The uglies

[Chriscz]

The tank is about a month old. Mainly dry Marco rock, with live sand and some small pieces of live tbs rock.
The cycle went well, kick started with Fritz zyme.
After 2 weeks testing parameters showed ammonia down to just about zero and nitrites were on their way down with nitrates rising.
Then I went on a two week vacation, so no testing and I have come back to quite a bit of algae growing




Cleaned things up today and tested parameter. Ammonia, nitrite at zero. Nitrates and phosphate also zero.

For CUC I have about 4 snails, two hermit crabs and 2 peppermint shrimp. Also have 1 clownfish

Is this just the ugly stage and I should wait it out? Do I need to do anything ?

 

[Reef.]

Yes, if no coral, turn the lights off, taking the rocks out and scrubbing them will help remove the algae as snails etc tend not to eat algae that is grown more than a mm or so.

 

[Red_Beard]

 

[Neon_Devil]

You need a clean up crew

 

[steveschuerger]

Yes definitely a CUC. I tailor made one at ReefCleaners. reefcleaners.org. The also have a wide variety of preset clean up crews for most tank sizes.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Yes normal uglies :) manually clean a bit whenever you are performing water changes. Let the cuc take care of the spots you are not able to clean. I would suggest to maybe get 2/3 extra snails (which ones do you have?).

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[Chriscz]

Yes normal uglies :) manually clean a bit whenever you are performing water changes. Let the cuc take care of the spots you are not able to clean. I would suggest to maybe get 2/3 extra snails (which ones do you have?).

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2 Mexican turbo and 2 Cerith.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Add 2 trochus and 2 nassarius :)

 

[hatfielj]

The tank is about a month old. Mainly dry Marco rock, with live sand and some small pieces of live tbs rock.
The cycle went well, kick started with Fritz zyme.
After 2 weeks testing parameters showed ammonia down to just about zero and nitrites were on their way down with nitrates rising.
Then I went on a two week vacation, so no testing and I have come back to quite a bit of algae growing




Cleaned things up today and tested parameter. Ammonia, nitrite at zero. Nitrates and phosphate also zero.

For CUC I have about 4 snails, two hermit crabs and 2 peppermint shrimp. Also have 1 clownfish

Is this just the ugly stage and I should wait it out? Do I need to do anything ?

Add way more clean up crew (like, I would add 20 or more snails and a dozen or more crabs at least). I prefer trochus snails because they will multiple over time and you'll never need to buy them again, plus they are less likely to get taken out by crabs. Also get an emerald green crab or two. Then, let the tank do it's thing for another couple of months. You'll see a lot of dramatic shifts in how the rock looks each month. Starting from dry rock like this will mean you need to be very patient. It will take a minimum of 6-8 months for this tank to mature and be able to successfully support corals IMO. You could also consider adding a couple pieces of mature live rock rubble from an established system which could help jumpstart the process a little faster for you. You could also use a turkey baster to blow off the rock. Do this before you do a water change. This disturbs the surface of the rocks and gets any sediment build up off, which can be siphoned off.
Finally, I would regularly dose Microbacter7 or similar for the next few months.

 

[Chriscz]

The tank is about a month old. Mainly dry Marco rock, with live sand and some small pieces of live tbs rock.
The cycle went well, kick started with Fritz zyme.
After 2 weeks testing parameters showed ammonia down to just about zero and nitrites were on their way down with nitrates rising.
Then I went on a two week vacation, so no testing and I have come back to quite a bit of algae growing




Cleaned things up today and tested parameter. Ammonia, nitrite at zero. Nitrates and phosphate also zero.

For CUC I have about 4 snails, two hermit crabs and 2 peppermint shrimp. Also have 1 clownfish

Is this just the ugly stage and I should wait it out? Do I need to do anything ?

