Nennie in a 1 month old tank??

AdamVR

AdamVR

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So here is the thing. Went to a lfs to get a second opinion on the water in my approx 1 month old tank. The guy asks me what I am planning for the tank. I tell him a FOWLR, and after a year or so, put some SPS or anemones in, making a reef tank.

He checks pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity. All is well, except the nitrite, which is approx 50ppm. He gives me a tube of Bioptim to drop in the tank, of which some of it I place in my DSB.

Then he tells me to come back in 2 days time, just to make sure the nitrite has dropped as well, and start adding fish.

Then he tells me I can start adding corals, as my parameters are fine for them. Corals after 1 month?? Seriously??

I must say I do get excellent service from them usually and have spent many payslips in their tropical tank section over the last couple of years...
 
I would actually add corals first, then clean up crew, then fish. Corals after 1 month? Sure, why not?
Back to the topic. Is there anyone here, who can explain why a nennie needs a matured tank? I don't get, never understood it. Like the myth about mandarins.
 
@LuckyFish i also dont get the whole nenny thing, as i see it a nenny is something that need the correct lighting to help grow and then just feed and the clowns feed them too so y do they need an established tank if we keep them happy. i added a fully bleached rose bubble tip in a 2 month old tank and with the right amount of feeding and lighting eventually got all his colour back and grew massive and a stable system had nothing to do with it either.
 
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CarlosFrazao said:
@LuckyFish i also dont get the whole nenny thing, as i see it a nenny is something that need the correct lighting to help grow and then just feed and the clowns feed them too so y do they need an established tank if we keep them happy. i added a fully bleached rose bubble tip in a 2 month old tank and with the right amount of feeding and lighting eventually got all his colour back and grew massive and a stable system had nothing to do with it either.
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That's my point. You did it. So what's the story behind it?
I do agree, there is a big difference between the use of NSW and using saltmix.
I fully stocked a tank within two weeks with NSW. No filter media in the sump, just return pump, skimmer, heater and auto top up.
Lots of live rock, fresh aragonite and coral chips, lots of corals, nennie, plenty of fish including a mandarin. No problems, not even a single algae outbreak.
The way is the destination.
 
true and mine was in the most basice of systems no sump just a HON and 2x24watt t5's and i have never had any algae in that tank dont even ask me what gha looks like i have never seen it.

if i as a noob with no experiance could get a fully bleached nenny back to health in a 2month old tank that never cycled i dont see the need for 8 months old tanks. as i said just give the right amount of feeding and light and you shall have a happy nenny
 
My tank is just passed two weeks, and I have tons of inverts and frags in for the last week.


but there is a few things I should add, I only added not even a kilo of lr from another reefer, all other lr was dead and has been sitting in the garage for a few months, and I been dosing lot's of bacteria, so there would never of been much of an ammonia cycle to kick it off, I have been fragging like crazy, and everything is fine.

I still wont put fish in yet, or if they might just get stressed, I must actually make a plan now to start getting some, cause they will be in qt for another 4 weeks,

But at the same time, I would not recommend someone go buy a ton of LR, chuck it on the back of their bakkie in the sun, get home and chuck it in a nano, then go back to the lfs and get fish, even with bacteria dosing, I think fish and inverts a minimum of 4 weeks, even pending ammonia and nitrites being 0,


pics of tank last night, all the corals and inverts been in over a week already:blush:

21534f57d68318408.jpg
 
Not to knock the 4 week cycle or anything but I did exactly what Marcel did and had no losses, no algae out brakes.
 
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Just remember that not all tanks, the water you use or the way you do thing are the same. It is not to say because one or two guys got away with keeping a nennie happy in a 1 or 2 month old tank anyone can do it.
They do need a stable environment with the correct light, if unhappy, they will start to move and end up in a powerhead, getting chopped up.
So, it is "the general recommendation" to new reefers to rather wait for the tank to mature a bit and become stable before possibly killing an animal that can live for 100's of years in the ocean. So a few guys got it right. What about the other 50 that killed the nennie?
 
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In smaller tanks like my nano i would recommend letting tank perameters stabilise before adding sensitives like acropora. i lost sevral due to trying to rush things
 
I agree with Marchel and Carlos, it is not so much to do with having a established tank, but rather keeping the water parameters stable. Also ensuring the correct lighting is used for the nennie.

