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I could sit and watch that tank for hours. Thank you for the great information that you provided, I will be following your advice when I setup my first reef tank.

my tank was looking great for months. Had my little refugium set up pods all over then things went south quick. GHA and cyno all over. You connected the dots for me though man and I appreciate it. Things started going south right around when I started dosing red sea ab+ and phytoplankton. I got nothing but frags and it must be just shooting the nitrates and phosphates up. I thought it might be from dosing, but i was following the "recommended" dosing and even skimping on it from time to time. Thought nah that can't be it and just kept doing water changes hoping it would balance itself out. The frags must still not soak it up fast enough. I think I am going to keep dosing the phyto to keep my pods healthy for my mandarin but I'm going to cut the ab+ out and start scrubbing. Thanks again.

I wish this video was around when I first started reefing. 🔥🔥🔥

As everything in this hobby patience is key. Great advice and tips as usual.👍☺

Absolutely agree set my tank up from start to finish with dry rock made sure I had a good RODI kept on everything like I was supposed to do my tank is 2 years old and I have never had an algae problem or an ugly phase ty travis

Everything is on the point! Don't skip these steps and you are of to the races! 👍

I think it's also notable to add that too much light can also be an issue for "ugly phase"/algae. That's one of the things I'm finding with my algae outbreak right now. Cycle with your lights off. Great video as always!

your so right set u 3 tanks your way not thing Insta tank straight away love it

I know you are absolutely right about the ugly phase great video thanks

Straight and to the point. So misguided opinions in this hobby can sway new reefer away from the hobby.keep it simple.

Hey Travis! Loved the video, it's going to help me loads with my new tank! I'd like to see a video on how you quarantine your fish before adding them to the tank!😃 Is that a possible video you can make?😁 keep up the great work

I am almost done setting up my 310 gallon so this is definitely a plus.

Soo nice video Travis, look at the powerhead in the back of the tank, the nero 5, is not sticked to the grass

Can you a vid with only the blue lights on and orange filter. I’d like to see how your tank looks at night. Thanks for the tips btw.

Think lm going through this phase had the tank running for a year, algea appearing nitrates spiked. l just added a refugium with chaeto is working wonders now.

I am setting up 13 1/2 gallons fluval nano reef tank my question to you is is it OK to use distilled water to mix salt and for top of water distilled water is the only thing available to me thank you love you video

Yes sir that's how you do it! If there is a tank upgrade or addition in your future. Go ahead and start cycling rock now. You'll be glad you did.

Thank you Sir!

Great videos and info. Thank you and continuing doing what you do. Having an issue with double zeros on phosphate and was looking for your video on making my own phosphate and nitrate supplements. Can you provide the link please?

Good video. So many times new reefers get caught up with all the products. Go ask someone that has been successful for 10-15 years in the hobby. They will tell you the same thing cuz most of all these new things didn't exist then and corals still grew.

TRUTH, this is advice worth heeding. I have always started tanks with Marco rock and other types of never-live rock. It took a few times to figure it out - one thing that also happens when you’re a beginner, is you end up introducing problems yourself by not QTing corals, or even treating them pre-emptively with something like H2O2 when you see “a little bit” of algae. You reap what you sow. 😂

Yep, you need to understand your tank, I started my 125 gallon over from scratch about a year ago, after it had cycled I added 3 tangs and a schooling bannerfish about 1 to 2 months apart. Now these fish generate a huge bioload and my new tank struggled to keep up with it, needless to say it eventually looked like a cow took a huge dump in my tank with all the brown algae that grew everywhere, and it persisted for quite a while. At the time I was changing out my filter socks every 5 days, I switched to changing them daily and washed them in the washing machine with just cold water on a gentle cycle. After about a week the brown algae had cleared up.

Thank you Travis, you know I’m going through some issues with my new nano👍

What kind of salt do you use and how often do you do water change? Your tank is so clean do you use filter socks? Is your skimmer set to dry or wet skim? Thanks in advance.

Beautiful tank, keep it up! :D

Thanks for the awesome content Travis!

Love the video and your wisdom. Thank you

So many good tips in this video!

Once again, right on point.

I’m in the ugly phase glad I watched this

Useful info for a newb like me! Subscribed!

Priceless info , thanks.

Thank you so much for this vid!!!!!

Hell yeah this came at a perfect time, I'm about to finally fill up my 75. Awesome info as always man, keep it up!

I am like you and want to build the aquascape in the tank. I built mine and then made markings with a file so I could match them up later and then cured them. Worked pretty good. I also took lots and lots of pics and vids to reference when I put it back. Used mostly rods so it was fast. Out, in, and filled with water. Hahahah

Always good info. Thx

Water flow is a massive plus also! Stay away from expensive power heads also

This video was very helpful, thank you. I purchased Caribsea life rock. Do you have any thoughts or recommendations on how you would personally cycle this? I've heard it doesn't need cycling but I'm not sure.

Stunning tank! What are the dimensions?

Is the ugly phase brownish yellow algae coating on rock? I cured my rock for 5 months and the new tank has been up and running for a month and I’m getting that brownish algae.

Some of the common advice I hear is to fight through the ugly phase by simply waiting it out.

I herd that I don't have to cure rock if it is dry rock? is that true? Or do i have cure all rock?

Fantastic video!

Is it OK if I get a hang on the back filter to start my aquarium with quadruple the water volume?

I considered the ugly phase to be a diatom bloom that lasts a few days to a week. No crazy algae I or anything

Great video

Make a video just on your blue linckia starfish

I’ve been experiencing Abiotic precipitation and it’s causing clumping in the sand bed any ideas why FOH community? I read microbacter 7 can cause it but my alk will not stabilize above a 7

Wish I had this video 2 months ago

Wow gorgeous tank what's the big fish is it a tang cheers

My tank is 3 months old. I have followed everything in this video ( before seeing it) and I still have bad brown algae. The only thing is my salifer test kit says 0 phosphate. Not sure if correct. I have marco dry rock. My rodi water test 0 tds. I have 3 fish I feed once a day. I even tested my rodi water for phos and silicate. Both tested 0 according to Salifer. Just cant figure it out! Maybe my tank is TOO clean, hell I dont know anymore. Very aggravating! And Im tapped out on spending more money for better test equipment. Would like the hanna but cant do it until Covid goes away and work picks up. But I have a beautiful brown crystal clear watered tank haha.

Commenting for support. 😂

Will I be able to motar marco rock if I cure it in water first?

I never had it

Love the vids tho

I think most things in this vid are wrong.

👍🏾

Or you could be like my goofy ass tank, where if I don't dose aminos everyday shit starts bleaching in front of me. My tank is ran on a canister filter and can't keep nitrate's and phosphate up without dosing it 🤦‍♂️🤷

Control nutrient to near zero before start adding fish

👍🏻🇺🇸

second

This video is fact. Drives me nuts when people justify algae as an ugly stage. It’s their tank not mine, but don’t spread that bs my way lol.

First here

You cannot seriously expect people to avoid the ugly phase, it is part of the process. This is the kinda crap on youtube that gets people so confused.