When should I expect "the uglies?"

[Barry_Cuda]

My BioCube has had water in it for 4 weeks now. It first passed the "process 2ppm ammonia" test about 8-10 days ago and I've added 3 trochus snails and two scarlet hermits to help control the algae that came in on my aquacultured rock. Lights have been on for a week. I'm lighting 8 hours a day on the daylight channel with about an hour and a half of ramp-up and ramp-down.

I'm wondering when to expect the uglies to hit. So far I haven't seen even a hint of diatoms or cyano or anything, and the only algae growth I've seen is a tiny bit of extension on a couple of very small algae patches that the trochus haven't gotten to yet. Nutrient levels are pretty high - nitrate is at about 40ppm, and I don't currently have a test kit ir checker for phosphates. I'm working to control nutrients by doing a couple of large water changes and adding chaeto with a grow light in the second rear chamber. But even with those measures in place I'd kind of expected to see something ugly taking off in there by now. Should I just sit back and still expect it to happen at some point?

 

[Whipples]

They can come at any time in the near future! Be patient, ride it out, and try to make minimal changes without first identifying the source and it will save you some frustration. :)

It is coming, and it may not be as significant or strong as others, but be prepared. It may not even be cycle-related, you may add a frag and it had something on it that your tank just explodes with (ask me how I know).

That being said, it is part of the journey and your first test of commitment to reefing oddly enough, and when you make it through that phase you can add that badge to your collection!