Add way more clean up crew (like, I would add 20 or more snails and a dozen or more crabs at least). I prefer trochus snails because they will multiple over time and you'll never need to buy them again, plus they are less likely to get taken out by crabs. Also get an emerald green crab or two. Then, let the tank do it's thing for another couple of months. You'll see a lot of dramatic shifts in how the rock looks each month. Starting from dry rock like this will mean you need to be very patient. It will take a minimum of 6-8 months for this tank to mature and be able to successfully support corals IMO. You could also consider adding a couple pieces of mature live rock rubble from an established system which could help jumpstart the process a little faster for you. You could also use a turkey baster to blow off the rock. Do this before you do a water change. This disturbs the surface of the rocks and gets any sediment build up off, which can be siphoned off.
Finally, I would regularly dose Microbacter7 or similar for the next few months.

It’s a 26 gal tank, so what would be the right numbers and species for a CUC in addition to what I already have (2turbo, 2 cerith, 2 hermit crabs)?

 

[hatfielj]

It’s a 26 gal tank, so what would be the right numbers and species for a CUC in addition to what I already have (2turbo, 2 cerith, 2 hermit crabs)?

At this stage, I don't think there's such thing as too many snails. I have a 57 gallon display and I'm certain I have at least 100-150 trochus snails in there. Many of them are small, but still. You currently have 4 snails. That's not going to help you at all, that's the main reason your tank got so over grown. If that were my tank, I'd order 30-40 snails today (or go pick them up at the store). I don't personally like turbo snails, though they do a good job. They get WAY too big really fast. So, I'd stick with the smaller species. Trochus are really good because you get a variety of sizes as they reproduce and that allows the smaller ones to get into the smaller spaces within the rock work.

 

[Chriscz]

Ok I will add more clean up crew.
For scrubbing the rock, is a stiff brush and RODI water the way to go? Or should I use tank water or newly mixed saltwater?
Do I have to worry about killing off the good bacteria that’s developed, or is deep enough in the pores?

 

[Red_Beard]

When you do a water change, dump the old water into a tote and use that. Stiff bristle brushes are awesome, look into otis nylon bristle brushes. Amazon has them 10 for like $10 and they are awesome for pretty much anything. As long as you arent using tap water, the bacteria will be fine.

 

[Chriscz]

When you do a water change, dump the old water into a tote and use that. Stiff bristle brushes are awesome, look into otis nylon bristle brushes. Amazon has them 10 for like $10 and they are awesome for pretty much anything. As long as you arent using tap water, the bacteria will be fine.

Order and received the brushes and will be going to work on cleaning the rock tomorrow!

 

[Chriscz]

Ok so today was a good maintenance day. Thanks for the advice and input!

I scrubbed all the rock and did a 10% water change. Those Otis brushes worked well (thanks Red_Beard)

I added CUC including 8 trochus snails, 2 hermit, 2 nassarius, and a tiger conch.

Before



After



The tank is looking much better

 

[Red_Beard]

Ok so today was a good maintenance day. Thanks for the advice and input!

I scrubbed all the rock and did a 10% water change. Those Otis brushes worked well (thanks Red_Beard)

I added CUC including 8 trochus snails, 2 hermit, 2 nassarius, and a tiger conch.

Before



After



The tank is looking much better

Nice! You will definitely need more cuc but those are going to help a ton! Glad the brushes heled!

 

[Chriscz]

Ok so today was a good maintenance day. Thanks for the advice and input!

I scrubbed all the rock and did a 10% water change. Those Otis brushes worked well (thanks Red_Beard)

I added CUC including 8 trochus snails, 2 hermit, 2 nassarius, and a tiger conch.

Before



After



The tank is looking much better

Nice! You will definitely need more cuc but those are going to help a ton! Glad the brushes heled!

I’m planning on getting more. I’m just trying to enjoy multiple visits to the lfs’s and each time getting something to add.

Today I also got a second clown and a diamond watchman goby.

 

[Red_Beard]

Dwgs are awesome, make sure you feed it often, they filter sand for food and yours isnt going to have a lot in it yet. Maybe helpful to get some pods regularly too.

 

[Chriscz]

Will do. I added some pods two weeks ago and will get more. I also have an ascidian (squirt) that came with a piece of live rock from tbs and have been adding some plankton to direct feed it.