It's been just over 20 weeks since these tanks were first filled with water and cycled using various versions of the biome cycling method. It's time to find out: how did the ugly stage go? Were any of the approaches to biome cycling better than others? What were some of the missteps along the way? Let's get into it.

 

The Biome Cycle

We scaled the biome cycle based on the estimated complexity or difficulty of each tank type, but ultimately all of the tanks had a very similar approach. Promote diversity right out of the gate using multiple sources of biome. Each aquarium experienced some version of the ugly phase, but the length of time spent in that phase was extremely limited. This can almost certainly be attributed to the wholistic approach to starting these tanks with live rock/sand, bacteria, pods, strategic lighting decisions, and use of herbivorous fish and invertebrates.

Here is a breakdown on the specific Biome Methods used for each of the 52SE tanks and the end result: 

 

  Nano Magnifica Harem SPS Collector Softy Chromis SPS Predator LPS Collector
Rock Real Reef Nano Kit w/ TBS Rubble Aquaforest Dry Rock TBS Premium Rock NSA Dry Rock TBS Base Rock CaribSea Dry Rock w/ TBS Rubble in Sump MarcoRocks w/ TBS Rubble in Sump
Sand 90% Ocean Direct, 10% TBS Sand TBS Sand TBS Sand 90% Ocean Direct, 10% TBS Sand TBS Sand CaribSea Hawaiian Black Sand w/ TBS in Sump 90% Ocean Direct, 10% TBS Sand
Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods Galaxy Pods
Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting 1 Month Ambient Lighting
Bacteria Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only Dr. Tim's One and Only
Result Brown slime developed when the lights were turned on. Lights were turned off for a week and we implemented water changes. Since then, the brown slime hasn't returned. Minimal diatoms when lights were turned on that resolved themselves over the course of a couple of weeks. Slight algae growth that was quickly taken care of via tangs, snails, and crabs.  A wide variety of algae quickly grew on the rock, so we turned the lights off for a week. After adding a few herbivorous fish and turning the lights back on, just a few patches of algae remain. The white rock developed a green tint, but quickly disappeared on its own. Too much light was likely a contributing factor due to a mistake we made with the Kessil lighting. When the lights were turned on, algae grew quickly. We added two tangs and the tank was algae-free within days. The areas directly under the Kessil lights grew some algae, but with time, the algae issue subsided. The three tangs were added before the lights came on. This resulted in no algae issues.

 

 

Challenges & Wins

We experienced some unexpected issues and wins along the way. This journey has been both enlightening and challenging, providing us with invaluable insights into the dynamics of the mini marine ecosystems within our aquariums.

Cost of Live Rock & Sand

This wasn't as much of an issue for us since we were splitting it up over multiple tanks, but starting with true live rock and sand, having it shipped in water, and using airport to airport cargo shipping is simply not the cheapest option. Even rubble rock isn't cheap because unlike dry rock, this isn't just left-over pieces, but rather small hand-collected pieces. Even so, we believe this to be one of the best available options for starting a new reef tank. In the future, maybe we'll see a small starter kit become available that can be shipped via more common shipping methods. 

52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Live Rock
52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Rock Collection

Live Rock Comes with Life

The Tampa Bay Saltwater premium rock comes covered in life because it's fresh from the ocean. Much of this life is good and why this rock does so well with the biome cycling approach. But like anything, there are pros and cons. In our case, we started noticing fish in one of the tanks start to get picked off one by one. In this open aquascape, we'd expect to find the remains. This could be a number of hitchhikers from mantis shrimp to gorilla crabs, but in this case, we believe it to be one of the many octopus we found while scaping these tanks. 

52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Octopus
52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Octopus

Humans Making Human Mistakes

Related to the green film we saw on the softie tank, the Kessil lighting on this tank was accidentally left on 24/7 for three weeks straight. We pulled the spectral controller to make manual adjustments for shooting video and when we were done, we simply forgot to plug it back in. Nobody noticed as we generally leave around 5PM and the lights are scheduled to turn off at 6PM. Thanks to our Black Friday video shooting, we noticed the issue and corrected it. Now the lights turn off before we leave for the day. This way, we're able to confirm the lights are running the correct schedule. The Apex now acts as a backup and automatically cuts power to the lights during scheduled off times as well. 

52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Kessil Controller
52 Weeks of Reefing: Second Edition Apex Graph

The One Thing

If you take one thing away from this, let it be this: the ugly stage is likely to happen in nearly all new tanks. But it can be a week-long bump in the road or much worse. How long and how bad it is, is likely tied to the balance between the amount of light energy and the effort put into establishing a microbiome. Going with a sterile dry rock setup paired with high par right out of the gate is a recipe for a long and frustrating ugly stage.