how established is my tank

[Ross]

I upgraded from a 55 to an 84g 3 weeks ago. I had the 55 set up for about 3 months with no fish because i knew i was upgrading. I used all the same sand, live rock, wet/dry, water-everything. I had to add 100lbs of southdown and obviously about 25g of new saltwater. The 84g never even minicyled. Right now i have 2 percs in the tank. So how established would you say my tank is.

[Tim Marvin]

So lets see, you are almost 4 months. I would say you are established. It is still a young tank, but you really just did a tank move with a big water change. Hopefully you put the old sand on top of the new. Go ahead and add about 30 corals and a couple fish. You need to add fish slowly because they are the biggest problem with keeping water quality.

[JimD]

Whats the ammonia and nitrate levels? Consider using live rock and sand as your main filtration, The wet-dry will serve you better as a modified refugium.

[captexas]

In my opinion it is still a young tank. Do you have any kind of clean-up critters? They are very important in cleaning up any uneaten food and fish wastes. I would recommend carefully thinking about what you want to have in this tank when it is all said and done, this includes fish and corals. Certain fish should be added last as they are more territorial. Also, the tank size will affect what other fish you can support as well as the number of fish. The best advice is to read, read, and read. These forums and other online sites are great for sharing information, but it helps to have some basic knowledge of the different aspects of fish/reef keeping.

Hope that helps,
Chris

[Ross]

My ammonia and nitrite are zero. I am going to set a refugium sometime when i can get a tank drilled. I have 10 hermits and am waiting for salwaterfish.com to get some cerith and nasiurus snails. For fish i would like to have 2 percs, 1 purple firefish, 1 royal gramma, 1 six line wrasse, 1 yellow tang, and 1 flame angel. In what order should i introduce them. I know the angel needs an established tank and the yellow tang can be territorial. Are all these reef safe. I know the flame angel can be hit or miss as far as reef safe goes. For corals i am going to start out with some xenia when the tank is ready. Any suggestions for some other easy corals? I have only had a diatom bloom. My hermits have eaten all of it off the live rock but there is still some on the sand. I don't plan on having any sps or clams because i just have a vho for lights.