Is this the ugly phase?

[DangerClose]

Hey. So my tank is about 2 weeks old now.
I didn't see any blemishes 2 days ago, now I have a lot of brown spots all over my rock.
Is this the beginning of the ugly phase or is there more evil at work here?
The purple is the mortar I used to get the rocks to hold together.
Also is in unwise to get an urchin during this phase, or will it help keep the algae in check?

 

[blaxsun]

Yes. I would hold off on urchins for a while longer (weeks or months) to ensure your system is stable and there's plenty for them to graze on.

 

[The_Skrimp]

That’s just the beginning of the ugly stage. You haven’t seen nothin yet! The brown spots are going to spread across the rocks before being replaced by the next wave of algae/bacterial blooms. Now would be a good time to add some clean up crew but I wold hold off on the urchin till there’s more for it to eat.

 

[Lavey29]

You don't need lights unless you have coral. It is best to wait 4 months before adding corals and lights to develop biodiversity and make the ugly phases more manageable.

 

[DangerClose]

Yes. I would hold off on urchins for a while longer (weeks or months) to ensure your system is stable and there's plenty for them to graze on.

Okay awesome thank you

 

[DangerClose]

You don't need lights unless you have coral. It is best to wait 4 months before adding corals and lights to develop biodiversity and make the ugly phases more manageable.

I do have corals, but i will be turning the lights down to avoid a massive bloom

 

[DangerClose]

That’s just the beginning of the ugly stage. You haven’t seen nothin yet! The brown spots are going to spread across the rocks before being replaced by the next wave of algae/bacterial blooms. Now would be a good time to add some clean up crew but I wold hold off on the urchin till there’s more for it to eat.

I currently have 4 small blue hermits, 6 zebra hermits, 5 nassarius snails and 5 troccus snails. Is that enough or should I add a few more?

 

[The_Skrimp]

Looks good to me. What size tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dont see anything indicating ugly phase. With a new tank, you have new rock and sand that contain silicates and will promote diatoms which is a brown film algae in time. Reducing white lights will slow the process

 

[adittam]

I currently have 4 small blue hermits, 6 zebra hermits, 5 nassarius snails and 5 troccus snails. Is that enough or should I add a few more?

You might want to add another variety or two of snails in a month or so, because they all eat different things, but I wouldn't do it yet - they don't have much to eat yet. A good couple to add are smooth-shell turbo snails (they stay smaller than mexican turbos), ceriths, and maybe a tiger conch.

 

[blaxsun]

I currently have 4 small blue hermits, 6 zebra hermits, 5 nassarius snails and 5 troccus snails. Is that enough or should I add a few more?

I don't know the size of your tank, but it's certainly a good selection. You may need to supplement with some seaweed to ensure everything has enough to eat as the tank is still relatively new.

I take a 1/4 sheet of TLF SeaVeggies green and wrap it to a small flat piece of marco rock with a rubber band. I would probably do this twice a week for the first few months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I currently have 4 small blue hermits, 6 zebra hermits, 5 nassarius snails and 5 troccus snails. Is that enough or should I add a few more?

Give them an algae tab daily

 

[Lavey29]

I do have corals, but i will be turning the lights down to avoid a massive bloom

Corals in a 2 week old tank? I wish you good luck with that. Very experienced reefers can make it work but novices like me, no way.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I do have corals, but i will be turning the lights down to avoid a massive bloom

You will need to stop any more stocking. You will soon experience bacterial blooms, ammonia and nitrate spikes and other chemistry changes which will not end well.
Tank isnt really cycled for any stock
What test kits are you using and what is current ammonia-nitrate and Ph readings?

 

[ying yang]

Not sure on size of your tank or what livestock you got in it but in my 80 gallon dt I just got the cycle ( nitrogen cycle) out the way so tank could process amnonia then waited few weeks more then started slowly adding my cuc .
First was 3 hermit crabs at about 2 months.
Then every 2- 3 weeks bought more cuc usually like 6 of each and a time ,so like 6 trouchus,then few weeks later 6 nassariuus snails,and so on,but just gauged how tank looked and acted and decided what was needed and tested parameters so could get a fewl for howy tank was acting and if safe for any livestock i added,our tanks go through various cycles so nitrogen cycle then the algae cycles start usually diatoms first then for me then was like a bright neon-ish algae then some darker green algaes and tank continually going through some cycle and never stops,I'm at the 1 year mark now for last 2 months or so im getting lots pineapple sponges then they should limit themselves then will go through another stage/ cycle etc. ( some say pineapple sponges feed off silicates in the water which could come from the water we use for water changes and could be indication a rodi filter needs changing as letting more silicates through or could be the rock leaching it out etc)
What I did was lots research on how others before me was successful and what stood out was go slow but try add as much biological diversity as possible and micro fauna and researched which cuc member was more likely to eat certain things during the initial ugly stage then every week added a few of that cuc member, but remember if not enough algae or stuff on rocks or in sand for them to eat then we need to feed them ourselves otherwise they starve to death or we force them to each each other lol and urchins are very effective cuc members so I waited till about 6 month old before added an urchin but imo my ugly stage wasn't that bad,but if it was worse I would of added urchins earlier.
And for bacterial diversity and microfauna each few weeks when added few cuc I also added small coral frags from many different lfs's and so far so good as no major problems with tank at all ^_^

So good luck and keep up on researching different things all about different aspects of owning a reef tank with the care / stocking of fish,corals,maintenance, testing parameters, flow,lighting, how to keep fish less stressed with the set up of your aquascape and caves,underhangs,overhangs and to like,the more research the better as the more intune you will be with your tank imo

 

[ying yang]

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

I know you already got water in your tank and rocks so sone this you already done and not sure how much research you done on owning a reef tank but this is a very helpful guide indeed for a novice or expert and at any level to either Initially learn or remind yourself or something if more advanced so definatelly work a read imo

 

[ying yang]

Nuisance Algae ID Guide- Reef Cleaners

Nuisance Algae ID Guide. Red Slime, Cyano, Cyanobacteria. Green Film Algae, Film Algae. Green Hair Algae. Green Turf Algae. Bryopsis pennata and B. plumosa. Bubble Algae, Valonia. Lobophora. Blue Green Cyano.

www.reefcleaners.org

Little article on some of the more common algaes we get in our tanks and the cuc members that can eat it ( remember if reading something on Internet,it's always good idea to read a few articles or start a thread on r2r and get a second opinion or more.