Finding balance: What algae has been an issue for you in the “ugly phase” of your last tank setup?

[dwest]

I started with Fritz turbo start until that bottle was gone, then used both Microbacter Clean and Microbacter 7 for about 2 months daily. Within a few weeks of starting the tank, I introduced a CUC consisting of Urchins and snails and added a couple of Algae eating fish (Foxface and Coral Beauty). I left lights on the entire time. I think the key is to introduce algae eating organisms and different strains of bacteria early and often as well as getting Coralline to grow quickly (my snail shells were covered from a previous tank) This is the tank about 14 months later. I have given up trying to convince people it can be done with dry rock......it just takes a little more work

Thank you. Are you able to keep out vermatid snails and aiptasia so far?

 

[Bpb]

Nuisances like isopods, gorilla crabs, and mantis shrimps aside, real ocean harvested live rock will essentially negate any of these “ugly” phase problems, as well as unexplained coral necrosis and failure to thrive in just about every instance of its use. Of course there will be the one off exceptions on occasion, but even just supplementing with a small amount, say 10% of your rock mass, can make a tremendous difference.

In tanks large enough, a foxface can basically control nearly all nuisance algae up to a few hundred gallons worth. In tanks too small for one, an army of assorted snails and a small urchin or two should do the trick

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

Set up my first reef tank in January. Had diatoms dominant a month ago, but I would use copepods and my trochus snails cleaned up nicely. Having some green algae right now, but my one trochus snail is such a trooper. I barely have to scrape algae off since he cleans so fast! I’d give him a raise, but snails have no concept of money

 

[JoJosReef]

Last tank (IM 10g) was all Florida gulf live rock and sand. Nothing on the list, but bubble algae was able to establish (from the rocks or from a frag) and was a constant battle.

The tank before that (Evo 13.5g) started with CaribSea "Life" rock. 3 rounds of dinos, bryopsis (treated quickly with Flux) and GHA for ages. Introduction of Florida gulf live rock made it all vanish. GHA came back on the remaining CaribSea rock that after some neglect eventually made it onto the gulf live rock, but an urchin, 2 turbos and a full rock scrub + maybe some extra maturity leave that tank spotless now except for small aiptasia that pop up.

The current tank is a mix of dried previously live reef rocks from Fiji and Marshall islands + 33% Florida gulf live rock transferred from the 10g. Valonia made a comeback and I'm beating it currently with Flux Rx. Otherwise everything is purpling up.

 

[Waters]

Thank you. Are you able to keep out vermatid snails and aiptasia so far?

Yeah, shockingly even with adding over 30 frags, the only thing I have had to pull out is a asterina star or two that snuck in.

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

Diatoms & Dino for me.manual removal every couple of days.my first & last attempt with dry rock.

 

[bushdoc]

I setup my 120 gal tank with 70% live and 30 % dry rock. Never had ugly faze, just a bit of diatoms on glass bottom.
Recently added one piece of dry rock to amend landscape. It was colonized by coralline algae in 6-8 weeks.
Oh yeah, I had two mantis shrimp as a free passengers with live rock, but caught them when I was holding rock in brute container before placing it to DT.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I haven't had an ugly phase. I started with dry rock, but I seeded it with the the live-est rock I could get my hands on from 2 different sources. Then I added dish and left the lights off for awhile. When I turned on the lights I ran them at 5% for partial photo period. Then I slowly ramped them up and then slowly increased photoperiod while adding to my CUC.

 

[Keko21]

GHA, but not where you think!

Not my display- my refugium! I had a solid 6-7 month run with my cheato growing nice and thick. Until this time I manually flipped the chaeto each day, but then decided to throw a small powerhead in there and get it tumbling. Im not saying its the cause…but ever since then I saw litte gha patches starting to spring up.

When it got real bad I emptied the fuge and scraped and scrubbed it clean, refilled and threw a handfull of turbo snails in there to try and keep it at bay.

Nope.

It came back with a vengeance choked out my chaeto and now uses its limp skeleton as another foothold.

The Silver Lining.

The GHA is doing the chaeto’s job, sucking up nutrients moderately well.

No traces in my display (tangs are lookin fat though…)

Snails are huge, and my copepods are super happy.

So I guess Ive come to terms with it.

