What's the soonest after cycling have you put sps into a tank?

[bridun22ajl]

I am planning on redoing my tank and will be using 95% real reef rock(the artificial rock). I have an established tank and I want to completely take it down and set up a new one all at the same time. I'm not going to use any water or rock from my old tank because I had been having some issues and want a fresh start.

The rock is in a brute can for a few weeks. With saltwater and a couple pieces of live rock.

Am I asking for trouble? What's the quickest you have stocked an sps tank after setting one up?

 

[acabgd]

It all depends... with my first nano I've put SPS after 2 months and had great growth and coloration. With the current tank after 7 months I'm thinking about introducing SPS sometimes next month.

 

[sanababit]

About 2 minths too

Sana

 

[SPS Tamer]

One month after fresh cycle was the fastest but I did use both Stability and live pods etc. Also making sure all the parameters are good. I would use tester sps, something from your local reefer tank that they can break off and give u as tester.

 

[r-balljunkie]

i shoot for a year before adding anything too difficult, or expensive.

starter stuff, first 6 months, build from here if you have some success with green slimer or monti-caps

GL

C

 

[epicurus84]

Depends, mostly on your previous xp. And tank.

When i moved my tank cycled trough it all in 1 week. Then did a move from my old tank. (which basically ment a 50% water change) haven't lost a coral or fish from this change.

Imho, when you get a tank pretty stable you can use any sps. But i would offcourse start with some cheap *** monti and after that some cheap *** acro.

 

[zombiereefer]

i have added sps pretty quickly. most of the tanks i have setup didnt cycle. always using real live rock and live sand. its more about stability with the tank not time. technically once your cycle is over ur good as long as you know how to keep you levels in check. and you need to know what your tank consumes and how to compensate that. so go for it. i would also use a starter sps like a monti see how it does.

 

[jda]

With a tank full of fresh rock and sand, probably a year before I would risk more than a frag-swap or $10 frag. With cycled rock, maybe 3 months. It will take a year or more for that tank to fully cycle to where it can effectively process nitrate and phosphate, unless you inhibit the process by running GFO or carbon or something.

The more water the less I would wait. If you are talking like 180G, then maybe 4-6 months. If you are talking a bio cube, then maybe 6-12 months.

In any case, I would wait for a strong coating of coralline to grow.

I am in it for the long haul, though, and a few months is no big deal to me.

 

[bskiba]

One month. Bb oversized skimmer. Low bio load. Mostly dry cooked rock. Tons of flow. Didn't have a big cycle and filtration was solid. I have years of experience though and my setup was well planned. I would recommend three months normally. The old school one year recommendations depend on setup. Now with phosphate removal, skimmers, cheato, nitrate reducers, and more flow you can control nutrients a lot easier.

 

[DerekFF]

What's the soonest after cycling have you put sps into a tank?

It is completely experience based. I know lots of people who can put sps in on day 1 and power cycle and seed their tank so there is almost not cycle and they do fine. I also know people who have tanks 2-3 years established and yet struggle with sps. Tank maturity doesn't mean a whole lot anymore. It's more like "reefer maturity" It is 90% experience based.

 

[jda]

They more that you try and keep your SPS alive in a new tank with nitrate reducers, GFO, etc. they more you put them at risk later when your tank does not fully cycle and is still unstable years later.

Any of this is possible, but is does definitely depend on the reefer.