Ugly stage? what should I do?

[Ritchie G]

I have a 50 gal FOWLR tank been running for 3 months. Only things in tank are Midas Blenny, Watchman Goby, Tiger Shrimp, Tiger conch and a few Nassarius Snails.

Salinity 1.025
Nitrate 17.6
PH 7.9
Alk 7.9

My question is I am in the ugly stage, is all of this normal or any of this something i should be worried about? Just wait it out, add any more CUC to help? I want to add more fish would this help, hurt or have no effect on the growth of whatever is in the tank? I have not been cleaning the sand or rocks to keep food for the conch. he has been doing a great job but can't keep up with the growth.

I have just been letting it do its thing, but was just wondering if there was anything i should be concerned about. Thanks!!

Ritchie

 

[Little c big D]

Let it do its thing. About 7 months from now most of the nastiness will be a memory. Just make sure you aren't over feeding any thing and fueling unwanted growth.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yeah I agree with the previous post. It's just a stage in a young aquarium. Did you use all dry rock or live rock?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Ugly "stage" is just a stage that will eventually pass, BUT, you need to do your part too, it wont go away all by itself.

Regular water changes, get a very good phosphate tester and start controlling your phosphates very carefully, understand where the phosphate is coming from (food, and leeching from dry rocks), get better clean up crew.

 

[RedoubtReef]

It will pass. Having the patience to get through it and not tinker or dump some chemical in to resolve it will be the hard part.

 

[jda]

The best thing that you can do is to get some diverse life into that tank. A pack from IPSF or some real live rock will work. For the most part, anything that you do to interfere will be repaid many times later on. In tanks with diverse forms of life, the uglies usually pass in a few weeks to a month on their own. In sterile tanks, it can take much longer.

 

[blaxsun]

Some additional cleanup crew would help. Spiny astrea snails and ring cowries for the rocks, cerith and nassarius snails for the sand bes and probably another small orange lip or strawberry conch (maybe even two).

It won't clear the ugliness overnight, but you'll start seeing small gains right away.

 

[Freenow54]

I am in the same boat, and am just waiting it out. Mine is a little worse. I because I cant clean the sand because it is liter than the debris is getting taken out with a net, and thrown away. Seems to help. Not a Doser of chemicals

 

[Ritchie G]

Yeah I agree with the previous post. It's just a stage in a young aquarium. Did you use all dry rock or live rock?

All Dry Rock

 

[mta_morrow]

The best thing that you can do is to get some diverse life into that tank. A pack from IPSF or some real live rock will work. For the most part, anything that you do to interfere will be repaid many times later on. In tanks with diverse forms of life, the uglies usually pass in a few weeks to a month on their own. In sterile tanks, it can take much longer.

Exactly ^^^^^^^

 

[vetteguy53081]

Although this is a stage tank goes through, many reefers cant stand the sight of it. Diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the kibosh on the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass. For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[Timfish]

I'd be adding more livestock butespecially some live rock to establish healthy microbiomes.

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

For the sand I'd occasionally siphon off the top layer witht he algae and rinse it then return it to the tank.

 

[GoVols]

You are getting great advise.

Going with diatoms as well.


Make sure that your using pure RO/DI water for all that you do, including top off water.

 

[doubleshot00]

Whats your phosphates?

I would add a few turbos and margarita snails. A conch can clean up the sand to.
Turn off the lights or turn them down to only when tour home to enjoy the tank.

 

[glb]

It’s diatoms, and totally normal but ugly, lol. You could certainly add your cleanup crew now but the diatoms will eventually go away.

 

[Tamale]

Having just broken through this and recently some cyano after 7 months, the best advice here has been to maintain your weekly routine. Routine is the key to all of this. I had to leave on business for a few weeks and the gap in the routine led to cyano. As soon as I got back to the routine the cyano is all but gone. Get a CuC, feed light, and keep doing those water changes and in a month or two you'll be back to that pristine looking tank! From there you just have to be consistent and not neglect the tank!

 

[Reefjockey]

Going through this myself. I am starting a new tank next to my current DT, and moving only the items I want to keep. I ran the tank for two months with nothing but water, now that a few fish were added, a small CUC, and a dozen frags are where I want them for grow out, I'm just waiting it out. Slightly disappointing considering all the appeal of the "new" over the original overgrown tank I will eventually break down, but try to stay positive. I know from years of reefing that success is usually a journey, not a destination.

 

[Zoa.Mania]

There are few things you can do in my opinion:
-You can add some more cuc. I would go for few conch snails as I find they do great work.

-You can add some live bacteria to support and speed up the process.

-Wait it out. Don’t go for super strong “solutions” that will only mess everything up

good luck