When is a tank considered establsihed?

[idgy]

My 36 gallon tank will be up a year this coming May. I want to add creatures that need an established tank, when is a tank considered established? How do you know if you have cope pods and that there is enough to maintain a mandarin fish?

Thank you.

 

[Gryphon]

Well, I guess a good starting point on the pods question would be do you have a sump, how big, and what do you have inside it. From what I understand copepods are visible, so I'd start by looking to see how much you have.

I've heard of mandarins that have been trained to eat other foods, which would help even if you had a large pod population. Might want to look into that as well.

 

[NanaReefer]

Believe me when I say that you will hear from MANY who will tell you that a 36g is to small of a tank to sustain a Mandarin. Especially one that eats only Copepods!
If at all possible try and find one that IS eating prepared foods also. Otherwise it will wipe out your pod population within a couple if weeks, if not sooner. Then you'll be buying pods 1-2x monthly, which gets expensive. Or you could culture your own.
Best prepared foods to try are, NutraMar Ova, NLS pellets, live baby brine shrimp.
Good luck

 

[idgy]

Is a year considered well established? What about for starfish and anemone?

 

[Krish]

My 36 gallon tank will be up a year this coming May. I want to add creatures that need an established tank, when is a tank considered established? How do you know if you have cope pods and that there is enough to maintain a mandarin fish?

Thank you.

IMO, a tank is considered established/matured when your parameters are all balanced and stable and have been this way consistently for a while. Marine life that requires established aquariums are usually very sensitive to changes which is why an established/matured tank that is pretty balanced and stable is required. You can't really put a time frame on it.



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[NanaReefer]

Is a year considered well established? What about for starfish and anemone?

Depending on its lighting requirements an Anemone would be fine. Depending on the type of Star Fish your looking at. One like the Sand sifting I would say no. Brittle Stars yes.
Just make sure you research the animal your interested in and make an honest decision on whether your tank will be a happy and healthy place for it to live.
My tank is well established at 2+yrs but....it is a 26g and I would never put a Star Fish, nor a Mandarin in it. It's not just the size but sustainability!

 

[idgy]

IMO, a tank is considered established/matured when your parameters are all balanced and stable and have been this way consistently for a while. Marine life that requires established aquariums are usually very sensitive to changes which is why an established/matured tank that is pretty balanced and stable is required. You can't really put a time frame on it.

Parameters as in ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH. Are there any other parameters that should be factored into this that I am missing?

 

[SeaLion]

Depending on its lighting requirements an Anemone would be fine. Depending on the type of Star Fish your looking at. One like the Sand sifting I would say no. Brittle Stars yes.
Just make sure you research the animal your interested in and make an honest decision on whether your tank will be a happy and healthy place for it to live.
My tank is well established at 2+yrs but....it is a 26g and I would never put a Star Fish, nor a Mandarin in it. It's not just the size but sustainability!

No Mandarin, why I find that hard to believe.

 

[NanaReefer]

No Mandarin, why I find that hard to believe.

I will never put another ORA Mandarin in my 26g tank again. Neither of the two I tried survived. Better??

 

[nata]

I have one mandarin in my 180 and he exhausted all the copepods..yes they eat non stop..

 

[pandora32]

I had 1 mandarin and one scooter blenny in my 215g. I would still buy pods to populate the tank. I dont think i needed to, i just didn't want them to starve. They got pretty chuncky and i could watch them all day scootin along the rock, so i could imagine how fast the pod population in a smaller tank would be depleted. As far as mature/established. I think krish said it best. Stability.

 

[burning2nd]

established... is IMO another word for stable

For instance i know my tank is established.. Because A i dont have to test anymore B i almost dont have to feed my fish they feed off the tank C it runs its self now

When i first started i had my hand in the tank every day... I was always messing with it.. Now weeks go by sometime before i look at it