RR The Vinh

RR The Vinh is a named Acropora strain from Reef Raft, carried in the master strain queue with a one-line description: named collector tenuis. The RR prefix names the farm line. Keeper records shorten the name to The Vinh, sale lists print it as RR the Vinh, and one care database carries it as The Vinh JR, a suffix no source read for this entry explains. The queue files the strain as an Acropora sp., and this entry keeps that filing: the tenuis association comes from the queue line and hobby usage, and no vendor, farm, or expert source read here assigns the strain a species name.

No origin or release account for this strain was found in the sources read. There is no Reef Raft product page in search, no release announcement, and no dated first-sale record from the farm. The strain's documented history runs through keeper hands and retailer live sales: a keeper-seller's price list in December 2020, an experienced keeper's recommendation group in January 2022, TCK and Fraghouse live-sale listings, and collection lists in large SPS systems. One long-running keeper calls it "the ol school RR The Vinh" in his 300-gallon build thread, which places the strain in the hobby's memory as an established piece rather than a recent release — a keeper's characterisation, recorded at that weight, and the closest thing to an age record the sources offer.

The colour record is a single care-database line plus keeper impressions. TankFacts, carrying the strain as The Vinh JR, describes it as predominantly blue green with a white undertone and purple polyps. That is the only written colour description found in any source. Keeper text adds character without adding hues: Andre's build thread says a video of his piece fails to show the real fluorescence in its vibrant colour, and jda includes the real RR piece in a group he recommends for colourful results. A keeper judging a frag of this strain has the TankFacts line, the seller's photograph, and the lineage to go on, and should judge the settled coral against the blue-green and purple reading rather than against any richer description this entry could offer.

The hardiness record is this entry's distinguishing evidence, and it comes from three independent keepers. Velcro, answering a Reef2Reef thread asking for the hardiest Acropora in the hobby, names five corals that lived through all of his mysterious slow-tissue-necrosis deaths — SC Orange Passion, RR The Vinh, JF Solar Flare, PC Rainbow, and PC Superman — and The Vinh is on that survivor list. jda, an experienced keeper rebuilding a 240-gallon Acropora system, groups his real RR The Vinh with a small set of acropora he would recommend to most people who want colourful pieces that stay within a budget and behave tolerantly. Fishy888, who describes himself as an acro novice in his build thread, watched his RR The Vinh show its best polyp extension yet during a stretch when his nitrate measured near 60 ppm and his GARF Bonsai was receding. The genus record still frames Acropora as sensitive and stability-demanding, and this entry keeps that framing for care. The keeper record says this named strain has repeatedly behaved at the forgiving end of its genus, and the field notes carry each account at its own weight.

The growth record is thin and points at patience. Fishy888's build thread follows his frag across a December-to-January comparison: the coral still looked good and had shown strong polyp extension after he moved it into more light and flow, and it still had not begun to encrust while two neighbouring acros were encrusting. The tenuis-group record expects a settling period in a new system, with growth commonly appearing stagnant for the first 3–6 months. No source read gives a growth rate, a doubling time, or a colony-size ceiling for this strain, and the entry claims none. Wip's December 2020 list offers a "small colony" size tier for the strain at $80 beside his medium frag at $20, which documents colony-size pieces circulating in keeper hands without sizing them further.

Care follows the Acropora standard, in the tenuis group's version of it, with the strain's tolerance record kept in view. Top Shelf Aquatics frames the genus as the centerpiece group of advanced systems and Acropora as among the most sensitive corals in the hobby, with stability as the standing condition. TankFacts asks for a mature tank for this strain and warns that sudden change can lead to stress and death, which agrees with the genus framing. A keeper should bring a settled SPS system and stable alkalinity above all. The three hardiness accounts suggest the strain forgives more than the genus average once settled; they describe survival and polyp extension under imperfect conditions, and none of them describes thriving colour or fast growth under those conditions, so the entry presents tolerance as resilience rather than as a licence to skip the standard.

