No problem with the pics at all, in fact I appreciate them. [emoji6]
What are the typical phases of the "ugly stages"? To my understanding, diatoms are generally a sign that the tank is just about stabilized, however I thought hair algae and cyano were rather controllable through the usage of a cleanup crew, and having proper parameters.
I had a 90g SPS awhile back and now I'm running this Fluval nano. Both went through an "ugly" phase, but keep in mind every tank is different. But, Diatom bloom usually come first and that goes away. Then you'll typically get the green bloom. This covers the glass and rocks, kinda like Diatoms. But, if your parameters are pretty out of wack you can get green water. Just keep the lights out for a few days and continue to work on controlling Nitrates and Phosphates. Then as your Chemistry starts to balance you'll start to get macro algae blooms from your LR. These pop up through out the life of the tank, the main thing is to get out ahead of it now. Cyano is hit or miss, I had a bad outbreak in my Fluval because of low flow and high nitrates/phosphates. My old 90g I would only get it in spots early on, but it typically will go away with flow and good water chemistry. This time around it got pretty bad so I used Chemiclean and cleared right up no problem.
Also, what caused the coral to brown? Diatoms?
The stock lights were lower PAR and not the best spectrum. Growth and polyp exentsion were great, but color was bland. You can tell from my two pics how the Ricordia and Montipora Digi really pop now under the right spectrum. But, both were still super healthy. It's more an aesthetics thing. I focused on water chemistry first and now focusing on color. But, you can do both from the start if you got the lighting.
If I was to do it again I would...
1) Start your cycle with TurboStart 900. This really kicked my cycle off right
2) Start running GFO and Carbon early
3) Make sure you have lots of circulation from the beginning (I have two powerheads plus return)
4) Be patient
5) Keep fish to a minimum
6) Keep you water topped off. This is important in a nano when cups equal full percentages of your volume. I lose about 4-cups a day in evaporation in the winter when the heater is on and top off 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. Don't forget if you are running a skimmer to top off the same amount in salt water that you lose in skimmate.
7) Test, test, test
8) Keep records. I like Aquarimate, but it is expensive for an app. There are others out there. Or do old pen and paper logs. But, keep records of test results, live stock additions, water changes, etc.. so if something goes down hill you can figure out what and when something changed.
9) Don't overstock clean up crew. It's a nano and they poop too. I have 4 hermits, 3 Trocus snails, and a Cleaner Shrimp. You can do more or less, but don't dump 13 snails in based on the "One per gallon" rule websites like to sell you. They'll just starve and that's a lot of bioload in a nano. Start small and add later.
10) Have fun. Step back, drink a beer and enjoy your hard work from time to time.
Bonus) The key to success in reefing is stability and consistency.
