Ugly phase

[Sam22]

Ph 8.1
Alk 8.5
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 2-5 Red Sea test kit
Phos 0.05

My tank has been cycled since the end of may and since then I’m going thru the ugly stage which has been about 3 months. Yesterday I noticed what looks like the first sign of gha only a tiny bit which I can manually remove and also from about a week ago the red which I think is cyano, I can blow it away. The rest of the rock is covered in a brown coloured algae none of it is stringy like Dino parts I can blow off and some parts are tougher Also patches of dark green algae. Ive posted pictures so you can see. I’ve just bout vibrant I was wondering if it’s worth using as I run a refugium and know I’d have to toss the chaeto and I’m not trying to rush anything. I do weekly 15% water changes and the parameters have been stable since the end of cycle.

Is it worth using the vibrant or should I just wait it out?

 

[Sam22]

Should of also said I didn’t start with live rock or sand cycled using dr Tim’s

 

[Funston07]

Ph 8.1
Alk 8.5
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 2-5 Red Sea test kit
Phos 0.05

My tank has been cycled since the end of may and since then I’m going thru the ugly stage which has been about 3 months. Yesterday I noticed what looks like the first sign of gha only a tiny bit which I can manually remove and also from about a week ago the red which I think is cyano, I can blow it away. The rest of the rock is covered in a brown coloured algae none of it is stringy like Dino parts I can blow off and some parts are tougher Also patches of dark green algae. Ive posted pictures so you can see. I’ve just bout vibrant I was wondering if it’s worth using as I run a refugium and know I’d have to toss the chaeto and I’m not trying to rush anything. I do weekly 15% water changes and the parameters have been stable since the end of cycle.

Is it worth using the vibrant or should I just wait it out?

UV sterilizer will help the most probably. Im in the ugly stage as well but just letting it do its thing. I really only have the hard green color on the rocks that can't be brushed off though which is also why I'm just letting it do its thing.

 

[Tired]

Starting with dry rock means you are going to get a whopping ugly phase, and it's going to last awhile. Don't use Vibrant, don't get a UV sterilizer, just let it go. You WANT algae to grow- the sooner your rock is covered in assorted non-pest algae, the better. That makes it hard for pest algae like hair algae to take control for too long.

Now is the time to add a cleanup crew. You want to keep the cyano and hair algae down, so the other stuff can get established. Keep nitrates and phosphates above 0, and let the non-pest algae spread. Add some live rock rubble or shells from an established tank, if you can, to add different kinds of algae. The cleanup crew might work for this, snails often have algae on their shells.

 

[brandon429]

if you do clean the tank manually, no harm will come to the reef only cleanliness. since we pump feed in continually, the cleaning is required continually it just ranges in frequency tank to tank

that the tank and rock surfaces wont do the work for you is a sign of reef immaturity, but that has little to do with invasion. we allow vs unallow, sole determinant of being invaded. your choice. if you clean it and employ a few cheats, then no harm comes you just have an opposite look. the tradeoff is work expended vs allowance.

 

[bfazio1030]

Ph 8.1
Alk 8.5
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 2-5 Red Sea test kit
Phos 0.05

My tank has been cycled since the end of may and since then I’m going thru the ugly stage which has been about 3 months. Yesterday I noticed what looks like the first sign of gha only a tiny bit which I can manually remove and also from about a week ago the red which I think is cyano, I can blow it away. The rest of the rock is covered in a brown coloured algae none of it is stringy like Dino parts I can blow off and some parts are tougher Also patches of dark green algae. Ive posted pictures so you can see. I’ve just bout vibrant I was wondering if it’s worth using as I run a refugium and know I’d have to toss the chaeto and I’m not trying to rush anything. I do weekly 15% water changes and the parameters have been stable since the end of cycle.

Is it worth using the vibrant or should I just wait it out?

Going through the same thing. What did you use to seed coralline algae?

 

[shred5]

I just went through this with two different tanks.
One was real bad and lasted a few months and the other went only a few weeks and was minor. Both with dead rock.

I usually start out with lights out for a month or so and I add bacteria and a little food to help the bacteria. Right before lights come back on I add things like copepods. I do not run a skimmer at this point. I also add a few fish a week or so after the lights come back on. This gives the copepods a chance to increase in population. After a couple of weeks with fish the skimmer comes on.

