How to combat the ugly stage or prevent it

[FlameangelLover]

My tank finally cycled after 21 days!

I was wondering if anyone had some advice on either preventing the ugly stage or lowering how bad it could be , I do understand that it is not reasonable to completely get rid of the ugly stage altogether, but is there anything that you guys could suggest to me to lower how ugly it is to lower how long it could last ?

I have two clowns and want a lot of anemones I’m not a big coral guy but some are cool and if it helps my tank be less ugly I would gladly get some corals as well.

Please be nice I’m new lol

 

[James M]

There’s nothing you should do, it’s going to happen eventually.

 

[FlameangelLover]

There’s nothing you should do, it’s going to happen eventually.

Hey how long should a new tank wait to get nems in your opinion

 

[randomfishdude]

Hey how long should a new tank wait to get nems in your opinion

id say at LEAST 8 months. i got one at 3 weeks and it.. survived but it didnt settle for a while and moved alot. id rec getting yourself a balance and a routine first before nems.

 

[CHSUB]

id say at LEAST 8 months. i got one at 3 weeks and it.. survived but it didnt settle for a while and moved alot. id rec getting yourself a balance and a routine first before nems.

I agree with this. I got one after about a week, but got my first anemone in 1982. If you have to ask, learn before doing and taking time will always equal better success. GL!

 

[randomfishdude]

I agree with this. I got one after about a week, but got my first anemone in 1982. If you have to ask, learn before doing and taking time will always equal better success. GL!

dang. i wasn't even alive back then. my truck was but i wasn't.

if a guy that's been reefing since the dark ages agrees with me, its probably good advice.

 

[FlameangelLover]

I agree with this. I got one after about a week, but got my first anemone in 1982. If you have to ask, learn before doing and taking time will always equal better success. GL!

Are there any indications that let me know I’m ready?

 

[CHSUB]

Are there any indications that let me know I’m ready?

No disrespect. Imo, if you can maintain leather corals easily, which are beautiful and interesting, you are ready for some stone corals and anemones, but waiting a few months is never a mistake. Anemones can be a pain in the butt, my most recent kept moving and after 6 months of ending up in the powerhead I give him to the LFS and now I sleep better, haha. My clowns, tank raised, never went near it which was also a bummer.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I would wait 6 months minimum before getting anemones. This will allow for your tank to mature and give time for everything to settle in.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

As other's have said. Its going to happen one way or another. The best you can do is prepare and manage.

Test your nitrates/phos weekly. If you see them climbing, cut back on feeding. If you see them diving, increase feeding.

Hire some CUCs for landscape beautification lol. The phase can happen at any time. couple months in to whenever. It just happens less the further you go along.

 

[brandon429]

I have something directly helpful. A trick, a hack, a cheat i use

The truth is your cycling bacteria are adhered to rocks in ways you may not have known

Specifically, you could take the rocks out, set them on your counter, wait 30 mins in the air, put them back, and you're still cycled.

They're on there that well is the point, the angle you're working from when it comes to trick uglies phase management. You're not doing anything that takes 30 mins, the point was cycles are in place that well and you can use that resilience in your favor for uglies management

As your tank matures and things grow in the rocks you know are bad, just lift out the whole rock and set it on your counter. Use a knife to scrape off the targets, not meds. Not by dosing your water and waiting eight weeks hoping something works

That's why people get the inevitable uglies


Just break the rules using hidden rules of updated cycling science (that you can put cycled tanks through interesting stress trials and they never fail)

When you lift out some or all of your rocks and clean them externally, and set them back looking exactly how you want them to, they hold nicely a while

If you're good, or extremely lucky, they hold a good long time.

But when the time comes you need to, just lift them the heck out and clean them externally. Second secret

Any corals you buy and glue to the rocks can come out too in the air as you clean

Use tank water to rinse off things you scrape and surgically debride to force your rocks to stay clean. This harms nothing, ever

I've been using this twenty years on one system

You can cheat forever until you don't have to, is the secret you're not allowed to know.

how about opt out of the uglies

Though the things I type might sound far fetched rest assured there's always video proof avail for sure

The third truth is this rule extends to your sandbed too. As time goes by and problems mount, there's a way to take apart your reef and rinse it out in one three hour session, put it back, and it remains cycled but only perfectly clean top to bottom, a rip clean. That's what you use to de-age it over and over so waste won't compile in the sandbed.

Knowing you can assertively handle your surfaces at any time for cleaning, and they won't uncycle, is a core tenet rule of updated cycling science. Using old cycling science: the crowd would fear an undoing of the cycle, they'd think the bacteria couldn't withstand some air time. We know they can

 

[FlameangelLover]

I have something directly helpful. A trick, a hack, a cheat i use

The truth is your cycling bacteria are adhered to rocks in ways you may not have known

Specifically, you could take the rocks out, set them on your counter, wait 30 mins in the air, put them back, and you're still cycled.

