keep these alive however to me a matured tank is one where a copepod population is alive and thriving as they for many are the base foods for so many things if your tank can support a healthy population of pods without having to continuously reseed with pods you have a mature healthy tank IMO.

[Delphinus]

I consider it more a guideline rooted in "best practises."

It is not a magic number that poof, after 6 months your tank is ready for say anemones. But a person setting up a new tank might be gung ho to add anemones or other really sensitive critters (and remember the definition for "sensitive" in this context really means "they die easily and sometimes for no apparent reason") it is better that they give their tank some time to truly establish enough biological capacity towards resiliency because there are a lot of things going on that you don't always see and this can increase the risk towards some of those creatures. So by advocating a wait for 6 months you're hedging the bets in favour of more success. Also if the aquarist in question is a newby they can use that time to learn and padawan themselves up in the meantime and honestly that journey in itself can be a lot of fun (I just love reading about how someone new to the hobby talks about how awesome it is to look in a tank and then be surprised by some kind of new copepod or whatever that they hadn't seen before.).

Anyhow in my opinion though a tank hasn't really settled into its mature character until the 6 month mark. Doesn't mean I woudn't keep stuff in it before then but I do expect to see the odd algal bloom here or cyano there or diatoms ... it's like each "thing" needs to have its moment and crest, and once all those are done the tank is in a more steady-state situation and you can have a little more predictability that way.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I've done "instant reefs" before by simply moving live rock from one tank I'm tearing down into a new one I'm setting up. However, I usually have multiple tanks set up at any one time, so I have an "insurance" factor built-in in case something goes wrong, like a nutrient spike or bad algae bloom. So yes, using mature live rock from an existing system can cycle your tank, but there's always a small chance of die off (like sponges from being exposed to air during the transfer). I would NOT call any of these "instant" reefs mature right away.

A mature reef is one that is no longer in danger of going through the normal growing pains or has already experienced and gotten past issues like diatom or algae blooms that is quite common for newly set up reef tanks. Rather than applying the term "mature" to a specific time frame, to me it means the tank has already stabilized, corals are growing well, and there is a growing biodiversity as arthropods, copepods and/or live mysis are now breeding and multiplying in the rockwork and/or sump. And yes, how soon one reaches that stage of tank maturity has a lot to do with the reefer's experience, but it will still take time for everything to settle out and stabilize.

[gobytron]

Your tank is not mature until you've successfully fought off Aiptasia, Hair Algae and Cyano or Dinos'. :mrgreen:

[gregzz4]

Your tank is not mature until you've successfully fought off Aiptasia, Hair Algae and Cyano or Dinos'. :mrgreen:
And heater issues apparently :biggrin:

... Algae, bacteria, microfauna etc go through cycles and take time to build up and stabilize to match the bioload of the tank which continues to increase as the live rock cycles followed by the addition of fish and inverts ...
Although everyone has stated very good info on why, and I agree with all they've written, I think Russell hit it on the head first.

Raied I don't think you fall into the 'newbie' category by any means Bud.
Mature, in this case, applies to your tank, not your knowledge/skills.

[gobytron]

And heater issues apparently :biggrin:


Although everyone has stated very good info on why, and I agree with all they've written, I think Russell hit it on the head first.

Raied I don't think you fall into the 'newbie' category by any means Bud.
Mature, in this case, applies to your tank, not your knowledge/skills.

I'd agree.

You're just not a seasoned reefer until a piece of equipment has failed and caused a significant issue.

Might even go so far as to say you're not a seasoned reefer until something beyond your control has decimated your tank and forced you to start from scratch.

If you pick yourself up, dust your equipment off and keep going, you're in the club.

[mrhasan]

And heater issues apparently :biggrin:

Although everyone has stated very good info on why, and I agree with all they've written, I think Russell hit it on the head first.

Raied I don't think you fall into the 'newbie' category by any means Bud.
Mature, in this case, applies to your tank, not your knowledge/skills.

+1. Some great info have been discussed in this thread compared to a similar thread in another forum which made me start this one :smile:

Thanks Greg, that means a lot :mrgreen:

I think maturity, to some extend, is related to the reefer himself/herself too. Along with the tank growth, the reefer will also have to adjust and gain knowledge to support the tank and I think that involves certain degree of reefurity (reefing maturity) :smile:

[kien]

I think maturity, to some extend, is related to the reefer himself/herself too. Along with the tank growth, the reefer will also have to adjust and gain knowledge to support the tank and I think that involves certain degree of reefurity (reefing maturity) :smile:

I think this statement plays a big role in this "maturity" discussion too. A reef tank is nothing without its keeper. They go hand in hand. Not only does the tank mature but so does the reefer as you said. Maturing as a reefer as already implied in this thread means going through all the trials and tribulations that come with the hobby. Theoretically, a "mature" reefer could easily set up an immature tank and still be successful. Conversely, an immature reefer can inherit a very mature tank and still fail miserably. :lol:

[mrhasan]

I think this statement plays a big role in this "maturity" discussion too. A reef tank is nothing without its keeper. They go hand in hand. Not only does the tank mature but so does the reefer as you said. Maturing as a reefer as already implied in this thread means going through all the trials and tribulations that come with the hobby. Theoretically, a "mature" reefer could easily set up an immature tank and still be successful. Conversely, an immature reefer can inherit a very mature tank and still fail miserably. :lol:

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/44426967.jpg

[squibege]

As a brand new reefer (first ever tank is just starting to cycle kind of new) it's intimidating to know that no matter how much I research and pre-plan... something's not going to go the way I want it to. I want nems and starfish and would love to have a Mandarin in my tank- but the arbitrary rule telling me to wait six months gives a reality check as to how much this hobby takes time and that rushing things will take a toll on the living things in your tank. The last thing I want to do is make a creature in my care suffer due to incompetence on my part, so I will wait the six long months until I add more sensitive things. No matter what I read I don't have a working knowledge on what a 'mature tank' looks/ acts like/has, so the six month rule is the easiest to go off of

Seasoned reefers at least know what rules are made to be broken

[Dearth]

Seasoned reefers at least know what rules are made to be broken


This quote has gotten us so called experienced reefers into a lot of trouble because we tend to know what our tanks are doing or what the parameters are doing and invariably we end up screwing something up because we know better but ignore the telltales it's happened to everybody at least once usually more we are our own worst enemies at times :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: