I hardly
ever refer anyone to another site, but in this case I believe I will.
I am refering to a thread entitled
"Maturity Issues" in the Coral Forum over on Reef Central.
This thread with comments by noted coral authority Eric Borneman, details the stages each new tank goes through and what populations are expanding with what results at any given stage.
Basically you are waiting for the populations of several types of flora and fauna (from bacteria to amphipods) to swell and then be stabalized by any number of chemical and biological processes.
It is a fascinating study of successional population dynamics- pioneer species to climax populations (to borrow a few neat phrases).
It also has to do with
your getting stabalized as far as keeping your water parameters as perfect as possible with little variation. I don't know how long you've been involved in marine tanks but getting a handle on calcium and alkalinity and
learning how to keep it stable takes all of six months or more
Stable is the key word. You need to be able to manage your tank so that the SG stays stable, the pH, calcium, alkalinity, etc. all stay stable. Wide up and down swings of anything are troublesome to reef creatures.
The recommendations I have heard list six months as the earliest possible time (after cycling) to add an anenome, with one year as a more realistic time. This assumes that there have been no major upsets with the tank in question and diligence on the part of the reefkeeper in terms of studying up on the needs of each specific animal.