Tank Upgrade + Transfer. When to add SPS?

[Hentz]

Hey guys, a bit of a noob question here..

While I've upgraded/downgraded tanks, I've always used what I've been using with just more or less fresh saltwater. The last time I cycled a tank was my ZEOvit tank which worked out great. However, this time I did things a little more "natural" by only adding Fritz Turbo Start to my 120 with dry rock, heavily established Marine Pure Spheres, and later added about 10 pounds of dry rock.

The normal diatom bloom is pretty much gone. I'm only now having some nice algae on the glass which I clean off every few days.


At this point, when do you think it will be a good time to transfer my corals from my smaller tank into the bigger tank?
Should I add a single piece and go from there, depending on how it looks and adjusts to the tank?

 

[jda]

You are usually in the clear when the coralline and pods start to pop up everywhere.

 

[reefmutt]

You are usually in the clear when the coralline and pods start to pop up everywhere.

I'd agree with this.. but if you have no live rock in the system, it may take a bit longer.. can you pull any rock from your current tank and put it in the new one? May help seed the corraline..

 

[cobra2326]

I'll add my anecdote:

I added SPS 4 days after ammonia went to zero. I likely still had nitrites, pods were few and far between and I *still* have no coraline (after almost 3 months). I added a green slimer, unnamed smooth-skinned Acro, Montipora sp. and green seriatopora. I didn't have any losses. Nitrates have been 20-80 most of the time. Growth was slow, and things definitely lost some color, but overall it went fine. I even had a crazy algae outbreak from the cycle that overgrew a lot of the corals and shaded them, but still no real issues.

I think in the future, I'll add corals long before I add fish.

 

[C.Eymann]

I always add some "canary" frags first, usually a Monti, pavona, or pocillopora. Wait a few days, add a acro frag, wait a few more days, a dead give away to me is if the acropora is exhibiting nocturnal axial corallite extention, it's happy and you should be good to go.

 

[cobra2326]

I always add some "canary" frags first, usually a Monti, pavona, or pocillopora. Wait a few days, add a acro frag, wait a few more days, a dead give away to me is if the acropora is exhibiting nocturnal axial corallite extention, it's happy and you should be good to go.

Interesting stuff once again. None of my frags have really shown good night time PE. Daytime is usually good. Things are growing and some are coloring up. Everything has been stable except nitrates, which are high for an unknown reason (no inputs, weekly WCs).

 

[C.Eymann]

Interesting stuff once again. None of my frags have really shown good night time PE. Daytime is usually good. Things are growing and some are coloring up. Everything has been stable except nitrates, which are high for an unknown reason (no inputs, weekly WCs).

The axial corallite nocturnal extention really only applies to Acropora.

Axial corallite is at the tip of the branches, in some species the coral overall may not have good PE, but the axials will have their polyps tentacleso fully extended. It can sometimes be really hard to tell as they are pretty much transparent.