Ugly stage

[Deshawn00]

Hello everyone! I started cycling my tank 10 days ago and I’m just now seeing some different coloration on my reef rock. My ammonia is coming down and my nitrite is getting higher and nitrate is slowly climbing. I haven’t did a water change yet and I was told this was the start of the ugly stage. I’m not running any lights since there’s no corals but I wanted to know what should I do now that this process has started and should I get inverts going first or get fish first? I have a IM 20 gal AIO. Thank you

 

[Tahoe61]

In a couple weeks or sooner you may see diatoms, they usually show 1st.
The bad thing about the uglies is the process can take months unless you used wet/live rock. That's what's so frustrating, it is hard to be patient.
After diatoms you will see the development of green algaes, film algaes. Cyanobacteria can follow and be persistent.

I am currently cycling an IM 20 gallon. It's been cooking for 6 weeks and it is pretty ugly right now. No lighting, just flow and a Tunze Osmolator Nano.
Last week I added a Damsel from my other tank.

I would wait and think about a small water change in a couple weeks. I would not add any snails for a month.

Congrats on your new tank.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IME it takes about 3-4 weeks to cycle a tank. The rocks will go through lots of changes over the next year, this is not even really starting the ugly stages yet.

I would complete the cycle first before thinking of getting any fish or snails.

 

[Uncle99]

After the initial cycle is completed (zero ammonia, and some nitrate) I’d add your first fish or pair.

These guys add ammonia to the water, further maturing your system, as the fish load grows, so does your population of algae, bacteria, and pod type stuff which feeds on ammonia and dissolved organics. These guys are the backbone of your system.

I build my fish crew first, slowly over months so my micro friends can build populations which keep nutrients in check.

In the start, I keep a small community of easy going fish and them them settled.

Once my water chemistry has become rock solid, with little daily flux, then I add corals.

It’s ok to add some softies anytime, but leave lots of room for the good stuff.

CUC I leave for a bit so there’s enough to keep them happy, that could be a month or two down the road, and then, just a few snails of each type doing a specific job.

For me, water is everything, unstable water makes things more difficult and slow to populate.

 

[Deshawn00]

IME it takes about 3-4 weeks to cycle a tank. The rocks will go through lots of changes over the next year, this is not even really starting the ugly stages yet.

I would complete the cycle first before thinking of getting any fish or snails.

Dang I really thought I was getting somewhere when I saw the discoloration of the white rock . Two more weeks it is

 

[mcarroll]

30-40 days is pretty standard even if you do nothing special to make it happen.

Fishless cycling is really unnecessary.

Once the added excess ammonia has been processed out, you could add something more interesting to look at like a snail or hermit crab....but I wouldn't add more than one.

But since the ammonia was added you can't even do that yet. If not for the ammonia, the snail or crab could have gone in on Day 1.

Either way patience is still going to be a thing.....30-40 days always seems like a long time. :)

But reefing is that kind of hobby. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nothing-good-happens-fast-in-a-reef-tank.286472/

 

[Deshawn00]

30-40 days is pretty standard even if you do nothing special to make it happen.

Fishless cycling is really unnecessary.

Once the added excess ammonia has been processed out, you could add something more interesting to look at like a snail or hermit crab....but I wouldn't add more than one.

But since the ammonia was added you can't even do that yet. If not for the ammonia, the snail or crab could have gone in on Day 1.

Either way patience is still going to be a thing.....30-40 days always seems like a long time. :)

But reefing is that kind of hobby. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nothing-good-happens-fast-in-a-reef-tank.286472/

Dang I thought fish-less would have been the most optimal. That’s what everyone told me. It’s okay though, this gives me time to save some money up

 

[Deshawn00]

After the initial cycle is completed (zero ammonia, and some nitrate) I’d add your first fish or pair.

These guys add ammonia to the water, further maturing your system, as the fish load grows, so does your population of algae, bacteria, and pod type stuff which feeds on ammonia and dissolved organics. These guys are the backbone of your system.

I build my fish crew first, slowly over months so my micro friends can build populations which keep nutrients in check.

In the start, I keep a small community of easy going fish and them them settled.

Once my water chemistry has become rock solid, with little daily flux, then I add corals.

It’s ok to add some softies anytime, but leave lots of room for the good stuff.

CUC I leave for a bit so there’s enough to keep them happy, that could be a month or two down the road, and then, just a few snails of each type doing a specific job.

For me, water is everything, unstable water makes things more difficult and slow to populate.

What did you use to make your water coral ready?

 

[mcarroll]

Dang I thought fish-less would have been the most optimal. That’s what everyone told me. It’s okay though, this gives me time to save some money up

It's a great experiment, which I suspect why it sounds so good. Ammonia is elevated so the N is testable by low-grade hobby kits all the way through the process. That's a good experience in testing, at least in theory.

But being a great experiment doesn't make it the best way to start a tank.

"Best" ought always be something that's best for you and your tank....very personal and very relative. When "best" comes from someone else....it's gonna be personal and relative to them.

And unfortunately "fishless" turned out to be lot more complicated for A LOT OF PEOPLE than the cheerleaders advertise.

If we fully consider things, the real goal in cycling is not to generate an ammonia spike jsut so you can see it go away.....the goal is to avoid causing a noticeable ammonia spike.

Doing that is not hard, just takes a little consideration...

The bigger the critter, the more it needs to feed, the more ammonia it will generate. Knowing that, you consider the size of the tank (how much ammonia will it be able to dilute down to "nothing") and then pick the smallest fish or invert appropriate for it. Usually inverts are going to be easier to get in smaller sizes for little tanks....but small fish are fine if the tank is big.

...if that sounds like rocket science, then there are other ways.....but IMO that's easier than the other options.

 

[Uncle99]

What did you use to make your water coral ready?

1. Time. It takes time for the system to populate itself with beneficial algae’s and bacteria’s which serve to feed in part, our corals, and pod type critters, as well as keep rocks clean and sand white.

2. Environment. Working diligently to master water chemistry and provide waters with rock solid parameters and stable nutrients, day in day out. A.k.a….less uglies.

3.Light. Focusing on the blues and violets with a dash of red/green, and white “to your taste”, and once set, never touching them again. Most everything uses light as an energy source.

4.Flow.Erractic random and ever changing.

5.Heat. Stable and protected by a controller.

When these things are in play, everything you add does great.

This applies more to sticks than softies, so softies as a first coral can be introduced almost immediately.