Water chemistry follows the standard reef shape, with the group and care-database tables recorded beside it. Reef To Go's standard parameters suit the strain's base: temperature 77–79 °F, salinity near 35 ppt (about 1.024–1.026), alkalinity 8–10 dKH held steady, calcium 400–450 ppm. The vendor group record read for this entry gives calcium 420–440 ppm, alkalinity 8–9.5 dKH, magnesium 1,300–1,450 ppm, nitrate under 10 ppm, phosphate under 0.10 ppm, temperature 75–80 °F, salinity 1.025–1.026, and pH 8.1–8.4. The TankFacts header table for this strain gives temperature 76–80 °F, pH 7.8–8.4, nitrate 1–20 ppm, phosphate 0.01–0.1 ppm, calcium 380–450 ppm, alkalinity 8–12 dKH, magnesium 1,200–1,400 ppm, and salinity 1.023–1.026; its About text gives a second table (calcium 400–450 ppm, alkalinity 3.2–4.5 MEQ/L, roughly 9.0–12.6 dKH, magnesium 1,350–1,500, temperature 72–78 °F, salinity 1.024–1.025, phosphate listed as zero), and the two tables disagree with each other in the same pattern this program recorded on the WWC Grizzly Adams TankFacts page, so both are carried at care-database weight. The keeper tank records sit at their own weights: jda keeps his alkalinity around 7, wandering between 6 and 7.4, with phosphate at 1–3 ppb on a Hanna ultra-low checker, in the system where his real RR The Vinh grows; Fishy888's nitrate near 60 ppm is a condition his coral tolerated, recorded as tolerance evidence rather than as a target.

Light follows the group record: 200+ PAR for vibrant colour, whiter light encouraging faster growth at less vivid colour, deep blue enhancing colour at slower growth, and a gradual 2–3 week climb at acclimation. TankFacts asks for moderate to intense lighting for this strain and names low light as a stress condition. No keeper record read this run reports PAR at this coral, and the entry claims the group floor while recording the absence of a strain PAR window plainly.

Flow follows the group record: strong, variable, randomized flow from mixed wavemaker types, audited regularly as the branching colony grows and changes the tank's flow dynamics around itself. TankFacts asks for strong flow for this strain. The one strain-level flow observation in the keeper record is Fishy888's: a few days after a new, much stronger wavemaker went into his six-foot system — a pump he describes as able to generate 96× turnover at full blast, against roughly 40× before — a couple of his acros showed the best polyp extension he had seen from them, and his RR The Vinh was the one he named for its best extension yet in the follow-up post. That is a response record from one tank, filed at tank weight.

Feeding is a supplement with a real but secondary effect. The coral is photosynthetic first. The vendor group record feeds a phytoplankton blend alongside Benepets, Reef Roids, and various aminos, target-fed gently with pumps off for roughly 10–15 minutes, and notes that nutrient-rich feeding supplies fatty acids and amino acids that support pigmentation, with iron and iodine among the trace elements tied to colour. TankFacts recommends nano-zooplankton once a week for this strain and warns against foods too large for it to ingest, at care-database weight. Nothing in the record ties this strain's colour to a specific food product.

Placement should plan for a branching colony, not a frag. Mount the frag securely in the middle-to-upper rockwork where high light is reachable, with strong randomized flow and open room on every side. Leave the standard SPS clearance and then some horizontal patience: the group record names growth interference as a standing challenge for branching Acropora, managed by pruning and repositioning, and Fishy888's placement move — raising his Vinh into light and flow similar to his tri-colour valida, far enough from neighbours that touching was not a near-term risk — matches that plan at tank weight.