Once I turn the lights on I usually get a diatom bloom for a few days followed by green cynao and then red.

The reason one tank went through it much faster was I added astrea snails right away and the other about a month in.
The snail will clean the rock and use up some of the algae. Catching their fecal pellets will remove the nutrients.
The other reason one went faster than the other is my Klir filters picked up the mess right away and removed it.

It helps to add snails and filter out their pellets but also you can blow cyno off the rocks and catch that removing the nutrients.

 

[Sam22]

It was the end of may where I first added a couple fish and a few snails the tank was wet approx 3 months before this with out lights on. I added 2 fish with a low reading or nitrite I only turned the lights on when the nitrite read zero and I added my first coral. I had the refugium up and running as soon as I turned the display light on and seeded with copepods. I have approx 7 snails in a 70 gallon nassarius, cerith and banded turbo snails I’ve also just added a lawnmower blenny about 2 days ago and he’s constantly picking at the rocks. I knew I was in for a long ugly phase when I decided to go dead rock and sand and I have no need to try rush anything I was just told by the LFs that vibrant would get me thru the ugly stage a lot quicker so I bought it but after reading up a bit I weren’t to sure I wanted to use it. I think I’ll wait it out fish are healthy and the few corals I have are all doing great. I don’t have any coraline yet I know the snails I bought had it on there shells tho

 

[Sam22]

Sorry lights were off for approx first 3 months

 

[Tired]

When a tank has nitrites showing, that tank is not cycled and should not have fish added.

7 snails in a tank that size isn't going to do you much good until the turbos get big. My suggestion is to go look on ReefCleaners at what they recommend for a tank that size, and order some things from them. I've always been very happy with their stuff.

Your tank just needs time to mature, and to get its biodiversity going. Adding things with more kinds of life on them, like copepods and algae, will help with that. Does anywhere near you sell live rock? GOOD rock, stuff that's been in the ocean. The pest risk (especially if you just get a few pounds) is pretty low, and that's the best way to increase biodiversity. It'll add algae, pods, detritivores, more than you can ever get anywhere else.
You're essentially trying to turn your dry rock into live rock. A bit of starter live rock is a huge help. If you can't or really don't want to add any live rock, see if anyone will mail you some empty shells and bits of rubble and things from an established, pest-free tank. It's not as good as stuff that's sat in the ocean for years, but it's pretty good. That's the best way to get coraline, too- just add something that already has coraline, maybe rub it all over your rocks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Reduce white light intensity a little and add clean up crew, such as:

4 turbo snails
3 Nassarius snail
3 trochus snail
3 astrea snail
6-8 blue leg hermits.

 

[Lizalots]

We are right here with you! I was just looking at the tank today (starting cycling in April) and man, is it ever uuuuugly. we have fish in since June but no corals yet. Lights were out for three months and with lights on they whole tank changed. Just going to wait it out and have faith in the process. People want to come see but not for a while!!!
we have a small clean up crew, but need to add more.We bought a cleanup crew from reefcleaners, but all the sails were DOA.The USPS is super slow right now so be careful.

 

[Corals kingdom Verified Sponsor]

You know you can use product like Dr thomas to make the process faster. Few people have used it and saved them the waitting.

 

[Tired]

I'm very skeptical of adding any product to try to speed this phase along. The ugly phase happens because the algae is all running wild over the new space. To end the phase, you need an assortment of algaes to colonize your rock, preferably mostly non-pest ones. Pest algaes like hair algae thrive on new space, but don't do so well competing against a healthy growth of non-pest algae. Anything I can think of that would increase the growth of that non-pest algae would also fuel the pest algae.

Give it time. Remember, it looks bad, but it's not hurting anything in the tank.

 

[JaykS]

Reduce white light intensity a little and add clean up crew, such as:

4 turbo snails
3 Nassarius snail
3 trochus snail
3 astrea snail
6-8 blue leg hermits.

I didnt have lights for 2 months, I completely skipped the ugly phase. feed light and have sufficient removal and you should skip most of it. dont let things bottom out either