New saltwater tank please help me out?

Question

hi i just set up a new 20 gallon saltwater tank and i know all about care and stuff but i was wondering how long do i really need to wait to put fish in? i used crushed coral that i got from an established tank and the live rock was also from and established tank so its full of bacteria so how long is absolutely necessarilyy?

Answer 1

I would wait a month and a half atleast and test everything and see if its stable then everything should be ok.

Answer 2

My BF set up a 55 gal tank in March and used crushed coral and live rock to start the cycle. He let it cycle for 3 days and then added 2 damsels, then two weeks later added 2 clown fish. Start with hardy fish, damsels are cheap but I would only get 1 because they are aggressive and hard to get out of the tank. The clown fish are hardy and beautiful to watch. The mistake we did make was we got a blue hippo and copperband (they are not hardy) two months after the set up, sadly they didn't last more than two weeks. I know now it was because the tank wasn't established long enough. Now the tank is more established we are getting a blue hippo soon.  

Answer 3

Salt water tanks take more time to mature than freshwater. I would wait about a month for it to cycle, but it won't be completely mature for about 6 months or so. If you plan on adding corals or inverts, wait at least 6 months. Be sure to add fish very gradually and don't overstock.