I think my ugly phase is starting??

hogfxstc · Jul 23, 2018

Within the last couple of weeks my rocks and sand have started to turn brown and a little fury. I have some small bubbles forming on the rocks. The snails seem to be enjoying some of the buffet!

I'm staying patience, consistant and I'm going to enjoy my ugly tank/phase with hope of a brite future in our little reef..

nautical_nathaniel · Jul 23, 2018

Yup, looks like a few diatoms getting started, they tend to go away with time and maintaining good water parameters. Keep up the good work!

WannaBSpaghetti · Jul 23, 2018

The uglies phase of reefing is a hot-button topic recently. Some will tell you to not allow the algae to grow and to remove it, while some say the pervading wisdom is to allow the algae to settle and your tank to stabilize as your bacteria take hold.

I, personally, am not quite sold on the idea of "let it go wild, it'll die eventually". I think that if you CAN remove the algae and vaccum your sandbed, you should. Its not like you are going to suck out the beneficial bacteria at this stage - its already adhered to your rock and sand.

lapin · Jul 23, 2018

This tank looks way too cleeeeeen

hogfxstc · Jul 23, 2018

lapin said:
This tank looks way too cleeeeeen

Any suggestions to dirty it up?

Ron Reefman · Jul 24, 2018

Most tanks take at least 6 months to stabilize and/or mature. Some take up to a year or longer. And these are tanks that are cared for. People who don't want to do the required work to keep up on maintenance can have tanks that never stabilize!

hogfxstc · Jul 30, 2018

Just an update on my uglies.

Diatoms in full force, my two snails are in heaven. This is the most food they've seen in a month and a half and doing surprisingly well with cleaning the rocks.

I'm just riding the uglies out, keeping up with my maintenance and practicing my paitence..

jda · Jul 30, 2018

Congratulations, you are coming along. Just know that anything that you do to interrupt the development of the tank (media or chemicals) will need to be paid back usually in a multitude of time on the back end. Just change water and feed your fish reasonably and just wait it out - this is what all of us had to do. Like Ron said, this can take 6 months, so I am glad that you have patience.