Pests and health checks carry the Acropora list. Acropora-eating flatworms and red bugs belong on the inspection checklist for any new frag, dips and quarantine are the standing entry routine, and the genus failure order applies — rapid tissue necrosis under stress or instability, bleaching under sudden light or temperature change, stability checked first and one variable changed at a time. TankFacts adds a caution about crabs other than commensal acropora crabs, at care-database weight. Velcro's survivor account cuts the other way for this strain — his RR The Vinh lived through the slow deaths that took other corals in his system, cause unstated — and it is recorded as survival testimony rather than as pest immunity, which no source claims.

Price anchors come from live sales and one keeper list, and the entry labels them that way. Fraghouse Corals' live sales carry the strain's regular-price anchors: $79 regular in the April 2025 anniversary sale (QQ12043, sold at $23.70 under the sale's 70%-off terms) and $99 regular in the September 2025 End of the Road sale (sold at $24 under that sale's discount terms). TCK Corals listed Rr The Vinh at $50 in its July blowout flash sale list and at a $28 sale price in its New Years sale list. Wip's December 2020 Reef Central list prices a medium frag (¾ in on his size codes) at $20 and a small colony at $80. The pattern across channels is a strain that once sat in the named-collector tier and now trades at budget live-sale prices, which matches jda's 2022 framing of the piece as colourful value. No standing retail product page from Reef Raft or any vendor was found, and prices for other RR strains that share these sale lists belong to those corals and are excluded here.

Field notes — what keepers report

- The survivor record is Velcro's post in the Reef2Reef thread "Hardiest Acropora In The Hobby" (thread published June 2018), read in full. His whole list is one sentence: SC orange passion, RR the vinh, JF solar flare, PC rainbow and PC superman are the ones that live through all of his mysterious STN slow deaths. The record carries no parameters, no timeline, and no cause for the deaths the five corals survived. Its weight is the company the strain keeps — two of the other four names (SC Orange Passion, PC Rainbow) are established hardy collector pieces in this database's own staged record — and the plain fact that a keeper answering a hardiest-acro question reached for this strain by name.

- The recommendation record is jda's "240g Acropora Rebuild" thread on Reef2Reef (page 13, posts dated January 14, 2022), read in full. Posting underwater-case photos, he writes: "This is a group of acropora that I would recommend to most who want colorful stuff that does not wreck your budget and that are pretty tolerant." The group is his RR The Vihn [sic], Greg Carroll Ultimate Stag, Copps Blueberry Miyagi Tort, and AV99 Orange Crush. On The Vinh itself he adds the lineage warning this entry is built around: "This one is the real RR one, but there are other flavors/names that are nice too." His tank record on the same page is filed at tank weight: alkalinity around 7, wandering down to 6 and up to 7.2–7.4, phosphate 1–3 ppb on a Hanna Ultra Low checker, metal-halide lighting across eight HQI fixtures. In the same sequence he photographs Gonzo's Cookie Monster as a similar type and calls it the best of these types for his eyes — a comparison piece, recorded as a separate coral.

- The novice record is Fishy888's "Perseverance Reef" build thread on Reef2Reef (page 114, the December–January updates), read in full. The keeper calls himself an acro novice and reports his nitrate at roughly 60 ppm, with carbon dosing restarted and a series of water changes planned. Against that background: his GARF Bonsai began RTN while "my RR The Vinh has the best PE yet since I got it"; several of his other acros died in the same stretch (he attributes the losses partly to shipping stress and partly to the nitrate), while three acros including the Vinh did really well; he moved the fruity pebbles acro and the Vinh into more light and flow, at levels similar to his tri-colour valida and far enough apart to avoid touching; and his December 24 to January 26 photo comparison closes with "The vinh still hasn't begun to encrust yet but I'm pretty sure it will soon. It still looks pretty good though." The flow context is his own: the new wavemaker (an MCP-180) replaced roughly 40× turnover with a pump able to generate 96× at full blast, and the best-extension reports follow its arrival by days. Every number here is one tank's record, filed at that weight — the tolerance reading comes from the contrast inside the thread, where the same water receded a Bonsai and extended The Vinh.

