Sierra Bravo

Regarding the chaeto light question, the light you linked has the proper spectrum. I'd leave it on 24hrs a day to encourage rapid growth. When you get on top of the algae problem run it opposite of your lights to help balance pH throughout the day/night. Having chaeto to out-compete nuisance algae is widely recommended (I pull a half-bucket's worth out of my sump every two weeks), but I don't know how well it works in a small space like your AIO. The algae may be blue-green cyanobacteria. Other things to look at would be TDS of your RODI, amount you're feeding (may have zero levels because of the algae itself), light schedule and spectrum, any new rock added, flow. . .same things you'd consider for a red cyano outbreak.

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.

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.

Odd that you are dealing with red cyano on the sand on one side and green on the other. Why do you think that is? (No judging here, by the way. I'm dealing with green outbreaks myself from my PO4 shooting up with extra feeding for the anthias)

Good deal!

Try Pod Your Reef. He's local (Selma) and supplies all the LFS here in San Antonio. $20 a bag and a good quantity of pods. I don't know if he supplies the Austin stores, but he does sell online as well. https://www.podyourreef.com/

I'd be grateful. Thanks.

We're all anal-retentive and stricken with OCD. 😛 I don't know if I'm going to do a second thread here or not. I cross post on here and R2R for my main tank and trying to do four separate threads doesn't sound all that appealing. Now that I know we have similar tanks and start dates it might be fun to do one, though. Here is a link to the one I started over there if you want to see the initial setup: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sierra_bravos-waterbox-cube-10-office-nano-adventure.537788/

Very nice. I just set up a Waterbox 10 in my office this past weekend. Following along. Welcome to ARC, by the way!

I made a lengthy post on Reef 2 Reef documenting my visit to the new Frost Science Gulf Stream Aquarium. It was very impressive and absolutely beautiful. Rather than trying to recreate it here, I'll leave a link to the post in case anyone wants to review it. Lots of pics and a couple videos. Highly recommend visiting the facility! https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/frost-science-gulf-stream-aquarium-visit-pic-intense.536191/

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.

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?)+

WOW! 😍 Great pics!

😃 He isn't thrilled with anything I've ever put in there. He's backed off already.

Tyree True Undata vs. WWC Grafted Sunfire monti: Undata wins!

Beautiful!

Native Floridian here. Grew up in Ocala; spent a large portion of my adult life in South Florida. We're headed to Pembroke Pines.

Quick - frag and sell it as a unique white/red hybrid of some sort before it gets worse. Oh, and stop leaving town. Anecdotal evidence clearly indicates your lack of presence having a negative effect on the tank. Your corals are literally dying to be with you. 🙄 Can't you sell Amway or something else home-based? 😀 Seriously, though - hope it gets better soon.

Very cool - looking forward to what you can do with your lens! A decent camera and lens are on my short list for this upcoming year.

Welcome back!

I don't have a valid scientific reason. I was under the impression that the more coralline that was dissolved the acidity of the solution was lowered and therefore it's effectiveness. It may have been in my head, but when I reused the same bucket of solution it's seemed to take longer to scrub it off if left for the same period. I may be completely off target with that logic. As inexpensive as vinegar is, since I'm only using a few cups per bucket as opposed to straight vinegar it wasn't that big of a deal to use fresh.

One to two cups of vinegar in the bucket turns it into a mushy sludge that can be brushed off with almost no effort. It also loosens any film algae on the blades of the rotors. The only bad thing about cleaning the gyres to me is trying to remove that spoked motor bushing that holds the magnetic shaft. I have a difficult time with that part. I don't seem to get much for buildup in there anyway. One tip - when you put the gyre in the bucket make sure the flow side is pointing towards the bottom of the bucket and not up. 🙂 I just let it run its normal flow pattern so the other one still in the tank continues to provide water movement.

I get a lot of coralline buildup on both my gyres and my traditional style powerheads. All I do is fill a 5-gallon bucket with warm water and white vinegar and drop one in the bucket while the other stays in the tank. 4-5 hour later I disassemble the cages and rotors and take a toothbrush to them and rinse. Takes 15 min. Then I repeat for the other side with a fresh bucket of solution. Once every six months or so I pull the shaft (which is a pain in the rear-end) and clean inside. I'm not sure what you guys are referring to as bearings. A gyre has four bushings to hold the rotors in place. . . is that what you mean? Maybe I'm missing something that I should be doing?

We're leaving back to South Florida for two weeks for Christmas and I'm dreading the potential issues. The corals other than the Red Dragon and SSC look really good. You've had a lot of issues thrown at that tank in the last six months: power outage, alk problems, lighting changes, algae outbreak and treatment. . .seems like it could use a couple months of stability and a chance for everything to just catch a breather. All things considered, probably could have been much worse. I bet a lot of tanks would not have made it through all that without a complete crash.

Video update - bimacs are finally in the DT.