REEF OF THE MONTH - October 2023: Victory Reef! 650 Gallons of Thriving Marine Splendor!

[IntrinsicReef]

Exquisite tank, just beautiful!

Absolutely incredible tank!

Stunning tank!

Absolutely Stunning! Thank you for the insight, its definitely a reef to strive for!

Excellent!

Thank you all so much. The support from this community is certainly something special.

 

[Lavey29]

Probably one of the best I have seen on here. Well done Gentlemen

 

[ArtisticReef]

Wow, such a beautiful tank. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[larryl]

Tank is a stunner.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Wow, such a beautiful tank. Thanks for sharing with us.

Absolutely! Thanks for sharing your tank. It looks amazing!

 

[Hanzelyclan]

I would love looking at that everyday

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I would love looking at that everyday

It is hard not to stare. I have to give it a solid "visual inspection" as soon as I walk into the room!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time to stop and make a positive comment.

Probably one of the best I have seen on here. Well done Gentlemen

Tank is a stunner.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Here are some current Apex screenshots of the system showing pH swing, temp swing, dosing and such.

 

[dieselkeeper]

Absolutely the most beautiful tank I have ever seen.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Absolutely the most beautiful tank I have ever seen.

Thank you so much. I know vertical rock structures aren't very popular right now. I'm glad to see some others appreciate it as much as we do.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Very well done, and well deserved @IntrinsicReef! I know it isn't easy keeping it all happy, and I applaud your efforts and attention to detail! Congrats to you and Dr. Franklin!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Very well done, and well deserved @IntrinsicReef! I know it isn't easy keeping it all happy, and I applaud your efforts and attention to detail! Congrats to you and Dr. Franklin!

I really appreciate it. Thank you and @Slocke for the nomination. Also, congratulations on hitting 1000 subscribers on your YouTube channel. That is not easy in our niche hobby. I hope it continues to grow.

 

[BillyF]

I think this is a fabulous reef tank that anyone should be very proud of. Congrats to both of you!

I do have to be a stickler and question the accuracy of this statement by Wes:

“The ocean has vast amounts of water to constantly replace minerals in water around the corals. The corals use these carbonates quickly in our small water volumes, and we get wide pH swings as a result.”

I don’t think consumption of alkalinity has much if anything to do with why we get pH swings. It’s variable amounts of CO2. Many folks tightly control alk and still get pH swings.

I think it took me a while to truly appreciate the concept of alkalinity. CO2 may be a precipitant for pH change but alkalinity really serves as the capacity to buffer those changes effectively maintaining a sufficiently alkaline pH for healthy corals. When we finally decided to use Kalkwasser in addition to a 2 part buffering solution in combination with the Ca reactor is when our growth truly took off. For whatever reason our huge and complicated setup kept the pH too low with just the buffering solution and Chaeto reactor.
I do want to express my thanks for all the lovely commentary.

 

[BillyF]

I think it took me a while to truly appreciate the concept of alkalinity. CO2 may be a precipitant for pH change but alkalinity really serves as the capacity to buffer those changes- effectively maintaining a sufficiently alkaline pH for healthy corals. When we finally decided to use Kalkwasser in addition to a 2 part buffering solution in combination with the Ca reactor is when our growth truly took off. For whatever reason our huge and complicated setup kept the pH too low with just the buffering solution and Chaeto reactor.
I do want to express my thanks for all the lovely commentary(owner of Victory Reef).

 

[bakbay]

Here are some current Apex screenshots of the system showing pH swing, temp swing, dosing and such.

Amazing tank and congrats to you and Dr. Franklin! I absolutely love the dimension of the tank since I have a smaller 150g (3x3x2) of this. However, at 48” tall — I’m curious on how you do maintenance / pruning on the bottom of the tank?

Btw: my pH swing is similar (avg 8.3) but using CO2 scrubber instead of Kalk & 2-part.

 

[Slocke]

I really appreciate it. Thank you and @Slocke for the nomination. Also, congratulations on hitting 1000 subscribers on your YouTube channel. That is not easy in our niche hobby. I hope it continues to grow.

No problem
You fully deserve the award!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I think it took me a while to truly appreciate the concept of alkalinity. CO2 may be a precipitant for pH change but alkalinity really serves as the capacity to buffer those changes effectively maintaining a sufficiently alkaline pH for healthy corals. When we finally decided to use Kalkwasser in addition to a 2 part buffering solution in combination with the Ca reactor is when our growth truly took off. For whatever reason our huge and complicated setup kept the pH too low with just the buffering solution and Chaeto reactor.
I do want to express my thanks for all the lovely commentary.

Absolutely. It's easy to see why Kalkwasser use is making such a comeback in the hobby. Such an amazing tool for counteracting the acidifying biological processes that happen in our aquariums.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Amazing tank and congrats to you and Dr. Franklin! I absolutely love the dimension of the tank since I have a smaller 150g (3x3x2) of this. However, at 48” tall — I’m curious on how you do maintenance / pruning on the bottom of the tank?

Btw: my pH swing is similar (avg 8.3) but using CO2 scrubber instead of Kalk & 2-part.

@bakbay Pikstik grabbers are in constant use on the tank. If I have something that needs a bit more force, I use some various long handled gardening tools. There is a tool made for popping weeds out of the ground without bending over that is very useful if I need to pry something off the rock, or do some trimming.

 

[ukgeoff]

Cheers, and many thanks for taking the time to explain your tank setup. Seeing how successful reefers run tanks is always interesting, and you have a fantastic tank - well done on all that hard work!