Top 10 Fixes to Turn the Nasty, Brown Stage of Your Saltwater Tank Cycle Around!

[@teresafincher3413]

This is my first saltwater tank and I have to say a huge thank you for your teaching. I was about ready to put my hand in and take it out. So thank you for telling me to be patient.

[@knobstop25]

Did yours clear up on its own? How long did it take after showing?

[@dudehere1981]

Just got a blue powder tang! Thanks for the good tips on controlling algae!

[@Accu53Mation]

Having tubeworms and flaming scallops in the aquarium can help. Sea slugs and goby or tangs, are great at reducing growth overload. My remedy for both the 30 gallon Oscar tank and the 175 gallon reef tank, is a...Diatom filter. Use-it once a week for a couple hours in each tank. Use a filter-screen(not touching the coral!), and it will suck-out the unsightly growth. And I leave it alone on the crushed coral bottom. It acts as a natural filter, boosting the effectiveness of the undergravel filter. Been doing this for three decades. And a Diatom is an absolute aquarium necessity. I change twenty percent of the saltwater, once-per-month, and clean the gravel maybe once-a-year, to unclogged the undergravel filter. I've had the original coral, in the tank since the beginning...1991.

[@ericserechen5788]

Noticed Vibrant wasn't included on the table hahaha

[@ProxoDJ]

Was just about to say that lmao

[@riptorable]

What’s going on with vibrant?

[@ericserechen5788]

@@riptorable There is a thread on r2r that will explain in greater detail. Short of it is as details and study leads everyone to belive as of now, vibrant's ingredients are not as listed on the bottle (95% bacteria) and actually an algeacide.

[@insanity4224]

Damn you beat me to it! 😂

[@Eunos_FD3S]

Todays problem “impatience.” Nailed it.

[@saltwaterandlime]

Would really help of yall could do a guide specifically on pods. Everyone recommends them, but no one says exactly what to buy. I've tried several times and I'm pretty sure I'm just buying expensive bottles of water with nothing in it.

[@BRStv]

I like the idea! We most often use the 5280 Pods or EcoPods from Algae Barn. www.bulkreefsupply.com/ecopods-copepod-variety-mix-algaebarn.html www.bulkreefsupply.com/5280-pods-3-species-of-live-copepods-algaebarn.html

[@aftamatt]

No Vibrant on the table 🧐. Lol we know what’s up. Nice video guys! Exactly what I needed actually lol

[@matthewhayden6505]

What’s the deal with vibrant I am confused?

[@mathewstreet]

@@matthewhayden6505 It may or may not be what they say it is per label.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Someone posted a scientific study showing it’s just algaecide, not bacteria in a bottle like they promote. Still waiting on confirmation if this is actually true or not.

[@DillondeVoor]

@@matthewhayden6505 they (presumably) re-label algicide as a "biological bacteria" solution and sell it for 3 times the price.

[@johnkelley4404]

@@DillondeVoorall I know is that I used it on a 30 gallon biocube per instructions and caused a huge cyno blue after killing the hair alae and then dinos! It was a complete teardown and threw the rest of the vibrant in the garbage. 🐍 Oil!

[@PrivateInfo-c9q]

I have a newer (4 month) nano reef, and #1 was the fix :)

[@dylanb4895]

Completely avoided the ugly phase using the Jake Adams method. Full LPS and softie reef day 1. Tank is 2 months old and had 1 water change.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

My ugly phase didn’t start until month 3

[@johnkelley4404]

@@ManiacalMangoes same month 3 dinos zero nitrates booted them with neo nitro from bright well looks better

[@trupyrodice4462]

Lol, Day one? So no cycle? Wait for it… hold… hold…

[@Silva_loft]

One water in change in 2 months? Lol how long should you actually wait to do a water change when you start a new tank

[@dylanb4895]

@@trupyrodice4462 the ammonia produced is offset immediately with cured/established live rock or media from another tank, along with all the bacteria that exists on coral skeletons and such. Tank is 5 months old now, had 2 water changes and still no ugly phase. Corals are looking awesome.

