Sierra Bravo

Oh - I didn't see Colin's revision.  I'll take a pass on both then.  The Pearlberry is what I really needed.  Thanks anyway.

If you ever have another chunky piece available, let me know.

Holy smokes Juice - when you "trim the tank" you don't screw around.

Rack 1:  19

Rack 2:  10

Engineer in the making! 

Upload your photos to a site like Imgur, then use the  "Insert other Media/Insert image from a URL" option to link them.

I fed Reef Roids to the tank about an hour after lights off and got the flashlight out to watch. Looked like I had some type of shrimp hatch as well.  I think the tank at night is almost as interesting as during the day.

Congrats!  Nice to hear you feeling positive about the tank.  So much room to work with now compared to the last time I had seen it - going to be a rebirth: Maroon Lagoon  Version 3.0.

Now, if someone would just finally buy that setosa/red dragon piece. . .    😃

And my wife says I don't know how to shop. . .   😀

Edit:  They removed it from sale.

On sale 40% off for $32.99.  Then use coupon code UR20DEAL for another 20% off.  And free shipping!

https://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4856

35 minutes ago, Woods said:

o0arkaater always owes me for my marketing!  😉

 

How much were they asking in SA LFS?

 

I didn't even ask.  They look nice but I'm not buying - I had a Sherman that I sold recently to make more room for sticks.

Spoke to one of the mods on R2R that is their anthias expert.  He said eight should not be an issue for me.  We'll see - have to get them all through QT first.

2 minutes ago, Woods said:

We have as good if not better Rainbow nems locally here in Austin and cheaper....   Ozarka has some original Pham Rainbows for $45.  You can't beat that quality for that price!  

Out of curiosity, is o0zarkawater paying you a commission or flat fee for marketing his goods? 😋   He could have used your help when he was trying forever to move his Kessils. 😀

Without a doubt I would say you absolutely have a much better chance finding a nem in Austin than San Antonio, which is what made seeing those two kinda special.   Since our MAAST forum in San Antonio is all but defunct several people down here participate in/lurk ARC instead.  If you aren't posting on Facebook there is no where else to go.

47 minutes ago, Cdklos said:

Your gonna put all those guys in a 120? Looks like 7?

 

Actually eight.  Well, here's the story:  I've been waiting on bimacs from a wholesaler since May, and that deal finally fell through permanently.  I bought five from Aquadome, which was my target number.  When I bought them, three were known to have swim bladder issues and we're swimming head down.  I got them basically for next to nothing to try to get them back to health.  One perished within a few days.

Almost the same time, bimacs became available online and on sale.  I bought three more as back ups, expecting the other two to die as well.  I was sent four instead.  On top of that, I vented the bladders on the two remaining bimacs that had issues and they've recovered surprisingly well.

So long story short; wanted five, ended up with eight.  If they all stay healthy, yes, I'll put in all eight.  I've got a tank that I dose nitrates and phosphates in twice a week in order to register them on a Hanna.  This despite feeding heavily four times per day.  I think the tank will take the additional bio load with no issue and I can stop dosing.

Anyone think otherwise?  I'm always open to opinions and suggestions from those that have had the experience.

Current inhabitants:

• Purple tang
• White tailed bristletooth tang
• Swallowtail angel
• Two 3" chromis
• Mystery wrasse
• Yellow watchman goby
• 2 greenbanded gobies
• 1 Rudy red scooter dragonet

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have had these bimacs in QT for two weeks now and so far so good. 

Most people consider them to be beneficial to the system.  Here's a brief little article about them:  http://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/the-bristle-worm/

Bristleworm populations are self-regulating based on available food.  If you are being overrun by bristle worms you probably have too much leftover food and detritus in your system from overfeeding and not cleaning frequently enough, which could be leading to other problems as well.  What are your water parameters?  Do you have any cleanup crew?

You don't have to worry about them killing your fish - they won't.  As far as removal, there are bristle traps available online, but the number one control would reduce what they have available to feed themselves.

5 hours ago, Reefpuck said:

That in San Antonio? 

Yes.  Northside - 281 south of 1604.

I have no idea if these are a "named" variety of bubble tips or not, but they were absolutely beautiful.  Larger one is about 6-7" across.

For the office:

Here's a schedule based on changing 1 gallon a day.

It's probably been creeping up to that higher level for some time then.  I'd follow that water change schedule over the next three days and get it back slowly to where you want it.

In case your refractometer checks out and is correct, here's a water change schedule to get it back to 1.025.  (Calculator address:  https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/TargetSalinity.php )

Important:  Before you do anything you need to figure out how it got up to 1.028 to begin with.

130 gallons is 2080 cups.  The 12 cups you replaced is only about 1/2 of a percent of the volume - you aren't even making a dent.

4 hours ago, Good Greef said:

Hang in there man. It definitely can get discouraging when you spend so much $$ and energy, doing what it takes to keep your tank and parameters at "optimal level."

I am just about to hit my 1 yr mark and ive already lost as many or more corals than that. Some were my fault 100%, some it was probably 0% my fault.

Alk spike is the most common issue I heard too. Then lack of nutrients. Then too aggressively using GAC and GFO. After eliminating those on my last additions, some still suffer. 

So LED burn is the only thing beside some metal/element contamination that I guess can be causing your situation. I cant figure out my own either, so don't trust me lol!!!!

I appreciate the comments.  Thankfully everything seems to have stabilized now and with my next trip away from the tank not being until Christmas I can monitor for issues.  Thanks to Ty and Maruf I've been able to replace a few of the corals that were lost and one I thought was definitely a goner is recovering nicely. 

4 hours ago, Dominican said:

Right!?

Speaking of salt..

I use IO. Not sure what you use. Do you find that the ratio of salt to water, all amounts being equal from mix to mix, always yields the same salinity? I find it takes more and more salt to achieve 1.026. Sometimes I just feel like I'm being swindled, but suspect it might have to do with humidity getting into the salt.. I dunno. Maybe it's my imagination.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

I use IO regular.  I can't say that I've ever noticed any discernable difference from batch to batch. 

By the way, if anyone is like me and sometimes needs to add additional water to an existing saltwater storage tank, or needs to adjust the salinity to the correct amount after initially adding salt, this calculator is great (in fact there are a number of useful calculators on this site):  https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/DirectSaltCalculator.php

Good article.  10 tons of Instant Ocean in an 88,000 tank. . . mixed in hours.  I think it's a pain to dump 10 cups in a 25 gallon water container. 😋