Months 3-6...what to expect?

[Dan_P]

I know every tank is different and I've watched tons of the BRS videos on starting new tanks / ugly stages / etc.

But I'm trying to be mentally prepared for the next "Shoe to drop" with this tank.

We're a little more than 2 months in on our first 90 gal, and seem to be getting to the end of Diatoms. Had nasty cloudy brown tint in the water, but that's clearing up. The brown film that covered everything is rapidly disappearing.

Nutrients bottomed out to 0/0, but thankfully over-feeding & some AB+ has gotten them back to detectable (hopefully avoiding Dinos...)


So what's next? My understanding is Coraline will start around 6ish months, and is a sign things are getting "stable"...so what's the next 3-4 months look like as we wait for that to happen?

My intent is to test Nitrates/Phosphates pretty regularly to ensure they stay in a "stable" range. Should I be doing anything else?

A potential next candidate for what’s going to happen might be growing along the water-sand line of the front glass. I can’t see what it is but feel it is kinda dark. It could be nothing but a normal mix of waste, algae and bacteria.

 

[mythesis]

I started a 100G back in Jan, so have 9 Months under by belt. I started with 15% Live rock, and 85% dry rock that had been seeded for a month prior (so tank was ready to go Day 1). Here was my experience:

1) Months 0 - 3 - Honeymoon. No uglies, outside of a few diatoms
2) Months 3 - 6 - Mega uglies, Massive GHA
3) months - 6- 8 - stabilization
4) Month 9 - Mega growth

I don't know why outside of timing did the uglies take so long to kick in. I did attempt to change out a fuge for an algae scrubber and also use/stop ussing GFO.. idk, but rapid changes were a bad decision, esp if everything was going OK. The GHA outbreak took over most of the tank and killed off/damaged about 25% of the coral. After trying to fight it 6 weeks, I bought some FluxRx and wiped out out, along with mechanical removal.

Between Months 6-8, I didn't do any water changes. Then I did a series of 20-30% WC to reset some of my trace elements that got really out of whack. I also started dosing trace elements inline with Moonshiner method.

The last month, I can visibly see coral really taking off, along with a lot of Corraline coming in. I think it is a combination of general tank stablization (parameters are way more stable), the equivalent of a 50% WC to get traces inline and then a more focused dosing of trace elements.

I have been most successful at keeping parameters table when running a fuge, and dosing just a tiny bit of carbon. When I change the formula weird things happen. I also added pods periodically. I have no evidence if they help or not (but tell myself they do).

Do you have a sense of what your various parameters were doing in those phases (and if modifying them would have affected anything)?

 

[mythesis]

A potential next candidate for what’s going to happen might be growing along the water-sand line of the front glass. I can’t see what it is but feel it is kinda dark. It could be nothing but a normal mix of waste, algae and bacteria.

That sounds ... ominous? What are you seeing there?

 

[crabgrass]

Do you have a sense of what your various parameters were doing in those phases (and if modifying them would have affected anything)?

My unmanaged Phosphorous during M 0 - 3, was ~0.2 - 0.5. When the GHA took over, nutrients dropped close to 0 / 0, however that is because algea was taking it all in. After manually exporting all of the GHA, P stabilized very quickly.

If I had any advice for the first 3-4 months, I would have not touched a thing and just let it ride itself out. I spent way too much micro-managing.

Right now, without too much work, I am sitting at:
Alk - 8.5 - 8.8 (I am working on slowing dropping it to 8.1 - 8.5)
Calc - 400-420
Mag - 1350 - 1380
N - 6-8
P - 0.05 - 0.06

 

[crabgrass]

Here are a couple shots of my tank @ 9 months. SPS at the top is relatively new (2 months old). LPS is a mix of 2-12+ old stuff. Nem is a couple months old.

 

[mythesis]

That looks fantastic @crabgrass ! Love that the Clowns were hosting in that back corner. Ours are derps and swim next to the outtake constantly.

We'd love to get a 'nem, but waiting for "stability"

 

[crabgrass]

That looks fantastic @crabgrass ! Love that the Clowns were hosting in that back corner. Ours are derps and swim next to the outtake constantly.

We'd love to get a 'nem, but waiting for "stability"

So funny story... my clowns only swam in the top right outtake (they did it in the old tank and then when they were relocated, did the same). Extremely boring. Early on, i got some rock anemones, and they have recently relocated to the sand. Instead of the clowns deciding to host in a nice large Bubble tip (that is about 9 inches away from them), they have decided to host in the Rock Anemone instead.

