23" Cube Reef, DIY LEDs and DIY Shelf Rock......

While it is your tank, and your coral, I really don't understand why you feel it necessary to add corals to an uncycled tank? If you get a thrill from taking a risk do it with your own life not the life of another living thing.Maybe I am missing something but IMO the idea in this hobby is to limit risks.If that is not your goal maybe you should try skydiving.
Cool looking tank though.

 

To that, I 100% agree, it's caused me a bit more frustration in this thread than I'd like.

 

I understand what you're saying and I do realize the risk I'm taking..... but the thing is, the risk isn't anywhere near as huge as what some folks seem to be flipping over. That, and it's weed corals I have at risk--- the same stuff that other guys are trying to exterminate from their tank before they overtake their costly LE corals.


I'm keeping this tank simple and straightforward with hardy stuff so I don't have to fret it all the time. Just feed, top off, check a few water tests, and be happy

 

do you think cycling a tank with a damsel or clownfish is wrong? of course you do it is simply immoral to put a creature through that hell. thats what you are doing, just with corals instead of fish.

 

Again, wrong.

Fish don't use ammonia as a nutrient, where as soft corals do, as long as it's not at toxic levels. You do realize that a lot of our soft coral proliferate on reefs that are right in the effluent of large city sewers in tropical waters, right? Good grief.


Ammonia does not reach a toxic level if you don't put much nitrogen-bearing compounds in the water. I'm not. Just a touch. Far less than the "shrimp cycling" method. It is a myth that ammonia has to build up to some astronomical number before the cycle is completed. That typically happens in a lot of tanks because of the amount of nitrogen in tanks that have fish or lots of live rock with dying/decaying animals (dead from shipping stress), but not in my tank.


Seriously take it somewhere else.

 

You are having a good discourse here and have done a nice job of not drifting into personal attacks. Disagreement is good as long as it stays civil.

Lots of good views and information which is what our forum is about. There is more than one way to do things successfully. Each way will be more successful for some than others. Please keep that in mind.

 

Yes very true. There are a few points that I didn't make as well here as I could have that might also shed some light on the whole situation.



1) I actually have a point in introducing hardy "weed" soft corals, and it's the same reason freshwater people introduce plants from the get-go in their aquariums if they are aiming for well-planted tanks. Algae competition. If I can hit the ground running with healthy stocks of anthelia, GSP, and so on, they are going to be uptaking nutrients enough to help compete with the usual onslaught of new-tank algaes--- they use the same nutrients. Starting out with a bare tank, no corals, some rockwork, and only a scrap of shrimp to cycle it gets your tank primed for an algae war since there is little/nothing in the tank to compete with them.


2) Tank setups like this with no sump, refugium, GFO, or skimmer won't typically grow corals (except some softies) as fast as a tank with more advanced filtration. I am fine with that, since I'm looking for a lower maintenance setup anyhow.

 

1)Interesting theory and one I really never thought about to tell you the truth.If you are concerned about a buildup of nutrients there are many ways to absorb them without the use of coral and this is why I don't see the point of risking anything alive.If you are concerned about algae you can do what I do and keep the tank blacked out for the first few weeks.What you are doing is simply replacing one form of nutrient export for another with the risk of killing a coral or two which will add alot more nutrients to the water then just cycling and using a couple of bags of Chemipure Elite/wc's etc. to reduce the nutrients then adding your corals.
I just don't see that big a benefit just added risk.
2)Don't tell that to Corrailine.LOL;DHer tank grows SPS like "weeds".

 

Well, I never said this was the only way to do it, and yes it is just a theory (they do use the same basic nutrients, that's not up for debate, but their ability to compete with algae in a new tank is the theory)......I've run a ULNS before via heavy skimming, carbon dosing, and a large refugium when I had more SPS-heavy tanks. I think we've overestimated the risk to soft corals here. As long as ammonia levels don't get too high, the softies won't be in toxic conditions. I have quite a bit of control over that via how much organic matter I put in the tank.

FWIW I actually have enough live rock from my 11g tank in this 45g tank to easily seed the tank with a substantial bacterial population.

I have several SPS species (several montipora and one acropora) in my 11g that is set up the same way. They didn't go in until long after the tank was established (a few months) and they are doing quite well. The montipora grow nicely, but the acropora not so much, but it looks lovely----- turquoise color.

 

Interesting thread, I can't wait to see the photos, your rock work is very exciting, very similar to some reefs in the red sea, where the corals thrive !
Don't forget to update this with photos and a de brief daily.

Good luck !