Adding Coral During the Ugly Stage

[reef_daddy]

I was wondering if anyone has advice on adding some Zoas or Leathers to my to my tank before the “ugly stage” starts. I’m being patient and trying not to rush the build, but I don’t understand why I shouldn’t be adding coral during this stage. My tank has been cycling since November and I just turned on my lights a couple of days ago. I’m trying to stick with the BRS 4 month cycle, and I know I should wait until after the ugly stage but there is so much conflicting information out there on how long the ugly stage lasts.

Why is it bad for me to add easier corals like Zoas or leathers before or durning the ugly stage?

Some people say the ugly stage can sometimes last 6 months, am I really expected to wait until then before adding coral?

If I maintain routine water changes and if the ugly stage goes away on its own after a few weeks - months, why would it be bad to add some relatively hardy coral?

 

[Kremis]

I think you should be fine, I added coral after a month and yes there was a lot of algae but they were fine.

 

[ngoodermuth]

As long as all of your parameters are holding steady, you could definitely try a few hardy corals and see how they fare.

 

[vwhitaker720]

@mikeyreefs I am also trying to stick to the brs 4 month cycle and also just now started turning on my lights and I'm getting what looks to be green algae on my rocks... I turned my lights down in intensity and for only 4 hrs a day instead of the 10 I had before I guess to minimize the algae growth. My question is if you added corals before how they handled going through the ugly stage if you had one. Thanks in advanced