Discouraged

[Nate Chalk]

Right rock is 2 years , left is 2 months. Time is a factor in reefing turns out the oceans werent created overnight either

 

[OrchidMiss]

This tank is a little over 3 months old. I am really discouraged. Looks ugly. I am doing 10 percent water change, change out the filter sock every 4 or so days, vaccuum my sand and still I have this **** in my tank. Everyone's looks so beautiful and here's mine.

I think it looks great so far!! I really like the layout. Lots of room for coral growth!
Patience is the worst thing ever, but hang in there!!!
What kinds of coral are you looking to keep? What lights are you running

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

.... or stocking the tank full of corals on day 1...

This, a LOT of this is happening now. Saw a instagram 'influencer' buying thousands of dollars of colonies for his insta tank last week, the guy is known at both of the LFS's I deal with, he is all about monetizing anything with clicks. I know a few local stores wont even allow him to buy product (corals or stock)...

To the OP hang in there, reefing is a game of patience. The 1st year is usually a LOT of up's and down's.

 

[Wasabiroot]

No reef tank looks beautiful until it does.

You got this! Consider many who have coralline algae (pink rock) would trade it away in a heartbeat.
It takes a good while for your system to come into maturity. Some happen in 6 months, but most tanks don't start leveling off and flourishing until 1 or 2 years in. Your microbiome is new and everyone wants a piece of real estate.

Just be persistent. Watch Tidal Gardens video content on the ugly stage, for example. It's a side effect of dry rock/balancing ecosystem. If you're comfortable, add a piece of liverock from your lfs, or better yet, from KP Aquatics or something. You of course risk introducing pests this way but the tank will be a bit more diverse at the microbial and microfauna level. This is of course 100% optional and not required, just food for thought.
Nothing that patience, discipline can't get you through in this hobby. But it's totally normal to feel discouraged. We got you!

 

[Chrisv.]

I have 2 fighting conches, 2 cerith, 4 turbos, 2 astrea and 10 hermits

How big is your tank? 2 fighting conch might be a bit much, but your mileage may vary. I'd probably add more cerith and astrea to what you have, and see if a local reefer had some stomatella they would donate. Stomatella breed ad will reach a carrying capacity in your tank.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

How big is your tank? 2 fighting conch might be a bit much, but your mileage may vary. I'd probably add more cerith and astrea to what you have, and see if a local reefer had some stomatella they would donate. Stomatella breed ad will reach a carrying capacity in your tank.

It's 110 gallons. And I just added some pods today.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

I think it looks great so far!! I really like the layout. Lots of room for coral growth!
Patience is the worst thing ever, but hang in there!!!
What kinds of coral are you looking to keep? What lights are you running

Yeah im waiting for the uglies to go away and than I'm thinking about starting out with some zoas and GSP.

 

[Chortanator]

This is my tank in its earliest stages vs my tank now. I made a lot of mistakes along the way (namely thinking I could take care of fish that I had no business having so early into the hobby), but I'm slowly but surely learning, and finally starting to see results for my efforts. Don't cut corners, have patience, and I found I had to turn my ego way down, and listen to the people who had much more experience than me. They've already made the costly mistakes, there's no need for me to go and do it again.

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Anybody who seems to avoid an ugly stage is either faking it (like lying about their tank or scrubbing everything thoroughly for instagram) or doing something that actually skips an ugly stage, like using established live rock or stocking the tank full of corals on day 1. You're not doing anything wrong and everyone who starts with dry rock and doesn't add any corals early is going to have no reason for algae not to take over.

So should I add coral?

 

[OrchidMiss]

Yeah im waiting for the uglies to go away and than I'm thinking about starting out with some zoas and GSP.

I highly recommend zoas!
I love them!!
Just keep the gsp confined to where you want it by keeping it separate or in a place you can easily remove some of needed

 

[Reefgirl0412]

This is my tank in its earliest stages vs my tank now. I made a lot of mistakes along the way (namely thinking I could take care of fish that I had no business having so early into the hobby), but I'm slowly but surely learning, and finally starting to see results for my efforts. Don't cut corners, have patience, and I found I had to turn my ego way down, and listen to the people who had much more experience than me. They've already made the costly mistakes, there's no need for me to go and do it again.

Looks really nice!!!

 

[Reefgirl0412]

I highly recommend zoas!
I love them!!
Just keep the gsp confined to where you want it by keeping it separate or in a place you can easily remove some of needed

Thank you. Im planning on making my rock in the middle (the white one) into a zoa garden

 

[Chortanator]

So should I add coral?

I think what they meant is that they put coral in there to make the tank look good for photos, but the tank is nowhere near stable enough to sustain the coral, and so it all dies soon after

 

[OrchidMiss]

Thank you. Im planning on making my rock in the middle (the white one) into a zoa garden

Massive amounts of ounk rockers, added some eagle eyes, blow pops, and radioactive dragon eyes

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Massive amounts of ounk rockers, added some eagle eyes, blow pops, and radioactive dragon eyes

Looks pretty

 

[Reefgirl0412]

I think what they meant is that they put coral in there to make the tank look good for photos, but the tank is nowhere near stable enough to sustain the coral, and so it all dies soon after

Ohhhhhh ok. That makes sense. Yeah im not planning to add corals until the ugly is gone.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah I understand. Doesn't mean I can't get discouraged. Just not pretty to look at.

Many do not like the sight of it and I listed measures above you can take.

 

[Chrisv.]

It's 110 gallons. And I just added some pods today.

Pods are really great and you will get a real benefit from them, but I'm still of the mind that you would be better off with more small snails, particularly the stomatella, which reproduce to their ideal population density without your input.

Another personal philosophy: every fish in my tank has a job to do, unless they are some sort of "must have." So a fish either is an herbivore that I know will eat algae (e.g. tailspot blenny, a tang) a worm eater who I know will keep bristle worms or other worms under control (e.g. dottybacks, some wrasse, springers damsels). Fish that will keep amphipod populations under control, etc. Everyone works in my tank. I tend to stock sparingly and feed enough but not a feast. I do have the occasional firefish that serves no real purpose, but I try very hard to make an ecosystem that balances what it can.

 

[Slocke]

You may want to try a sand sifting goby. My diamond got my sand looking beautiful in a couple days. They are phenomenal sand sifters that have no equals in my opinion.
But they do have their cons. one will completely change your sanded giving you hills and valleys everywhere. Also they can be difficult to feed once they've cleaned your sand. I feed them mostly Algea wafers and it loves that.
Just a suggestion and make sure you do your research first!

 

[Reefgirl0412]

Pods are really great and you will get a real benefit from them, but I'm still of the mind that you would be better off with more small snails, particularly the stomatella, which reproduce to their ideal population density without your input.

Another personal philosophy: every fish in my tank has a job to do, unless they are some sort of "must have." So a fish either is an herbivore that I know will eat algae (e.g. tailspot blenny, a tang) a worm eater who I know will keep bristle worms or other worms under control (e.g. dottybacks, some wrasse, springers damsels). Fish that will keep amphipod populations under control, etc. Everyone works in my tank. I tend to stock sparingly and feed enough but not a feast. I do have the occasional firefish that serves no real purpose, but I try very hard to make an ecosystem that balances what it can.

Yeah thats the plan. I'm adding one fish at a time. Hence the reason pf only having a pair of clownfish. Yeah im going to add watchman/pistol, six line or a yellow corris wrasse, lawnmower blenny, tang and a few others. Thank you so much for the help and the tips