When can I get one?

TexAgReefer

TexAgReefer

Premium Member
My tank is 6 weeks old. 3 fish, two shrimp and cuc. I really want to get a rose bta. Trying to be as patient as possible and do things right. When could I get my first nem and give it the best chance to thrive? for the last 3 weeks my ammonia and nitrites have been 0, nitrates <10(<2 the last two weeks).

Thanks
 
We got ours about 3 months after we set up the tank. It did very well. It actually never moved. We also bought a rock anemone about a month before we got a new tank. We moved everything into the new tank after the cycle. Everything looks awesome. The new set up has been going since December. We now have two rbta's (it split), a gbta, and the rock anemone with the porcelain crab. The rbta did not move until it split. It's been a great addition.

Everyone says to wait 6-12 months but in our short experiences with nems, I don't think it matters as long as your levels are stable and you have sufficient lighting. In sure others disagree. It's just been our experience. I would rather buy it early and let it figure out where it wants to be than wait 6-12 months to add after you have a bunch of corals. They usually like to move exactly where you don't want them.

The clowns host the baby.
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Here's mama. She moved to the top of the tank.
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Matt
 
Of course as soon as I say the clowns are hosting the baby, the male decides to go check out the mama rbta. These clowns would not host until I bought a pair of skunks. They fought and fought and had to get rid of the skunks but these finally figured out what to do with a nem. Kinda funny.
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Matt
 
Placing a defined time limit around when to get something or not would simply be a general rule of thumb.
However, Nems can be a bit more tricky the other animals. You are taking a risk adding one before you have a solid 3 or more months under your belt on the tank.
 
What's your lighting and filtration?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I agree there is no hard timeline per se. You could have an "established" tank that has been around for years with constantly changing parameters that would meet the time "rule" but still not be appropriate for a nem. I switched tanks, started with new sand, and live rock that had been processed and seeded for a couple of months and added a nem maybe 2 - 3 months after the new tank had been setup with no problems but already had a routine in place for keeping stable parameters.
 
Well you know this is a good question because i was curious myself when i wanted one a year ago when i started mh reef gank and now i know from experience that they can be very delicate if you neglect them to long..i lost 2 condys before getting the sebae and condy i have now so i would defenitely wait at least 3 months so your tank can have a good cycle but once you get thru that you'll be good to go and if you can go for more than 3 months without losing one your doing something right [smilie=smile.gif]
 
@kuyatwo wrote:
What's your lighting and filtration? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk said:
I have a 75 gal tank, 36" trigger system sump, Reef Octopus NW110 skimmer and running a reactor with GFO/carbon mixed which is changed every 2 weeks. I have the custom reef LED fixture from buildmyled.com. From everything I've read, filtration and lights are more than enough.

Temp is stable, ph is between 8.1-8.2 in a given day and like I stated my parameters have been solid. I do a weekly 5 gal water change as well.
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like you have a good handle on things. You asked about giving it the best chance to thrive so personally, I would still wait another 6 weeks. During that time if things are still looking the same (stable temp within a couple of degrees, pH in a narrow range, salinity locked in, etc.) then I would consider adding a nem.
 
I second the waiting a little longer. My husband and I got one a little too soon I think. She is doing great, but I did lose a coral when she decided to move to the other side of the tank. :-( Once she got comfortable and stable, she split. That was just a couple days ago. She is still in the 'stock' phase and hasn't come out yet. I'm expecting her either today or tomorrow. My concern is now either one, or both will move and I could possibly end up losing another coral if I'm not right on it. The advantage I have is everyone in my house is very 'reef observant'. We have four people really watching the tank almost around the clock! LOL My two sons are very much into learning the in's and out's as well, so even when I'm at work I get consistent updates about the 'going on's'. If it weren't for that, I don't think we would be where we are today. But all the monitoring in the world isn't going to prevent a Rose from moving when she wants to move.
 
Well my tank is about 10 weeks old, you are more than welcome to come look at it if you are in the North Dallas area. We are very new to salt water, so it would be a "look at your own risk" trip! haha.
 
As always you are going to have a huge debate on this topic. Personally I would suggest waiting a at least another few weeks/months. Not from an established tank or not perspective, but from a knowing your tank perspective. Nearly everyone has had some major hiccup with their tank and it takes time to find out where your tank will "fail". Mine was a horrendous algae bloom after my top off dumped tons of alkalinity into the display. Took a couple months for that to happen. Since anemones and sps are less hardy you just want to make sure you're not jumping the gun.
 
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