6 month rule?

[hvacman250]

Following the general practice of waiting 6+ months before introducing a nem, what would the suggestion be for the following:

7 month old existing tank, very stable. Swapping tanks from an acrylic to glass, re-using all live rock, sand, etc. Set-up exactly as before.

How long would you wait? Of course monitoring water params in case of a minor cycle.

 

[davocean]

I have done this myself, but w/ longer running systems.
Usually a swap is not a big deal, causes a mini cycle almost always.
Only issue is it seems most experience a second mini cycle at the 10 month or so period after setting up a new tank, and you haven't gotten to that point yet.
It also depends on sand bed, and how established your LR is.
As someone who has kept nems for a long time, I have a pretty good eye as to what to watch for in warning signs, so I would probably move forward expecting a little setback time, and just be really dilligent in WC's and testing water params.
Our 6mo advice is a pretty good guideline to those less familiar, and from scratch, so I guess it may depend on how comfortable you are, and how sensitive of a species of nem you are considering.
Just keep in mind, rushing may result in loss of a potentially pricey nem, and even affect your other livestock.

 

[mhades]

Im not experience at this by any means. I am experienced at setting up new tanks though. In this case, I would wait atleast a month, if I had patience or it were an expensive anemone. Best would be two months to be sure. I would use this time to see if the tank acted like an established tank or if it went through some of those new tank cycles such as the diatom phase. These are the big signs that your tank is changing which is what you don't want with an anemone.

 

[steelhead77]

Many of us upgrade tanks (usually adding more sand, rock and new water) and we already have 1, 2, or 3 anemones. I'm sure not many will wait for any period of time to re-introduce their anemones. I know when I twice upgraded tanks my nems were out of the old and into the new in the same day. Never had an issue.

Anemones are not the delicate creatures many here would have you believe. Take a look at any tidepool at low tide any you'll see hundreds - if not thousands - out of the water for several hours - twice a day.

 

[davocean]

Yeah, my swaps usually had nems already, so I had no choice but to do it.
My first comment was more along the lines of introducing a new nem w/ someone new to nem care.
The nems we keep, and the nems I step on when surfing are very different.
Even some nems we keep are much more sensitive than others.
Yes, they can take a beating in tide pools, survive, but we don't examine those as perfect specimens quite like we do under glass for one, and two, I'm sure the Ocean has a little better filtration system and many more beneficial organisms than what we can provide in our glass boxes, so it's hard for me to see them the same or compare.

 

[steelhead77]

Yeah, my swaps usually had nems already, so I had no choice but to do it.
My first comment was more along the lines of introducing a new nem w/ someone new to nem care.
The nems we keep, and the nems I step on when surfing are very different.
Even some nems we keep are much more sensitive than others.
Yes, they can take a beating in tide pools, survive, but we don't examine those as perfect specimens quite like we do under glass for one, and two, I'm sure the Ocean has a little better filtration system and many more beneficial organisms than what we can provide in our glass boxes, so it's hard for me to see them the same or compare.

I don't think the ones you step on are all that much different than the ones we keep in our tanks. They all have a rudimentary nervous system and rudimentary digestive system and that's about it. All I was saying is that any nem is not as sensitive as some folks would make them out to be. You can cut a BTA like a pizza and within a week or two, you will have a bunch of little nems, all healthy perfect little clones of the original. They can take a lot more abuse than we give them credit for.

 

[elegance coral]

I don't think the ones you step on are all that much different than the ones we keep in our tanks. They all have a rudimentary nervous system and rudimentary digestive system and that's about it. All I was saying is that any nem is not as sensitive as some folks would make them out to be. You can cut a BTA like a pizza and within a week or two, you will have a bunch of little nems, all healthy perfect little clones of the original. They can take a lot more abuse than we give them credit for.

There is a HUGE difference between species. This is a family not unlike birds or fish. Few people are successful with moorish idol, but anyone can keep a gold fish. Aiptasia can survive practically anything, but healthy gigantea and magnifica are rare. The fact that BTA's can be propagated by cutting them up tells us absolutely nothing about the hardiness of other species. Comparing BTA and gigantea is like comparing a woodpecker to a penguin.

 

[nanojg]

6 month rule? I dont introduce sps or nems for 12 months at least.

 

[velvetelvis]

There is a HUGE difference between species. This is a family not unlike birds or fish. Few people are successful with moorish idol, but anyone can keep a gold fish. Aiptasia can survive practically anything, but healthy gigantea and magnifica are rare. The fact that BTA's can be propagated by cutting them up tells us absolutely nothing about the hardiness of other species. Comparing BTA and gigantea is like comparing a woodpecker to a penguin.

+1 The number of posts and threads appearing on this forum asking for help with anemones is a pretty clear indicator that clownfish-hosting anemones only suffer from inexperienced and/or cavalier treatment.

 

[ReeferBill]

6 month rule?

