Victory Reef 600 Gallon SPS Dominant 4.5 years Growth

I want to share the reef I have maintained for the last 6 years.
It was selected as R2R Reef of the Month for Oct '23 Thread 'REEF OF THE MONTH - October 2023: Victory Reef! 650 Gallons of Thriving Marine Splendor!' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/r...-gallons-of-thriving-marine-splendor.1014060/
It was also featured in Reef Hobbyist Magazine. There are specs and stories of the tank in the article here:
https://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/
I have had a few people ask if I had a build thread, so here I go..The display is 54"x54"x48"T. It is essentially a big cube with 4 viewing panels in 4 different rooms.
Current Picture:

We completely stripped down and sanded the acrylic tank 4.5 years ago. The aquascape is Real Reef rock that I free stacked in a volcano shape around the 4ft tall center overflow. There are two pvc vertical columns with horizontal arms that I mounted drilled Real reef and some Marco rock on. A diamond bit was necessary to avoid breaking the rock.

A 600 gallon RO/DI water storage tank is outside and was used to fill the aquarium and for water changes.
Equipment list and parameters:

Unique Tank Size: 54"x 54"x 48"T
Lighting: 8 Ecotech Radion XR30 Pro, 2 Kessil A500x, 2 Kessil Ap700, 3 Kessil A160 Tuna Blue for vertical rock columns


Filtration:
Deltec 6000 series protein skimmer,
Pax Bellum Chaeto Reactor,
JBJ 1HP commercial chiller,
Aqua UV 120 watt UV sterilizer,
Vectra L2 return x2,
Deltec Kalkwasser Stirrer,
Deltec Calcium Reactor
PhosBan 550 w/ high capacity Ferric Oxide,
Neptune Apex system with Dos
Foam and media chamber,
Live rock chamber,
Refugium with Caulerpa,
4 EcoTech Vortech Mp60s, 2 Maxspect Gyre XF280s, and 3 Neptune Wavs

10% weekly water changes with Reef Crystals.
I dose soda ash, calcium chloride, Reef energy AB, Red Sea trace colors. Bulk Reef Supply Kalkwasser for all top off water. ICP tests are sent to ATI, and corrected with their elements.
Aim for 450 calcium and 9dkh. Phosphate between .03 and .08ppm. I dose Pax Bellum Nitrogen to around 5-10ppm, and Iron to feed the Chaeto reactor. Reef Roids and Polyp Booster are fed once a week.
Keeping pH above 8 has been crucial for the Acro growth and color. The pH swing is 8.2 at night to 8.3 during the day

Bedroom View:

Fish list:
Achilles Tang "Acanthurus achilles"
Scopas Tang "Zebrasoma scopas"
Tomini Bristletooth Tang "Ctenochaetus tominiensis"
Spot cheeked Surgeonfish "Acanthurus nigrofuscus"
Heniochus Butterflyfish "Heniochus acuminatus"
Potter's Angelfish "Centropyge potteri"
Golden Dwarf Angelfish "Centropyge aurantia"
Marble Wrasse "Halichoeres hortulanus"
Dusky Wrasse "Halichoeres annularis"
Melanarus Wrasse " Halichoeres melanurus"
6 Line Wrasse " Pseudocheilinus hexataenia"
Ignitus Anthias "Pseudanthias ignitus"
Blotchy anthias "Odontanthias borbonius"
Maroon Clownfish "Premnas biaculeatus"
Mandarin Dragonet "Synchiropus splendidus
Red Mandarin Dragonet "Synchiropus splendidus cf."
Sleeper Goby "Valenciennea strigata"
Purple Dottyback "Pictichromis porphyrea

Coral Genera:
Acropora, Montipora, Seriotopora, Stylophora, Pocillopora, Pavona, Stylocoeniella, Porites, Psammocora, Cyphastrea, Leptoseris, Turbinaria Duncanopsammia, Goniopora, Bernardpora, Euphyllia, Echin
ophyllia, Mycedium, Leptastrea, Favia, Acanthastrea, Caulastraea, Lobophytum, Zoanthus, Palythoa, Sinularia, Anthelia, Rhodactis, Gorgonians

Let me know what pics and other info y'all would like to see!
Growth pics over the years:

Videos of the aquarium over the years: Aquarium Videos by Intrinsic Reef Design in Austin, Tx

 

[748S911]

what kind of lights are on this coral jungle?

 

[IntrinsicReef]

what kind of lights are on this coral jungle?

Lighting: 8 Ecotech Radion XR30 Pro, 2 Kessil A500x, 2 Kessil Ap700, 3 Kessil A160 Tuna Blue for vertical rock columns

Radions are 4 Gen 4 and 4 Gen 5

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Some pictures with the lights in view

 

[IntrinsicReef]

A walk up view of the tank showing some size scale.

 

[lubeck]

Incredible. Can the bigger fish access the backside or do they usually stay out front.

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

That’s a tank of the month

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Incredible. Can the bigger fish access the backside or do they usually stay out front.

Yes. They can swim around the center column of coral. The other side is the bedroom. In this video it cuts between the living room and bedroom side ( bedroom is lit more blue in video.)
And here is a view from the patio side

 

[A_CoupleClowns]

We have actually tried to add some fish to the original "gang" without success. The Achilles is a murderer with limitless energy. I ( and the owner) prefer a lightly stocked tank to the aggression and disease potential of adding new fish. So we stopped.

Have you tried the @vetteguy53081 trick of adding the new fish and immediately going into a lights out/blackout (tape newspaper over the glass) for the rest of the day? The next day turn the lights on slowly while offering food (nori etc). Do some nori clipped in 2-3 different spots to alleviate traffic to the clip.

Few newcomers blew in with the “storm” but everyone is hungry instead of obsessed with destruction.

By the way this tank is phenomenal, great job with design, setup and maintenance. Real reefer

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Have you tried the @vetteguy53081 trick of adding the new fish and immediately going into a lights out/blackout (tape newspaper over the glass) for the rest of the day? The next day turn the lights on slowly while offering food (nori etc). Do some nori clipped in 2-3 different spots to alleviate traffic to the clip.

Few newcomers blew in with the “storm” but everyone is hungry instead of obsessed with destruction.

By the way this tank is phenomenal, great job with design, setup and maintenance. Real reefer

I relied on the 24 hr "lights out"acclimation for years. I still turn the lights out while floating bags and releasing fish. I have found the mirror trick has worked better for me the last few years. I tape a mirror to the front glass shortly before releasing fish and leave it for a few days. This gives the new fish time to integrate into the group while keeping the aggressive fish busy and tired from fighting their reflection.