Ugly stages - where they at?

[Gadbery]

So 26 days in on my first reef tank. Cycled for 2 weeks and added 2 clowns (used ammonia dosing and bacteria start)

I got a bloom of diatomes at week 2. I added fish and a container of pods. Diatomes were gone in 3 days. I have no sign of any other algae yet and its got me puzzled as i assumed id start seeing some hair algae or something. Skimmer is not on and not running a refugium. Feeding fish 2 times a day. pellets one feeding and frozen gut loaded brine for the other. No clean up crew as i was waiting for algae to form some before adding.... No corals yet. Light is on a intensity acclimation ramp. Using Red Sea Pro salt - 10% water change a week

Tank Readings
ALK - 10dkh - hana checker
Salinity - 1.025
Nitrate - 10-15ppm (2 diffrent test kits one says 10 one looks closer to 20
phosphate - .2 ppm (nana checker - seems high may have ran test wrong yesterday was first time using it)
PH - 8.1-7.9 (swings slightly through the day measured by apex
ORP - 369-402 measured by apex not calibrated probe
haven't checked calcium or mag yet.

Guess im just confused why i haven't seen any other algae signs yet. From what i have read normally by this point they start making them selves know.

 

[Gedxin]

Hair algae, bubble algae and other 'pest' algae generally will not be a problem until you introduce them to your tank through some external means. For example, purchasing a coral from somewhere that has GHA in its tank. Basically you're golden until you start increasing your live stock...and then the uglies will really kick off.

 

[Gadbery]

Hair algae, bubble algae and other 'pest' algae generally will not be a problem until you introduce them to your tank through some external means. For example, purchasing a coral from somewhere that has GHA in its tank. Basically you're golden until you start increasing your live stock...and then the uglies will really kick off.

gotcha. Well guess i can add some Nasarius snails to clean the sand bed in the mean time. Dont think i should get algae eating snails till here is something for them to graze on. I havent dosed any Coraline stuff so perhaps i should go about doing that or get my trident running to track the alk/mag/calcium and if stable toss in some easy corals

 

[Lavey29]

This is like praying for snow on Mt. Everest. They are coming at some point trust me. The longer you can delay the inevitable the better because it gives your tank time to develop biodiversity and micro fauna to allow your ugly stages to be more manageable.

 

[Idech]

I had bubble algae after a few months, in tiny amounts and always removed them so they were never a problem.

I had one type of dinos after 2 months. It took about 4-6 weeks to get rid of it.

I had a second type of dinos after 5 months. These were tougher and it took 6-7 months to get rid of them.

Aiptasia you will have for sure. I pour boiling water on them with a seringe, one by one, when I see them.

Now I have digitate hydroids.

Some of those pests, and more, will find you, unfortunately.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Patience… The ugly stressful days of panic will come…. I felt the same way with my last tank. I used real LR and thought I sneaked by all the ugly. Got back from a vacation and the tank was full of ugliness. It took a deep clean and a UV light to get it back on track…..

 

[w8lifts]

Got hit good with the uglies at around 3.5-4 month mark. Now at 6 month mark and got it back to a very manageable amount now. Key for me was catching the algae early on and corrective action before it took over completely.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Patience… The ugly stressful days of panic will come…. I felt the same way with my last tank. I used real LR and thought I sneaked by all the ugly. Got back from a vacation and the tank was full of ugliness. It took a deep clean and a UV light to get it back on track…..

It was well over a year when my uglies hit