[@alaskacosplay]

I personally don't mind the ugly look. It makes me think of the local beach I go to when I go on a summer holiday and not to a white sand beach. There's brown algae everywhere there and I feel sorta homesick whenever I look at my tank. Homesick but happy. And besides, having algae to grow is basically an all you can eat buffet.

[@tookmyhandle2]

Came here for the vibrant jokes, stayed for the content!

[@NillymNilly93]

What's the puns behind Vibrant?

[@federicomanglavite9897]

Just wonder why they haven't addressed the vibrant in the room.

[@WHOABUBBAvideos]

They have, the video is on Ryan's Facebook and brs pulled the product for now

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Probably because it’s a one off study that could have been an error (using the same sample for both). I’d want more info before I annihilate the brand.

[@alenyaclassic]

@@ManiacalMangoes Two studies, separate, not one.

[@hurricaneaquatics]

Haven't read much on it, but it worked for me and caused no problems.

[@Evergreenroblox1]

**get a tang** me having a 10 gallon

[@NillymNilly93]

*Goes and buys a Blue Hippo Tang*

[@tokopaaisen2927]

Algae blennies

[@zombiehunter374]

I got two yellow tangs in my 8.5 cube. No more algae

[@bigsur370]

@@zombiehunter374horrible fish owner. Hopefully you have a larger aquarium

[@DukeCooper8232]

7 gallon here

[@tackleland3452]

Hi guys, thank you another informative session. I have an issue with the Brown Snot Weed, can you please share the link you were talking about so I can get it sorted. Cheers, keep up the great work!

[@Damien-hs6fn]

Thanks for the first advice, that’s very helpful to know! But can I scrape algae off my glass and clean the substrate or will that mess with the natural process?

[@Scott-cy6zv]

I have been beat down by Diatoms over the past week and a half. My Nitrite is 0ppm, PH 8.0, Nitrate 5ppm, Ammonia 0ppm and I still got hammered!! So what I did was take out my Marco rock out and cleaned it with a tooth brush. Cleaned and replaced most media in my Fluval 207 Canister filter (Charcoal, and bristle pad. I rinsed out all the sponges and media balls all in the tank water that was in my canister filter so there was a good amount of beneficial bacteria still present in them. I’ve used the magnet and cleaned all glass. Pythoned my live sand. And put in 8 snails 3 days ago. And today I noticed more diatoms forming on the rock again. So I used a turkey baster and blew it off. I did a 25% water change 3 days ago and a 50% one today. And lastly I’ve ramped my white colour on lights down to 50% and just kept the blue at 90%. I used to have lights on 12.5 hours a day. But effective 2 days ago I have em on for 7. While this has been going on I had my newly purchased clown fish jump out of the tank and found it the next day. So I rushed to the fish store 2 days ago and got a smaller one to go with my other one. My tank is 6.5 weeks old. I have 2 clowns and a yellow watchman gobie presently in the tank. Now my questions here are as follows and any input is MUCH appreciated!! 1) Is there anything I’m doing wrong, or anything I can do better to fix the issue? 2) when I add another 2 fish, what would be best for my 38 gallon bowed front tank? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP

[@BRStv]

6.5 weeks old is a very young tank. "#1: Be Patient" definitely applies here. Try to avoid removing and scrubbing rocks again. Diatoms love clean new surfaces to grow on. The answer to your second question is a hard one because there is so much personal preference. Check out some of the smaller wrasse species as there are a lot of them that would do well in a 38 gallon. Something like a Royal Gramma would also be a great option 😀

[@Scott-cy6zv]

@@BRStv would you advise me against a coral beauty boys? I was heading out in a hour to go grab one. The size the store has is between 1,5-2.0 wide. My clown fish are smaller size. And just one more thing (I’m sorry for bugging yous). I just tested my water and perimeters are still the same :). But since I put snails in Ive noticed the was is ever so slightly cloudiness to the water. Is that normal when a CUC is hard at work? Saying thank you from Toronto Ontario guys!!!

