Sierra Bravo

That's what made this worthy to post, in my opinion. This LFS at least making an effort and if I hadn't walked in there I would not have known.

I wanted to give a little recognition to Elegant Reef in San Antonio. Louis has greatly improved his selection of frags at the store and he has some really nice pieces for sale. The store is looking better than I've ever seen.

How many years have you grown that piece?

Reefpuck: FYI - I answered you last night in your post on R2R.

I had seen that and read a brief blurb about it somewhere recently. I don't know if I'd call it collaboration, however. There are multiple polyps all in the process of eating the jellyfish, sure, but I don't know how much of a collaborative effort it is other than the jellyfish touched the tentacles of other polyps. Now if some of the adjoining ones stretched over of their own accord and attached themselves as a response to the other polyps trying to hold the jellyfish. . . I would say that would qualify. P.S. - Re-read this. . . to be clear I'm not disputing Timfish directly; that's the word they used in the article and video description.

Welcome to ARC!

It's definitely a personal preference. I know when I was first planning I looked at a lot of tanks and was always drawn to those that were colorful but still used a whiter or more natural spectrum. Since I was starting from scratch I made my purchases based on that preference. If it didn't look good under white I didn't buy it. Still, I do let my tank go to heavy blue/actinic for an hour or so before lights out so I can marvel at the florescence. Any more than that is too much for me; it reminds me of looking at the old black light posters from the 70's. There are enough coral choices out there to be selective in whichever aesthetic you prefer or to have a mixture. Ty's post on R2R and vendors that show both spectrums on their websites benefit everyone.

Update A side effect on adding the swallowtail angel: Even though she is of the Genicanthus genus of angels, which are planktivores and one of the few "reef safe" angels, I noticed that within a week of putting her in there I've had a large reduction in my polyp extension during the day. I watch her and have never seen her pick at any of the corals. It's as if the tank knows that there is some type of angel present. Some frags I picked up from Ty the last time I was over admiring his tank. Top to bottom: Farmer Ty Eternal Flame shortcake (colors dulled a bit in my system - waiting for the pink to come back), Farmer Ty Ectoplasm (this one is going to be nice) and a Farmer Ty Blue Lemonade. Very nice frags. A couple more to share: Top left is a frag from a wild acro I received from Boom Corals. Top right is an unknown I picked up at an LFS that looked like it would color up nicely. Fraghouse Corals Purple Bonsai which looks more amazing every week: And I couldn't help myself - I bought a male Ruby Red Dragonette and have him in QT. I put a ball of chaeto in with him to supply some food and am also feeding him tisbee pods. I'm not overly concerned about getting him to eat frozen because my display tank is loaded with pods when he's finally introduced. Finally, I guess out of all those cerith snail eggs a few make it. Seen this little guy this morning:

I was getting salt collecting around the top of my mixing tank. Found this wide funnel online: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XWV9SC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am not alone this late hour, apparently - I'm changing my water so I don't have to do it in the morning.

You ever buy a frag at a local LFS or hobbyist because it looks like a winner, only to come home put it in your tank and realize you already have it? I was at Elegant Reef and they had a number of nice frags someone had traded in. One caught my eye - it had some very strong hints of what looked like a reddish overall hue and dark red polyps under their lighting. They're expensive @ $45, but hey, they never have nice frags and this one looks. . . special. Got it home, dipped and popped it on a new plug and into my rack. After a few days of acclimation and being under my lights - this thing is starting to look a lot like like a PC Rainbow. . . which I already have. Two days more and it starts to encrust green at the base - yep, PC Rainbow! 😮

As an added bonus, if you order in the next ten minutes. . . each ball of chaeto comes with a lifetime supply of FREE PODS! I wouldn't charge anyone, either. It just ends up in the trash can when I trim it back.

Where do you live? I have chaeto but I'm in San Antonio.

I'm listening to them now via Spotify on my work computer. 😎

Same here; very happy with the frag and it was great to meet mhart and Juiceman. Especially cool to listen to Juiceman and the rest of the band play while we had brunch at Bangers. Worth the trip up for sure!

Well, crap. Backroads it is. Usually, I'd go 281/290; how much more time does it add to cut through Wimberly on the way back? I could do that and stop by with a frag if you guys can get it to me somehow when I meet Juiceman.

Wait. . . wut? I35 is going to be closed?

I don't know if you could work this out with all parties, but I'm headed to Austin to pick up a frag from Juiceman tomorrow morning at Bangers. I won't have time to go all the way to Gig's house, but If you guys can figure out a way to get it to me I'd be happy to transport it back for you.

Those close-ups. . . wow!

I use the small pellets with mine. I mix the Marine S with the Seaweed Extreme 2:1 so when it feeds they're getting a mix. My two tangs are still fairly small though: 3.5" for my white tail and 4" for my purple.

I'll defer to the folks with much longer experience in the game than I have since I'm rather limited in my knowledge. Interesting stuff; I have used that reference starting out as has many thousands of others and took it as dogma. Always learning.

Welcome back. Glad nothing really major occurred while you were away.

Also: I've tried frozen in the IM gourmet frozen feeder pictured below and would not recommended. It leaves a lot of food residue and won't handle Rod's or LRS.

I also use the Eheim feeder and feeding station, feeding Hikari Marine S mixed with Hikari Seaweed Extreme three times daily. Reliable and programmable to deliver different amounts up to four feedings per day.

I would agree with ShawnM in that water changes would be the first thing to try. I do, however, think there is a difference between chasing numbers and keeping your water in a range that is healthy for the animals that live in your tank.