Did I beat the ugly stage???

[Carz]

I started this new setup on 10/5/25. Live sand, turbo start and added microbacter7 on a schedule that I made up. I added the purple tang and the bottle of coraline algae on 1/5/26 and turned on the lights for the first time. This is what the tank looks like today. I took it very slow on this build hoping to beat the big bloom of bad stuff. I have had many tanks before and this is the best ugly stage I have ever had.............If it is done. I am getting ready to turn on the other Kessil lights and add a few more fish. Should I be concerned that the coraline has not started growing yet??? Should I add another bottle or wait it out. I am wanting to add some test corals but not sure if I should wait until the coraline starts to show up.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Hi! Many of those coralline algae products don’t actually contain coralline algae spores but just some stuff that enhances the growth of it. Therefore it is still needed to introduce coralline algae through corals, inverts or live rock. (You could scrape some of the glass of another tank that you know is pathogen free and drop that in your tank).

You can definitely go ahead and add some coral. You will add coralline algae in your tank this way.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I would slowly ramp up the lights before going full bore. You’ll still get some ugly but It can be controlled by slowly introducing lights. Nice job taking it slow. I don’t have the patience for that and my ugly phase was about a week with live rock. Happy reefing!

 

[JonoH]

Wow, you deserve a special badge for waiting amost a year to turn lights on...

 

[PharmrJohn]

I started this new setup on 10/5/25. Live sand, turbo start and added microbacter7 on a schedule that I made up. I added the purple tang and the bottle of coraline algae on 1/5/26 and turned on the lights for the first time. This is what the tank looks like today. I took it very slow on this build hoping to beat the big bloom of bad stuff. I have had many tanks before and this is the best ugly stage I have ever had.............If it is done. I am getting ready to turn on the other Kessil lights and add a few more fish. Should I be concerned that the coraline has not started growing yet??? Should I add another bottle or wait it out. I am wanting to add some test corals but not sure if I should wait until the coraline starts to show up.

This is how I'm planning to cycling my tank when I set it up. Slow, slow, slow. Except I've got lights going on at the 2 month mark.....

 

[Carz]

Going slow was a real smart move. I have been the one kessil pretty strong for a good while now. Going to try to find a clean tank and get some coraline. I think TSA sells it as well but normally out of stock.