[@Maxher240]

Its been like almost 3 months for me and i have cleaned it many times and it still coming back

[@knobstop25]

Im a bit confused. First, i watched your long video on top 20 algae mistakes. It said do not leave it, sort it early. Now this video says just leave it? So im 3 months in, i already have a tang, have just started getting brown algae 3 days ago, i have corals. Should i just leave it or sort it? Thanks

[@fuffoon]

Hi dudes. I'm cycling my 710 liter now for 9 days if I count from the day that I added bacteria, bacterial nutrient and Marine Pure. I'm doing the low salinity start. 1.016 although 1.015 was the suggested...close enough. Like I said, its day 9 and nitrites are already rising. I talked about it on R2R and was politely eaten alive about my ridiculous theories (taken from scholarly articles), but it seems to be working well. When nitrite is back to zero I'll bump it to 1.021, start the lighting and hold for a week before going up to the final salinity. I'm curious about how the algae and diatom phases will go with a well started nitrifying bed. I plan to let it go naturally. My honeydo list is too long to worry about stocking my tank.

[@Marinetuck220]

What no more vibrant after that study was released? lol

[@Marinetuck220]

LMAO they deleted my post.....Its on Reef2Reef

[@fishpony1211]

Ive use vibrant forever and never had any ill effects in my tank. Wait to hear both sides of the story.

[@karennation3580]

What about silicates? I have been reading that causes it! How do I get rid of silicates without using gfo that has silicate removers? How do I know if it is silicates? I also read that only icp is accurate.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Any tips for simultaneously battling Dino’s and algae that’s filling up my glass daily? After my diatom battle win, I started getting Dino’s. While my nitrates had been consistent around 15 before that, I tested once the Dino’s arrived and they had plummeted to zero. However, despite heavy feeding and not doing a water change in 2 weeks (before that I hadn’t missed a weekly 10% change), they’re still zero and while the Dino’s are slightly receding, I’m getting a heavy daily coating of algae on the glass (which I assume must be immediately using any nitrate available). Do I just keep scraping, blowing and changing filter floss and wait this thing out? I’m using your LPS Setting on my AI Prime for my 25 gallon which has a decent amount of white

[@vascojardim6703]

On the subject of nutrients, we NEED a Neptune PO4 and NO3 automated tester!!!

[@reeflab2221]

And Reefpi!

[@fishpony1211]

I need to pod my tank. Never done that before but everyone swears by it. Obviously i have pods but never purposely poured them in.

[@antshermannstadt]

Vibrant?

[@AndreiusDixon]

You had me at TANG

[@xisotopex]

the problem I have with "powering through..." is, how do I know this will actually go away? how do I find out if there is some other issue that will keep it going?

[@noodles74]

What happened to the corals you chose for your office tank? Did you film it?

[@BRStv]

Ryan has been posting some short videos to his Facebook page, facebook.com/brstvguy. KZbin videos to follow. Be sure you're subscribed here and also to World Wide Corals' channel 😄

[@noodles74]

@@BRStv Im not on facebook so hopefully they end up on youtube.

[@nathanbutler8240]

Should I keep doing water changes, battling dino,and algae or should I let it stabilize and see if it fixes itself

[@BRStv]

Generally speaking, water changes aren't advised when dealing with dinos as it can lower nitrates and phosphates to undetectable levels and make dinos worse. I would suggest siphoning the dinos and algae into a filter sock in your sump so that you're removing them from the water, but not actually doing a water change.

[@deboshshow9755]

hello ! Could you tell me how can I buy or make panels on the wall like Ecotech or Neptune systems

[@childofgod724]

I have the laziest blue and red legged hermit crabs 😬😞 Had cyano, Chemiclean took care of it. Also, I'm now fighting dinos, sand bed keeps turning brown. My hermits just sit there perching on my corals. Good lord.