They're on there that well is the point, the angle you're working from when it comes to trick uglies phase management. You're not doing anything that takes 30 mins, the point was cycles are in place that well and you can use that resilience in your favor for uglies management

As your tank matures and things grow in the rocks you know are bad, just lift out the whole rock and set it on your counter. Use a knife to scrape off the targets, not meds. Not by dosing your water and waiting eight weeks hoping something works

That's why people get the inevitable uglies


Just break the rules using hidden rules of updated cycling science (that you can put cycled tanks through interesting stress trials and they never fail)

When you lift out some or all of your rocks and clean them externally, and set them back looking exactly how you want them to, they hold nicely a while

If you're good, or extremely lucky, they hold a good long time.

But when the time comes you need to, just lift them the heck out and clean them externally. Second secret

Any corals you buy and glue to the rocks can come out too in the air as you clean

Use tank water to rinse off things you scrape and surgically debride to force your rocks to stay clean. This harms nothing, ever

I've been using this twenty years on one system

You can cheat forever until you don't have to, is the secret you're not allowed to know.

how about opt out of the uglies

Though the things I type might sound far fetched rest assured there's always video proof avail for sure

The third truth is this rule extends to your sandbed too. As time goes by and problems mount, there's a way to take apart your reef and rinse it out in one three hour session, put it back, and it remains cycled but only perfectly clean top to bottom, a rip clean. That's what you use to de-age it over and over so waste won't compile in the sandbed.

This is a nice idea can you send me pics of your tank

 

[randomfishdude]

Just remembered. I'm willing to bet. If you get yourself a good heap of real LIVE rock. You wouldn't go through as much of a ugly phaze.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Add copepods, and add to your CUC.

As for your anemones, I'd wait a few months, until you are comfortable. Not necessarily because your tank has to 'mature', but more so that you get a better understanding of the hobby.

I added corals and anemones on the first day after the small cycle that I did. Everything did just fine. This wasn't my first tank though, so I have a lot of knowledge and experience. You, on the other hand, have a lot to learn, so I'd say give yourself a few months.

Happy reefing!

 

[FlameangelLover]

Add copepods, and add to your CUC.

As for your anemones, I'd wait a few months, until you are comfortable. Not necessarily because your tank has to 'mature', but more so that you get a better understanding of the hobby.

I added corals and anemones on the first day after the small cycle that I did. Everything did just fine. This wasn't my first tank though, so I have a lot of knowledge and experience. You, on the other hand, have a lot to learn, so I'd say give yourself a few months.

Happy reefing!

Sorry to sound so new but what is a CUC

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Sorry to sound so new but what is a CUC

No worries at all! We've all been there!

CUC = Clean up crew. It's a common acronym we use! CUC includes things like snails, hermit crabs, urchins, conchs, sea stars, shrimp and other crabs.

 

[Red_Beard]

Don't fight it, embrace it. That is what is going to build the foundation of a healthy tank. Dont starve it early on either, you will hear people say to keep nutrients super low to keep the algea from growing, but it is going to grow no matter what, and low no3/po4 encourages the real bad uglies. Just don't let them get sky high. CUC - Clean up crew. Snails, crabs, urchins. The herbivores in the tank are really going to help you once stuff starts growing.

 

[Red_Beard]

For the nem, as soon as everything stabilizes. New tanks with dry rock ~6 months. It will go through quite a few changes in that span and it will be nice not having to worry about it if you do end up having to roll up your sleeves and get rough cleaning stuff.

 

[FlameangelLover]

Don't fight it, embrace it. That is what is going to build the foundation of a healthy tank. Dont starve it early on either, you will hear people say to keep nutrients super low to keep the algea from growing, but it is going to grow no matter what, and low no3/po4 encourages the real bad uglies. Just don't let them get sky high. CUC - Clean up crew. Snails, crabs, urchins. The herbivores in the tank are really going to help you once stuff starts growing.

How long does the ugly stage last?

 

[Red_Beard]

How long does the ugly stage last?

Depends. The more diverse 'life' you add, the shorter it will be. If you look at the ocean, there isnt really any truely bare realestate. There is always something fighting over any empty space and something is going to fill it. The uglies are the natural evolution of different stages of life colonizing, from the more basic nitrification bacteria through film, green, and eventually coraline algea. Those processes are sometimes not pretty, but necessary to make your tank habitable for corals. Once you get some film algea, you are off to the races, start adding snails i recommend cerith astrea and trochus. Nassarius for the sand bed, but they are carnivorous and will need something to eat. Turbos when you get thicker algea.