 

[Bpb]

I setup my 120 gal tank with 70% live and 30 % dry rock. Never had ugly faze, just a bit of diatoms on glass bottom.
Recently added one piece of dry rock to amend landscape. It was colonized by coralline algae in 6-8 weeks.
Oh yeah, I had two mantis shrimp as a free passengers with live rock, but caught them when I was holding rock in brute container before placing it to DT.

I did dry rock in the display and filled the sump as much as I could with live rock. A year later I still hear the mantis shrimp snapping occasionally. No idea what he’s eating down there. I don’t feed it. I’ve never actually SEEN it. Just hear the familiar sound

 

[Tray21]

I can gladly say that up till now I have only had the headache of GHA. However, adding a Conch, and an Urchin has gotten rid of all of the remnants of the problematic GHA I was fighting with.

 

[Cool Fish]

To me an issues would be something that threatens health of the tank. I had everything listed including bubble algae. All were easily managed with time and maturity so really don't consider those issues just part of the process. The dinos however, were an existential threat and nearly wiped out everything - have one fish and one coral from pre-dinos. That was an issue.

What was your solution to rid the dinos? They are driving me crazy!

 

[Snowxcross]

You can avoid the ugly phase. I think the problem for people is patience. Simply look for signs, add the correct cuc when needed, turf scrubber, rowaphos, lots of flow. Obviously use rodi water. Get a chair and a magnifying glass, sit and look at all corners of your tank. Be proactive not reactive.

 

[Quietman]

What was your solution to rid the dinos? They are driving me crazy!

For me the permanent solution was installing a properly sized UV filter with high flow through (7-8x tank volume). Entire episode and sizes, install in build thread.

 

[ScottB]

On my last tank? None. Same for the tank prior to that. I used 100% ocean grown live rock, so the ugly phase never happened. But the tank prior to those two with dry rock I had literally every single one of these issues on the list and 2 years later, some of them are still problematic.

Takeaway: no more dry rock tanks ever again. And in the two tanks I've started since the dry rock, (a 50G and a 120G) this philosophy has proven to be 100% successful. So to recap:

1. 90G Dry rock tank started summer of 2021: every single problem algae on this list and 2 that weren't listed (Ulva & vermatid snails). Dinos wiped out hundreds of dollars in corals at one point, and many more lost over the first year of this horrible tank. There were months of constant battles between cyano and dinos smothering everything.
2. 50G Live rock tank started in May of 2022: never an ugly phase, coralline algae growing in less than 2 months
3. 120G Live rock tank started in Jan of 2023: never an ugly phase, coralline algae growing by March and now taking over. I had a bit of what looked like Dinos growing on a single rocked that disappeared after a weekend

Exactly.
4 out of 4 success with live rock.
0 for 2 with dead starts. Eventually of course it works. Just a pain. GHA, cyano, dinos yada yada.

 

[Rewd]

I did dry rock in the display and filled the sump as much as I could with live rock. A year later I still hear the mantis shrimp snapping occasionally. No idea what he’s eating down there. I don’t feed it. I’ve never actually SEEN it. Just hear the familiar sound

I have two hitchiker mantids in my 50G with Florida keys rock. They're my favorite hitchikers lol. I hand feed one of them (with tongs, the second one is extremely skittish and only occasionally pops out to grab passing food). 1 year in and they've caused no trouble, all of my emerald/red mithrax crabs and peppermint shrimp are doing fine. The mantis have stayed relatively small too even considering how much I feed one of them, he has not grown lol. My 120G has a large refugium they can live in if they become problematic, but so far so good, and it's been a year...

 

[Cool Fish]

For me the permanent solution was installing a properly sized UV filter with high flow through (7-8x tank volume). Entire episode and sizes, install in build thread.

Thank you!

 

[MrGisonni]

In the old days it was about adding macro algae to combat nuisance algae in your display.

 

[Reefing Reefer]

I've been battling dinos for over a year! I bought a house, and during the move, I broke down and scrubbed the rockwork. I also got rid of the sand - it felt like it was hurting vs. helping. Excited to say the worst seems to be behind me (knock on wood). I suspect the culprits were bottoming out on nutrients due to underfeeding and over-filtering - I had a fleece roller, UV sterilizer, and skimmer on a 20G nano!!! I feel incredibly dumb for falling into the "add every gadget you can fit in a nano" mentality. I've toned it down significantly on filtering while slowly increasing my feedings. Long rant Saturday from the Reefing Reefer who is currently on the reefer....all this to say: Keep it simple

 

[pcorpion]

Any way to get rid of Ulva? I have a bad outbreak in my nano tank