[@jonniefast]

for smaller tanks its better to clean by hand than depend on snails/crabs/etc you cannot control the ocean im surprised overfeeding wasnt mentioned as a source of algae fish are fun, but i make sure to target feed by hand and waste very little +every other day vaccuum the sand with airline tubing targeting the detritus

[@lailameyer]

My tank is about a year old, it seems that my ugly stage has returned. Is this possible or is something else going on?

[@therevanchist1123]

Sea Hare has been keeping things in check so far for me

[@MrJarzy2001]

Watched this 3 times so far. Good stuff. Not a fan of chemicals thou.

[@ycho87]

Can i put in a couple of Tangs after done with cycle (0 ammonia and nitrite). I’m having a 200 gallons tank.

[@BRStv]

You bet! There are a lot of types of Tangs that will thrive in a 200 gallon tank and coexist peacefully 😁

[@ycho87]

My worry is to add Tang too soon to the tank. Just want to make sure it’s fine to add a couple of Tangs right after cycling. Thank you

[@ManiacalMangoes]

I used your recommended LPS setting for my AI Prime and 25 gallon peninsula, but once I cranked the UV and violet to 116% my Diatoms starting growing like crazy. I shut off the lights for 2 days, but it didn’t make much difference (it didn’t grow as much, but the only stuff that went away was what the crabs ate). Should I turn those two colors down? Just push through it and siphon out what I can? Or shut the lights off for a few more days? I just have a royal gramma and small CUC so far, clowns are moving in from QT this weekend. Weekly water changes, nitrates have been at 15 since it cycled, no ammonia, haven’t tested phosphates yet. Tank up almost 4 months, 1.5 months with fish and 1 month with lights

[@BRStv]

An increase in light intensity can certainly cause a flair up in algae and diatoms. If you plan to keep these light settings long term, I would suggest keeping the settings where they are and wait it out. The tank will eventually come back into balance.

[@ManiacalMangoes]

Thanks! I had my lights at the full recommended LPS intensity for 6 hours a day but after learning more about the AI app I just switched it to 11 hours a day with a 2 hour ramp up and down and used the acclimation feature to start at 50% and increase over 30 days. This should give me the full photo cycle I want, while also temporarily reducing intensity which maybe will help me get through the “ugly phase” faster.

[@brleong990]

What kind of pods do you recommend?

[@BRStv]

Algae Barn 5280 Pods or EcoPods are what we typically use. www.bulkreefsupply.com/live-goods/pods-phyto.html

[@sandraelam6530]

Do you realize how many acronyms you used in this presentation? It would be great to explain them when they are used.

[@BRStv]

Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated 😃

[@lisameier1536]

Absolutely.....I am new to this and have no idea what the acronyms stand for!!

[@acarmichaelgamiz]

Anyone know when we get the results of BRS test on various cycling methods, focusing on the Biome? They set up a test around November looking at this, but I haven’t seen the results yet.

[@BRStv]

We recently got our final round of results back. Videos will take a little time to shoot and edit, but shouldn't be too much longer 🙂

[@plips71755]

Can’t you just set up a back room prep tank or two and get them ready for future use in your display tanks.

[@thilog5874]

Easiest fix is not to cycle your tank. Start quick with loads of corals. Their bacterias fill the biological niches. They use ammonium as food source. Then the fishs. Don‘t know why this myth of cycling a tank is still so popular in the US. In Germany nobody cycles tanks anymore. My tank started day three with corals. No ugly face, no algaes whatsoever.

[@insanity4224]

I agree the whole cycle thing even gets experienced hobbyists caught up chasing around numbers. Get life in the tank and get started.

[@toujabi]

Hi, is started indeed with the whole cycle theory, but after reading your post is start to believe this might be a way better idea ( where can i read more about it, i can read german). As im in week 2 of the cycle (Amonia 0, nitrite 0.25, nitrate like 100). What is the best approuch, just add corrals like you said, or bring nitrate down first? secondly when you add corrals, do you dip them or just add them as they come? and finnaly how much corrals do you recommend for a 90 gallon thank to start with and how lang after that do you add fish? thank you

[@FpvMental]

If you do a black out make sure to test during and get ready to do awater change, all the algae dying at time it’s sure to spike the tank.