I do however also agree with Tobes, we don't encourage people without any reef keeping experience to start out with a new tank and a nennie because of all the requirements.

It boils down to the reef keeper's passion. Will he / she take the time and effort involved in keeping a nennie happy seriously.
 
I have to agree with Tobes. Its not as much a young or old tank , its the stability of the tank.

Every single tank is different, even if the same LFS sells 2 identical systems, start them the same time , things will be different.

I personally think the Baseline here is after running a tank about 1 year, without really losing friends in the tank, a reefer shows that he/she can keep fish, corals etc. happy, and can then try to keep a nennie, as this is an organisim that is sensitive, and needs that little bit of extra TLC
 
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I think the time rule is more than anything about the reefer learning the "feel" for his tank, understanding how his parameters flux, what he needs to do to keep them in check, sort out a maintenance routine... Anecdotally I would definitely agree that an older tank is more stable tho...
 
2time said:
Not to knock the 4 week cycle or anything but I did exactly what Marcel did and had no losses, no algae out brakes.
Click to expand...

i dont even want to say what i did.. :) but it worked..
14 + months and stable as a ***** on a pole..
 
Jeann1 said:
I personally think the Baseline here is after running a tank about 1 year, without really losing friends in the tank, a reefer shows that he/she can keep fish, corals etc. happy, and can then try to keep a nennie, as this is organisim that is sensitive, and needs that little bit of extra TLC
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I like that kind of explanation. That seems to hit the nail on the head.
 
The 4 week rule is in place these days mainly for people just starting out in the hobby.

With the introduction of new products and different ways to run and filter reef systems a lot professional reefers dont bother with the four week rule anymore.

If you take the Zeovit Systems they only require max 14 days before introducing even the most sensitive SPS corals.


I would still recommend the 4 week cycle for guys new to the hobby.
 
Zooxanthellae just as important..

Zooxanthellae are single-celled plants that live in the tissues of animals. These organisms are part of a group of dinoflagellates that are most often found as plankton. However, this particular group of species is best known for a mutualistic relationship they have with reef building corals.
Corals provide a protected environment and compounds needed for photosynthesis to zooxanthellae. In turn, zooxanthellae provide food as products of photosynthesis to coral. This gives corals a boost of nutrients, so they can secrete the calcium carbonate skeleton that serves as the foundation for coral reef. This important relationship represents a highly efficient exchange of nutrients in a nutrient-poor environment.
Corals are not the only hosts of zooxanthellae. Some other reef hosts include:
  • Anemones
  • Giant clams
  • Gorgonian corals or sea fans
  • Soft corals
  • Sea whips
  • Nudibranchs
  • Jellyfish
found at Coral Reefs: Zooxanthellae

further reading..

Any of these animals can bleach and turn white. As with corals, bleaching occurs when environmental stress adversely affects the mutually beneficial relationship between the host organism and its zooxanthellae.

Until recently, scientists thought all corals shared the same species of zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium microadriaticum) but we now know there are at least nine groups (called clades), and there may be many species within these. Scientists have also discovered that some of these zooxanthellae are more able to resist bleaching. One of these, called ‘clade D,’ is particularly resistant to bleaching and enables the coral host to avoid the bleaching stress response.

@crispin.. i remember reading a post of your about Zoox..
 
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Well Starz beat me.

LuckyFish said:
Is there anyone here, who can explain why a nennie needs a matured tank? I don't get, never understood it
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Some mature corals release excess Zooxanthellae. And others take them up again. Some Zooxanthellae differ in colour and that might explain certain corals changing colour on our tanks over time. Some Zooxanthellae are not compatible with some corals and that is why it is better to have corals all from the same area. Zooxanthellae expelled from mushrooms can be used by other types of corals like SPS, especially if from same region. And that is why for anemones, it is advised that a tank must be a matured system of at least 8 months. So that excess Zooxanthellae are around that is expelled by mushrooms for example.
 
Great info. Thanks all. Now for the next question. A friend pointed me to some zoa and paly frags available. Is it a good idea to introduce them to a new tank, or should I place them on hold in an established tank, until my tank matures?
 
If your tank has been running a month now and ammonia and nitrites is 0, and nitrates is lower than 10, I would say yes. They are fairly hardy, especially the local ones.
 
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