REEF OF THE MONTH - July 2023: Alex Costa's Amazing Rebirth Reef!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Very nice!

 

[Alex Costa]

One of the secrets to this aquarium is Alex's tranquility.
His extended stay in Tibet when he was young shaped him into a sweet, minimalist, and resilient aquarist with enviable patience.
This aquarium is the epitome of Alex's abilities as an aquarist, and an epilogue to his previous tanks.
The recognition is deserved not only for the outcome but also for the person Alex is and his skills.

I have only one thing to say to you, my friend: Namaste!
But I need to correct you about a thing: I'm not only a sweet, minimalist, and resilient aquarist.
I'm a sweet, minimalist, and resilient PERSON!

PS1.: You need to come over to have a beer.
PS2.: My next tank is already named as: TRANQUILITY........which stands to........myself.....lol

 

[SunnyX]

Congratulations and well deserved!

Your setup, this and the ones in the past, have always been well thought out and beautiful. The artistry and placement of the corals is fantastic. In this hobby, less is more and you have shown that here with the use of negative space variety of colors. I agree 100% with your sentiment of not chasing numbers. Set the system up, do it right from the start and let nature do its work.

Thanks for sharing your setup and philosophy with us. You're a reef master.

-Sonny

 

[rusgum]

I congratulate. Very beautiful

 

[revhtree]

Thank you so much for sharing this most excellent example of reef tank to inspire us all!

 

[Alex Costa]

Very nice!

Thanks Randy!

Congratulations and well deserved!

Your setup, this and the ones in the past, have always been well thought out and beautiful. The artistry and placement of the corals is fantastic. In this hobby, less is more and you have shown that here with the use of negative space variety of colors. I agree 100% with your sentiment of not chasing numbers. Set the system up, do it right from the start and let nature do its work.

Thanks for sharing your setup and philosophy with us. You're a reef master.

-Sonny

Sonny, it means a lot to me to hear it from you, that was a great influence in the way that I kept reef aquariums over the years.
Thank you very much mate!!!!!!

I congratulate. Very beautiful

Thanks!

Thank you so much for sharing this most excellent example of reef tank to inspire us all!

Thanks Rev....it's a pleasure....

 

[chipchipbro]

Awesome tank! Im deeply impressed and have lots of respect.
Fantastic photography aswell. This is art!

 

[Alex Costa]

Awesome tank! Im deeply impressed and have lots of respect.
Fantastic photography aswell. This is art!

Thanks mate!

 

[WhyMe?]

Can you post any pics of your sump area or filtration area where skimmer and Ca Reactor are? Beautiful!

 

[Alex Costa]

Can you post any pics of your sump area or filtration area where skimmer and Ca Reactor are? Beautiful!

Of course.
Here it is:

 

[WhyMe?]

nice, thank you. Are you running your carbone/phosphate reactors 24/7? I am having issue running GFO and phosphate bottoming out, how are you keeping your phosphate from reaching 0 if running reactors? Also, do you think the Carbon filtration is taking away trace elements?

 

[Lavey29]

Beautiful display, probably one of the very best I've seen on here and excellent photography also. Thanks for sharing your reef and hobby knowledge.

 

[Peace River]

Beautiful tank, amazing pictures, and another great write up!

 

[Alex Costa]

nice, thank you. Are you running your carbone/phosphate reactors 24/7? I am having issue running GFO and phosphate bottoming out, how are you keeping your phosphate from reaching 0 if running reactors? Also, do you think the Carbon filtration is taking away trace elements?

The GAC reactor runs 24/7 and yes, Carbon can adsorve micro elements among other stuff.
The GFO also runs 24/7, but I only fill it when it's necessary. When the PO4 level is under 0.04, I keep the reactor empty.
To avoid the level hits 0,0 you need to balance the input/output of PO4. In systems were the input is small, small amounts of GFO must be used. There's no rule. You need to know your system.

 

[Alex Costa]

Beautiful display, probably one of the very best I've seen on here and excellent photography also. Thanks for sharing your reef and hobby knowledge.

Beautiful tank, amazing pictures, and another great write up!

Thanks!
I really appreciate!

 

[Lowsingle]

Beautiful tank! A real inspiration…..

Darren

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Absolutely amazing looking tank!

 

[aabjones888]

Beautiful

 

[Capt_BigIron]

Congratulations on a very long and successful run. You have so much to be proud of.

 

[RKeenan]

Such a beautiful tank!