Polo Reef by Andrew Sandler's nightmare

[spuri87]

Not a lot of details shared, but post says they lost 10k gallons (total is around 17k gallons) in the middle of the night.. Every reefers nightmare.. As a new reefer, I have already woken up in the middle of at least a few nights coz I had a bad dream about a tank crash.. I just keep thinking to myself how often shall I change my pumps and heaters and pipes to avoid leakage and what not!

64K views · 2.3K reactions | Major Catastrophe Chain Of Events A Million To One Chances Of Happening !! We Lost Over 10k Gallons Very Quickly In Middle Of The Night. We Will Keep You Posted As We Assess The Damage !! Edit: Here at Polo Reef we hav

Major Catastrophe Chain Of Events A Million To One Chances Of Happening !! We Lost Over 10k Gallons Very Quickly In Middle Of The Night. We Will Keep You Posted As We Assess The Damage !!...

www.facebook.com

 

[spuri87]

 

[PjFish]

Wow!! What a hard situation! Im sure they will bounce back and move on. So far only thing I heard was a pump failure, faulty valve then back syphon. He had some pretty elaborate drainage so hopefully no water damages..

 

[richiev]

Did they say anywhere what happened? I don't know anything about this guy, but the second video seems a bit weird. Does this guy do a lot for the reef community, I assumed it was someone with a lot of $$$ and a home setup.

 

[MichaelB]

Did they say anywhere what happened? I don't know anything about this guy, but the second video seems a bit weird. Does this guy do a lot for the reef community, I assumed it was someone with a lot of $$$ and a home setup.

He has tons of videos and I would honestly say mostly very interesting. Lots of money of course. Yet he approaches things from scientific stand point not the rich guy mo.
He gives scholarships and often invites avg reefers to his place for tours. It's like a full-blown aquarium at his place.


He does have a entire team working on those tanks. If you have time check out some of his earlier videos he shows the build and entire set up pretty interesting.

As are his other tanks and experiments. He also has most of Jake Adam's larger sps colonies many of his old one of kind peices hopefully he didn't loose any non replaceable ones.

 

[BAYMAC]

Did they say anywhere what happened? I don't know anything about this guy, but the second video seems a bit weird. Does this guy do a lot for the reef community, I assumed it was someone with a lot of $$$ and a home setup.

All in all, just a dude with a lot of money.

 

[MichaelB]

All in all, just a dude with a lot of money.

No doubt, lmao I wouldn't dare say I wouldn't if I had it like that not just wealthy, but rich to the point he has money he doesn't know what to do with. The Guy basically built the house around the tanks lol.

 

[spuri87]

All in all, just a dude with a lot of money.

Having a tank that size clearly implies that one definitely has a lot of money.. he and his brother both are Billionaires apparently.. but tbh, he seems to be someone who cares about the reefing community and life in general.. I dont know about his contributions towards the reefing world, but have always found his videos informational and very interesting to watch/understand what goes into managing a tank that size

 

[spuri87]

Update from him on what happened: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548813832884213

 

[Alexander1312]

He was told a year ago by Alex from Abyzz (CEO) who visited him that his setup would cause issues eventually, specifically as it relates to some of the valves (which appears to be an unusual choice for a public aquarium type of setup and volume).

He was not impressed by this feedback at the time, and probably does not remember anymore he received this.

My lessons learned is to consider feedback specifically if it feels uncomfortable.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

He was told a year ago by Alex from Abyzz (CEO) who visited him that his setup would cause issues eventually, specifically as it relates to some of the valves (which appears to be an unusual choice for a public aquarium type of setup and volume).

He was not impressed by this feedback at the time, and probably does not remember anymore he received this.

My lessons learned is to consider feedback specifically if it feels uncomfortable.

interesting...

 

[Slingfox]

He was told a year ago by Alex from Abyzz (CEO) who visited him that his setup would cause issues eventually, specifically as it relates to some of the valves (which appears to be an unusual choice for a public aquarium type of setup and volume).

He was not impressed by this feedback at the time, and probably does not remember anymore he received this.

My lessons learned is to consider feedback specifically if it feels uncomfortable.

Than who runs Tidal Gardens comments on Polo Reef at the 1 hour 44 minute mark of the video below. He states that Polo Reef is a “somewhat small public aquarium . . . made with hobby stuff . . . The stuff that works in public aquarium land is completely different from what works at the hobbiest level.”

This podcast was recorded 10 months ago.

 

[SupraSaltyReefer]

. . . made with hobby stuff . . .

Than must have a different definition of hobby stuff. This is apart of Polo Reef's control center and 7ft UV....lol
Polo Reef does use mostly hobby grade lights with MH and leds, but I've seen public aquariums use Kessils and Radions as well too tho.

 

[Slingfox]

Than must have a different definition of hobby stuff. This is apart of Polo Reef's control center and 7ft UV....lol
Polo Reef does use mostly hobby grade lights with MH and leds, but I've seen public aquariums use Kessils and Radions as well too tho.

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View attachment 78288

I assume the issue isn’t the lighting but rather the products and systems use to manage the water at that scale. 17k gallons is giant to the home reefer but is tiny compared to the public aquariums (eg, 50k-500k is considered small with many public aquariums managing millions of gallons of water).

I assume Polo Reef will use this unfortunate event as an opportunity to figure out how to do things better. What the Polo team was trying to do was insanely impressive and a true labor of love.

 

[BAYMAC]

Having a tank that size clearly implies that one definitely has a lot of money.. he and his brother both are Billionaires apparently.. but tbh, he seems to be someone who cares about the reefing community and life in general.. I dont know about his contributions towards the reefing world, but have always found his videos informational and very interesting to watch/understand what goes into managing a tank that size

He's an "influencer" who entered via his money, not his skills

I met the guy several times years ago prior to his undertaking. He never seemed to care beyond his status.

 

[CaseyP]

He's an "influencer" who entered via his money, not his skills

I met the guy several times years ago prior to his undertaking. He never seemed to care beyond his status.

Curious as to what about him makes it seem more about status than the hobby? I only see the social media side of things so have a different perspective. I see him as a hobbyist that is also very wealthy and has means beyond the average person, rather than a rich guy who wants a fancy fish tank and will just pay to make it happen like on the TV show Tanked.

I casually followed him for long time and he seems like a good guy and true hobbyist. Like many lifelong hobbyists, started with freshwater as a kid and evolved from there. While not physically hands on he seems to be involved and understands all the mechanical, biological, and chemistry functions of his systems. Cares about providing the best handling, quarantining, and practices with the livestock he brings in. The whole youtube series came years after the tank was already built and running so doesn't seem like it was purpose built for fame.