I have seen multiple stories about Rock Anemones killing fish, and have tried to relocate them, but they all keep returning to the same spot. One day I fully expect to be missing the clowns, but we'll see.

 

[get-salty]

You might get a parameter swing as your tank becomes more and more mature. At this point, DONT add or do any drastic changes ! Dont start dosing additives and dont panic ! Make small one or two (max) changes at a time. Good luck and Happy reefing !

 

[Dan_P]

That sounds ... ominous? What are you seeing there?

I am not sure what I see, but I am thinking a black line in the sand just below the surface seems interesting for such a new aquarium to have. Post a close up of that black line and maybe we can see what that structure is. Maybe just needs to be stirred up. Maybe its nothing.

 

[mythesis]

You might get a parameter swing as your tank becomes more and more mature. At this point, DONT add or do any drastic changes ! Dont start dosing additives and dont panic ! Make small one or two (max) changes at a time. Good luck and Happy reefing !

Ha, that struggle is _real_.

I read other people's posts a lot to try and learn from their experiences. A lot of "this thing is dying" or "This thing is crashing" is answered by "Fix your parameters"

So it's very hard to not thing "Nutrients went to 0...must get them up _now_ to prevent Dinos!" (which did happen over the weekend...)

@Dan_P : This looks to me like Diatoms/Algae against the glass. Do you see something different?

 

[Dan_P]

Ha, that struggle is _real_.

I read other people's posts a lot to try and learn from their experiences. A lot of "this thing is dying" or "This thing is crashing" is answered by "Fix your parameters"

So it's very hard to not thing "Nutrients went to 0...must get them up _now_ to prevent Dinos!" (which did happen over the weekend...)

@Dan_P : This looks to me like Diatoms/Algae against the glass. Do you see something different?

Nothing out of the ordinary. Some areas seem pink. If that is not caused by lighting it could be cyanobacteria. No big deal though. It is in all aquaria and you’ll see it growing in small patches in stagnant and lit areas.

 

[reef’r]

I’m coming up on 7 months. I’ve had coralline growing for a while but I brought a lot in on some live rock, frag plus, snail shells stuff like that. My tank has seen some swings here and there mostly due to a long fight with Dino’s but mostly has been stable. Speaking for myself I’ve seen growth in Zoas, my Duncan, and a monti but that’s about it. I’ve had two Acans that were 2 polyps each since April and still two polyps, I also have two hammers and a frogspawn that have remained the same size for the past few months. Not sure what’s really going on but it’s a bummer reading through build threads and seeing people at the 6-8 month mark with great growth. Maybe it’s an experience thing, just sharing my experience

 

[reef’r]

Also bought a single polyp paly back in April, it’s grown another polyp

 

[mythesis]

I’m coming up on 7 months. I’ve had coralline growing for a while but I brought a lot in on some live rock, frag plus, snail shells stuff like that. My tank has seen some swings here and there mostly due to a long fight with Dino’s but mostly has been stable. Speaking for myself I’ve seen growth in Zoas, my Duncan, and a monti but that’s about it. I’ve had two Acans that were 2 polyps each since April and still two polyps, I also have two hammers and a frogspawn that have remained the same size for the past few months. Not sure what’s really going on but it’s a bummer reading through build threads and seeing people at the 6-8 month mark with great growth. Maybe it’s an experience thing, just sharing my experience

I don't know about you, but as a new reefer I feel like everything is this scene from Forgetting Sarah Marshall:




"Do less" ... "well, you gotta do more than that!"

 

[B&CinB.C.]

OP is using a Milwaukee. They definitely need occasional calibration. Since they can be calibrated with RODI it's easy-peasy. Personally, I have a Hanna, traditional refractometer and hydrometer. Both the former creep steadily and need calibration every couple of months. With that said, the traditional refractometer is a $20 order from Amazon so I suppose I got what I paid for.

I would also guess OP's frequent water changes are how he's keeping those parameters steady, but I am still curious. I'm learning too!

My Milwaukee refractometer came with a card in the box that says it should only be calibrated with steam distilled water . Not sure why

 

[Bruttall]

Thinking back to my 3 to 6 months phase, Bryopsis, then cyano. The Bryopsis was easy, reef flux did a fantastic job getting rid of it, but the cyano, OMG. I fought Phos for months it seemed. It leached into my rocks I think and I am still dosing to keep it low.