[@insanity4224]

I agree with your comment. Can’t get past your username though and I thought my sense of humour was messed up.

[@BRStv]

This is a good point. If you have calcium and alkalinity dosing going on, you may also want to stop that during the blackout as the corals will not be consuming much calcium or alkalinity while the lights are off.

[@Eric_Allen]

what about the annoying film algae on the glass. i get tired of using the magfloat every day

[@BRStv]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIDTnJKFhJyigsk

[@jeffklaubo3168]

See I added a bunch of pods to feed my mandarin goby. Cleaning the tank was an added benefit

[@Algaewarrior]

I'm surprised you didn't mention conch for the sandbed. I won't keep a sandbed without one. 👍

[@therevanchist1123]

My hermits keep evicting them 😅

[@Algaewarrior]

@@therevanchist1123 dang. Those are some mean hermits. I would probably evict them. 😆

[@crazyhuman7541]

is it safe for moss to go into saltwater?

[@ChadwickHorn]

No. It won't survive in saltwater and will only foul the water.

[@Njwobrien]

I know someone added a Vibrant comment - that however 100% solved the worst dino issue I had. I can't say for fact, but once the dinos were gone, tank crashed.

[@etdizzle10]

I can understand being new to the hobby causing impatience, but it's honestly WAY easier to just let it go while it cycles and you don't have to spend $$ on additives and stuff. it's just harder these days w/o Live Rock.

[@adamiller2526]

No more Vibrant. Lol

[@Merknilash]

The only thing getting me down is when I have to move some rock and I can't get it to go back in the same way it was before I took it out.

[@xisotopex]

the algae is brown... on the sand and on most of the rocks... what is it?

[@DougFL66]

Diatoms

[@jamesbroderick3660]

What if you’re losing all of your Coraline on your live rock?

[@BRStv]

Check for low alkalinity. If you have certain critters like urchins, that could also be a cause.

[@sseeaahhaawwkkssrule975]

What do you do if your tank looks like 6:13?

[@BRStv]

The first step in a case like that is manual removal....a lot of manual removal. From there, you can use some of the strategies talked about in the video to help knock it back further and keep it in check.

[@ericr530]

Lol if tangs,especially yellow were available or affordable right now.

[@BRStv]

There are still quite a few affordable tangs like Scopas tangs. Convict tangs can be a little finicky, but are also affordable and awesome algae eaters 🙂

[@planetarybeat473]

Took my tank like 7 months lol

[@kierenboimufc5940]

What about hydrogen peroxide

[@BRStv]

We haven't tried dosing hydrogen peroxide to the tank directly, but in the past, we've drained a tank, put hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, and spot treated trouble spots with success.

[@ericjohnson868]

The amount of work this hobby takes is exhausting. Eventually some issue will clear up but you’ll constantly be fighting something. Eventually the juice just ain’t worth the squeeze.

[@ericr530]

I hear your sentiment, loud and clear. I'm 52 and been in the hobby about 12 years. I can't picture doing this as a retiree. Maybe a small nano 20gal or less,and softies at most.

[@2milesbelow676]

Just go live rock no corals. Piece of cake, as long as you dont mind your tank being not being perfect. A little algea on the rocks…. so what. Makes it way more enjoyable

[@bigbowlowrong4694]

I learned very quickly I didn’t have the patience for stony corals, even LPS. I stick with softies and anemones, tank looks great with barely any maintenance.

[@kylesmith9048]

I clicked on this video hoping that it would help me through my ugly phase, but then they started talking about aquariums :/

[@BRStv]

"Saltwater aquariums help everyone through their ugly phase" - anonymous

[@Name-ot3xw]

Todays ad was timeshares lmao. No thanks, I watched king of the hill.