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Sierra Bravo's 120 in-wall tank, a.k.a "Where I keep my paychecks"


Sierra Bravo

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK, so here we go.  I'm starting ten days away from home tomorrow to travel back to South Florida for Christmas and fishing.  I've done all I can do:  Tank is up to shape, auto feeder set, all dosing containers full, top off is full, and back up fresh and salt water in their storage tanks.  I don't have an Apex; I have a Tyler.  Tyler is a friend of the family that will be stopping by every two days.  I've left a very detailed list and know he'll call if anything is amiss.   I also have one of our security cameras trained on the sump so I can check in.

 

No matter the preparation, I'm going to be nervous as heck.  Almost every time I've left something has happened and I've suffered a loss.  Fingers crossed that we change luck this trip.

 

Tank looks about as well as it ever has with the evening blues on.  Everything is growing, colorful and healthy.  (Famous last words?)+

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, the reef gods were with me this trip as the tank didn't seem to miss a beat while I was away for 12 days.  I'm knocking on wood as I type this to ensure that some unknown calamity is not about to strike while sitting here gloating as if I actually planned away any potential problems I may have encountered.  In reality I only escaped Murphy and his Law by luck alone.

I wanted to post a picture of this great colony that I purchased during my first visit to an ARC meeting as a $10 frag from @Gig 'em @ NDstructible .  It was brown and ugly and John was having a hard time getting rid of them with Ty and his frag tank wonderland competing for people's money.  I felt sorry for the little guy (the frag, not John. . .  😉 ) 

It was nearly lost in my alk spike but has recovered nicely and grows like a weed.  It has a Myagi Tort look to it but the name John had it by was GE Purple Orchid, and his didn't have the green in his tank.  I really like this piece and it goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune for a nice acro.  Plus I'm a sucker for a good comeback story.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking at how things are growing I'm considering whether I want to rearrange some things and cull the ones that never took off.  Probably my worst crowded are these four: RR the Vinh, PC Rainbow, Garf bonsai, and sarmentosa on the 11 o'clock of the bonsai. The Garf bonsai has encrusted WAY more than I ever thought it would and the PC Rainbow is beginning to show a lot of lateral branching about to occur. Unfortunately, the PC rainbow grew over a gap and is actually spread 60/40 on two different rocks so it's not going anywhere. The sarmentosa and Garf bonsai are firmly encrusted on one solid large rock (done that way before I knew better). Everything else I can move around pretty easy.

By the way, the bottom right is the D&M millie I received from John which is doing very well.  The multiple frags of Oregon Tort from Ty have fused together and now are starting to encrust and grow additional coralites. 

I might try to move some stuff around one of these weekends that I'm not at the daughter's volleyball tournaments.

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One more to add:  Ty's efflo.  You can't tell from the top down, but it and the shortcake are on two sides of the top of an arch.  I have the efflo in the wrong place (I was told it would be a favored piece but I stuck it there because it looked like crap at the time - my fault).  I have NO idea how to relo this when the time comes and it finally takes shape.  Starting to show some color and look nice though.

Jolt - that poor little ragamuffin of a frag to the lower left is, unfortunately, your SC OP.  I've put it through heck.  When it comes back, though, it will be the toughest frag in the tank and probably beat the other corals up for their lunch money.

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I'm doing a little rearranging this weekend and decided that I wanted to remove my BC "I Heart the Monster Hero" tort to open up some space for the other colonies that are growing.  I fragged it into some nice-sized pieces to sell at a local LFS I've been doing some frag business with.

If anyone wants one and can pick it up in San Antonio I'll be happy to offer it to you.  $35 for the multi-branch/chunky and $20 for the single branched (2 pcs available).

 

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I've had some liverock in my sump since I started the tank.  I took a piece out to break for a filler and this bivalve was in one of the cavities.  It's lived down there under the chaeto all this time.  I have no idea what species it is.  I moved it up to a dark area of my display where I can watch it and see how it does.

 

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I've had some liverock in my sump since I started the tank.  I took a piece out to break for a filler and this bivalve was in one of the cavities.  It's lived down there under the chaeto all this time.  I have no idea what species it is.  I moved it up to a dark area of my display where I can watch it and see how it does.
 
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That's cool. I enjoy little surprises like that. I have an oyster that started growing out of nowhere and it's slowly gotten bigger over the years. Been fun to watch.
That's a cute picture of your fish too!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

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2 hours ago, KimP said:

That's cool. I enjoy little surprises like that. I have an oyster that started growing out of nowhere and it's slowly gotten bigger over the years. Been fun to watch.
That's a cute picture of your fish too!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

She's eyeing it with suspicion. . .  🙂

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I bought a real camera!  Nikon D5300 with the dual lense kit (18-55 and 55-300).  Shutter count was under 3K and the lens/mirror are in perfect shape.  Came with a bag - $350.  I don't have the faintest idea what to do with it, though. . . I've only used my phone before.  Here's the first picture I took with it that I even liked:

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This is tougher and more confusing than I thought.   Well, I bought it to practice, so. . .here are some first attempts at trying to get it to a realistic color and somewhat in focus.

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Not exactly worthy of Reefkeeper Monthly but not bad for a first try.  If nothing else, at least my Vivid Rainbow Delight is starting to finally color up!  🙂

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a bit of unexplained STN/RTN appear on a colony of Battlecorals Grape Juice.  Here's what I did to attempt to save it (reposted from my R2R account):

I happened to check my tank last night with a flashlight (who doesn't?) and noticed for the first time an area at the base of a BC Grapejuice colony that had bleached with tissue recession. I'd been away for the weekend, but think I would have noticed it last time I looked, which was Thursday. Checking my parameters this morning I did have a low alk reading at 6.8, down from last Wednesday which was 7.9 dKH. I have not had any other changes to the tank physically or the water parameters.

This rock cannot be removed to dip or try to superglue.

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I managed to chip a small hole in the area where the original plug was glued down. This allowed me to force a screwdriver under and incredibly the entire colony came up intact!
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You can see the areas remaining on the colony that has tissue recession. The majority of it, however, remained behind on the rock:

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I capped the diseased and even the healthy tissue that remained encrusted on the rock with epoxy putty:

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Using a pair of scissors to fray the end of a plastic drinking straw I made a makeshift disposable super glue brush, then used it to paint over any areas on the colony with visible damage. I made sure to coat past the diseased spots about a 1/4" into healthy tissue.

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I placed it temporarily on the bottom of the tank to give the epoxy time to cure, and to be able to check the colony in a few days to ensure the RTN/STN had been effectively stopped. If I see more reappearing, I'll cut into chunky frags and put it on the rack. Otherwise I plan to mount it back in its original position.

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Edited by Sierra Bravo
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