- The old-school record is Andre's "Full blown 300Gallon SPS Reeftank" build thread on Reef2Reef, read in search this run. Identifying the first coral in an early video post, he writes: "The first coral in Post#18 is the ol school RR The Vinh. Video doesn't show the real fluorescence in that vibrant color." The record is brief and carries no parameters. Its value is the framing — by the time of that thread the strain already read as an old-school piece to a veteran keeper — and the fluorescence note, which supports the TankFacts colour line's liveliness without adding hues of its own.

- The collection-list records are kept together at list weight. An Orphek-featured tank's coral list (Salvador Santana's system) includes RR The Vinh in a long named-SPS roster beside RR Olympus, RR Pink Floyd, RRC Pink Cadillac, and Merlin Staff. A 400-gallon system's named list in the Reef2Reef thread "Another Miracle, My Glass Box 400 gallon…" places RR The Vinh at number 41 among POTO-heavy named pieces. Neither list gives parameters, prices, or growth notes for the strain; both show it holding a place in serious named collections.

- The price-and-channel record is read across five lists. Wip's Reef Central "High end SPS for sale" list (Livermore, updated December 2, 2020; the same list that carries this program's WWC Pink Passion ladder) prices "RR the Vinh M: $20" and a small colony at $80, on size codes that put M at ¾ in. TCK Corals' July blowout flash sale list prices "Rr The Vinh" at $50, and its New Years sale list prices "RR The Vinh" at a $28 sale figure. Fraghouse Corals' 11 Year Anniversary live sale (April 26–27, 2025) lists QQ12043 RR the Vinh at $79 regular, sold at $23.70 under the sale's straight 70%-off terms; its End of the Road live sale (September 13, 2025) lists RR the Vinh at $99 regular, sold at $24 under that sale's up-to-80%-off terms. The two Fraghouse regular prices are the strain's highest documented anchors and they arrive four to five years after Wip's list, so the ladder reads as live-sale retail holding a $79–$99 ticket while keeper and flash-sale channels clear the same strain at $20–$50.

- The name-form record is kept explicit because it decides what a searching keeper finds. The farm form is RR The Vinh (Fraghouse, TCK, Wip, and both collection lists). The bare form The Vinh appears in build threads (Fishy888 shortens to "the vinh" within a single thread). The suffixed form The Vinh JR appears only on TankFacts, whose page image is an FHC-prefixed file (FHC-The-Vinh-JR-300x300.jpg), pointing at a Fraghouse-sourced photograph; no Fraghouse listing read this run uses the JR suffix, and no source explains it. The JR form is recorded as an alias for search purposes and as the carrier of the entry's only colour description, with its unexplained suffix stated plainly rather than rationalised.

- The TankFacts record is weighed the same way this program weighed the Grizzly Adams page. Its header table and its About table disagree with each other (alkalinity 8–12 dKH in the header against 3.2–4.5 MEQ/L in the About text; magnesium 1,200–1,400 against 1,350–1,500; temperature 76–80 °F against 72–78 °F), its phosphate line reads zero in the About text, and its aggression caution (digestive strands released against zoanthids and soft leather corals) is genus-template wording that conflicts with the Acropora peaceful record and is given no weight. What the page contributes at its own weight is the colour line (blue green, white undertone, purple polyps), the moderate-to-intense light and strong-flow asks, the mature-tank warning, the nano-zooplankton feeding line, and the crab caution — each labelled care-database weight in the notes above.

- The silence record is part of this entry's evidence and is kept explicit. No Reef Raft product page for this strain was found; no origin, release, or namesake account was found (nothing in any source read says who or what "The Vinh" names); no species assignment was found beyond the queue's tenuis association; no strain-specific PAR figure, growth rate, or loss record was found; and no explanation of the TankFacts JR suffix was found. The keeper record is richer than the vendor record for this strain — three independent hardiness accounts, one placement-and-flow response, one encrusting lag — and the care sections rest on that record plus the tenuis-group record, each at its stated weight.