Up side, look for the little pink/purple circles of crusty algae, it should start showing up IF you have a rock that has some Coraline on it. You need to seed that stuff I was told. Also you should start seeing some Green Hair Algae.

If you have not done so, get some Copepods and Amphipods and add them.

The only other thing I would consider, after looking at your picture is getting a diamond watchman goby. I have 1 in my 300g and he keeps my sand bed stirred and such a pretty white color. I never have to touch it and you look like you have algae creeping down into your sand bed to feed one so he should thrive. They grow from 2 to 6 inches in about 6 months if well fed.

Good Luck and Happy Reefing.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I check mine every time I use it

 

[Kodski]

In my opinion I feel like most newer reefers have a major issue around the 6 month mark. Some caused by adjustments being made to try and fight the ugly stages instead of riding it out like many have mentioned. I also see many issues cause by getting too relaxed with the tank. I feel like lots of people here are just generalizing things. Will things stabilize? Yes absolutely. But I have a different take on things for you to consider.


Picture what your maintenance routine will look like instead of the tank itself. You mentioned young ones, that means life is dictated by your family. I can say for sure the hardest part of having a reef tank, is MAKING time for the not so fun stuff. Keeping up with the daily/weekly chores is one thing, but entering month six, you're starting to look at different maintenance items. Month six tends to be the part where things need to be gone over very thoroughly to catch any future disasters. Cleaning those items you don't regularly clean like a full break down of the skimmer, pumps, sump, overflow, ect. Double check those dosing lines, ATO floats, ect. Make sure things like salt buildup or calcium buildup isn't going to cause something to not be dosed or something else to fail and dose way too much of something else. GO THROUGH EVERYTHING TOP TO BOTTOM

Another thing is testing. Will parameters stabilize? Again, yes they will. But with stabilization of a new tank comes growth, and sometimes explosive growth. Some mentioned you can test less, but what happens when you start to relax with your testing because you assume things have stabilized? Alk drops, calcium drops, ect. testing is MORE important when you have a stable tank because it lets you know how much the tank is growing and how much you need to start increasing your daily doses. Its one thing to achieve short term stabilization, its a totally different thing to achieve it over the long term. Many new reefers get this wrong and cause huge parameter swings in their tank. Just read through about a dozen build threads for newer reefers and you'll see what I'm getting at.

Lastly, I alluded to it above, growth. You're going to see more growth, which is super fun and rewarding to see. Its why so many of us love to keep corals! With growth though, keep these things in mind, parameters, space, and perspective. In terms of your parameters, more growth means you'll need to dose more (duh, right?), but on the flip side, you'll also need to lower your dosing at times as well. Again, testing will always show you the amount you need to adjust your dosing, but you eyes will always be your best tool to tell you how your corals are doing health wise. This ties into perspective. What I mean by perspective is that now you've see how fast you corals can grow in your tank with stabilized conditions. So it will become a bit easier to identify periods of time when the corals slow down in growth due to something, or grow even faster due to a change you decided to make to the tank. Always keeping in mind that slower growth ALSO equates to adjusting your dosages just like increase growth would. Thirdly, space in your tank. Growth will encourage you to buy more corals and even maybe try a few more difficult corals like SPS and you'll find places for them all. Of course you'll place them due to flow and lighting requirements, but one thing I see many people do incorrectly, is place corals in regards to space for growth. This won't cause many issues in terms of a full tank crash but it can and likely will cause a few corals to die off entirely due to coral warfare or even due to lack of flow after a coral colony changes the flow patterns in your tank.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Your rock looks like it has some age to it. Was it white when you started or did you use live rock.

 

[mythesis]

@Kodski what a great set of thoughts. I need to reread it a few times for sure. Thank you for taking the time to try and educate a novice.

Like I jokingly posted above, this hobby seems to constantly walk the tight rope of "don't over react, but don't get complacent and under react either!"

As a newbie with no experience at all, it feels impossible to know when it's time to fix something and when it's time to let it ride.

So far the only things I've dosed is a few jars of pods and 2 days worth of AB+ to get nutrients off 0/0. So hopefully I'm walking the rope a little.

@Cichlid Dad is about 80-90# of Indonesian live Rock. Arrived wrapped in wet newspaper.