H i hvacman ; I would wait another 6 months just to be safe because you do not want to lose such a beautiful delicate animal. Happy Reefing!!!!!!!!!!!!!:worried:

 

[hvacman250]

6 month rule? I dont introduce sps or nems for 12 months at least.

I think a 12 month rule is borderline silly. There is no reason to wait 12 months to introduce SPS. My tank is living proof.

I had a reef tank 10 years ago, and started again about 8 months ago. The biggest thing I have learned in this hobby and from forums is this: there are no absolute truths in this hobby (using common sense of course), what works for your tank might not work for another, and there is more than one solution to a given problem.

When I started my 100 gallon reef 5 months ago, I used some established sand from my existing 10 gallon, 100 lbs of base rock (cured for 2 months while tank was being built), and loaded it with life from IPSF. After 2+ months, I was hard headed and excited, so I added a milli frag. Over the past 2 months (now 5 month old tank), I have about 7 SPS frags that are doing awesome. The SPS frags in my system look better and grow faster than the frag tank at my LFS. I maintain excellent water parameters and everything in my tank is thriving.
f anybody wants proof, I'll show pics.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, but I hate absolute truths.

Back to the original topic: I mainly asked for reference, and possibly others reading in the future. I changed from acrylic to glass over a month ago in my other tank, the 40 BR. I dont have plans to buy an anemone any time soon, and I dont even know what kind I want yet. The tank houses a pair of O.clowns. Plans for this tank is a single nem and a pair of clowns. And there is a frag rack in the corner. Thats it, nothing else. Tank is lit with a 4 bulb T5 fixture 4" above water line, 2-4 inches of sand (varies), 20 gallon sump w/ skimmer and ATS, and about 40x turnover via powerheads/sump pump.

Now to sit back and wait.

 

[nanojg]

So I am retarded for waiting 12 months? I said nothing about any absolute truths, just posted that I wait 12 months. Generally tanks are not stable for a while.

 

[nanojg]

What's up with the 6 month rule if there are no absolutes?

 

[davocean]

I think a 12 month rule is borderline retarded. There is no reason to wait 12 months to introduce SPS. My tank is living proof.

Well, lets not get nasty!
I think 12mo is a bit on the overcautious side, but I'd much rather see people be overcautious than under.
More times than not people rush way too fast, and I think that is mainly what our general guideline of 6 mo is trying to keep people from doing.
Can you get lucky rushing?
Sure, but it's not the safest bet.
Sometimes I see people take much longer than I would, and I always think, "wow, this dude has more patience than me, I bet we'll see this guy around for a while"
People that rush in, tend to rush out as well.

 

[hvacman250]

What's up with the 6 month rule if there are no absolutes?

I didnt make the 6 month rule up, and I was not calling YOU retarded. See next post. Edit: I edited "retarded" to "silly". My apologies.

Well, lets not get nasty!
I think 12mo is a bit on the overcautious side, but I'd much rather see people be overcautious than under.
More times than not people rush way too fast, and I think that is mainly what our general guideline of 6 mo is trying to keep people from doing.
Can you get lucky rushing?
Sure, but it's not the safest bet.
Sometimes I see people take much longer than I would, and I always think, "wow, this dude has more patience than me, I bet we'll see this guy around for a while"
People that rush in, tend to rush out as well.

I wasnt being nasty. People shouldnt be so quick to get all defensive. I think there is a big difference in saying " that rule is borderline retarded" and "you are a retard for waiting 12 months". Same as if I were to tell my kids "what you did was stupid" vs. "you are stupid for doing that". I meant no disrespect, just a different viewpoint.

I totally agree with waiting and being patient. Did I wait 6 months? No, but I did other things and spent alot of money to help speed up my waiting time. I was just about to edit my post in case future new comers read it and followed my path. For the record:

While my tank was being built, I cycled 100 lbs of base rock with 15 lbs of beautiful fully cured live rock for 2 months. After setting the tank up, I added 80 lbs of "live" sand in a bag, along with 10 lbs or so of established sand. Then added $200 worth of critters from IPSF (pods, worms, stars, clams, etc) then added $200 worth of stuff from GARF (grunge, bag o' bugs, etc.) I attribute my success to these 2 companies and their product. It HAD to have helped me along.

I just hate for a new comer to come along and think he has to set up a reef tank and wait 12 months to put anything inside it except a fish. Patiece is a virtue in this hobby, and it is rewarded. But on the flip side I'm sure there are 2 year old reef tanks that ARENT suited for certain critters, while a 5 month old tank could.

 

[davocean]

Eh, I personally would not like to be told my practices are borderline retarded, I wouldn't expect that comment to be received very well.
"You know what your problem is?", that's another one I don't like, been trying to explain that one to GF, just never pulls the convo in a positive direction!LOL(Good valentines topic huh?)

 

[dc]

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