• The breakdown of my 280-gallon reef tank

    The Toadstool Leather was saved for last. We knew that handling it, it would slime like crazy and this might hurt the other corals. In addition, it was decided prior to the breakdown that it would be best to put it in a vat by itself so it couldn’t hurt all the newly transferred corals. Leathers shed and exude stuff into the water on a regular basis, and this one was about to be manhandled in a big way. This enormous coral has been growing in size since I brought it home as a tiny frag in 2003. Wes suggested that I take it out foot-first, so in these images you’ll see that’s what we ended up doing. It was very heavy, and disgustingly slimy. As it rubbed against my forearms and hands, I was a little overwhelmed, repulsed and impressed all at once; the culmination of all these feelings resulted in a serious case of the giggles. They were uncontrollable, so much so that Drew ended up doing the bulk of the lifting. Wes was ready with the scale, determined to find out what it weighed. Once it was wrestled out of the tank and placed on his shoulder, Wes tried to stand still while the coral literally rained water on the kitchen floor. The first attempt displayed “ERR” on the scale (indicating error), and with the second attempt the scale died on the spot. The mystery of its weight will continue to be unknown. It was placed in a 33-gallon barrel filled with saltwater and some live rock. Two Tunze pumps provided flow, and a 150w heater keep the temperature up at night.





















    Comments 22 Comments
    1. Snakebyt's Avatar
      Snakebyt -
      awesome post documenting the whole ordeal, I really hate to see this tank coming down, but i also look foreward to the new one taking its place, it will be amazing im sure
    1. upster's Avatar
      upster -
      Thanks a bunch, that was a great read. I was amazed that you found the sand bed un-clumped. How long did the entire tear down take?
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      We had it down in a matter of hours. Maybe five, as we didn't have to rush fortunately. There was some prep time with the vats & plumbing, but the tank was empty for all but that last two fish in hiding by 10pm, which is when we went out for dinner.
    1. agsansoo's Avatar
      agsansoo -
      Six years to build ... five hours to take down. Ouch ! Question: How long is the silicone seams suppose to last in an aquarium ? I've heard around 5 years.
    1. Ryan's Avatar
      Ryan -
      Wow Marc, that is some setup to get all that livestock into. I hope I can help with something on your new tank. I know it can't be fun to go through all of that, but at least you have a lot of people to help you through it. Just in the last year or so of being in this hobby I know you've helped me out a bunch with your knowledge and I really appreciate it. Let me know if I can help in any way...even if it is grunt work.
      This is definitely interesting.
    1. jays333's Avatar
      jays333 -
      Marc,Thanks for documenting this in such a calm and systematic manner. There are many opportunities for disaster in our micro worlds, and you have proven they can be dealt with. Looking forward to the updates. My wife's reaction was "This could happen to us?........."
    1. Elchicano's Avatar
      Elchicano -
      Thanks for documenting the whole ordeal..After reading this blog I think just about everyone ran to there tank to checks there seams ..
    1. Wes's Avatar
      Wes -
      great photo breakdown marc, thanks for taking the time to put this together. i like that animated gif you made
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Jessy made that gif. Have you had any luck with the iPhone video yet, Wes?
    1. Hat39406's Avatar
      Hat39406 -
      Great documentation! I bet it was a great relief when you had everything out of the tank.
    1. NightShade's Avatar
      NightShade -
      It's sad to see everything happen that way but at least you caught the leak before a major failure happened. And can't wait to see what you get going.
    1. mro2you2's Avatar
      mro2you2 -
      Which one is Drewlicious????
      sorry about your tank. I am sad that a tank I envy is gone
    1. Cookiejar's Avatar
      Cookiejar -
      Great job with the pictures and descriptions. you had me rolling on the floor with the description of the 'niagra falls' from the pond liner folding. Moving aquariums and flooded floors go together like peanut butter & jelly.
      Looking forward to seeing how your new tank setup goes. Best of luck with everything!
    1. Ownzordage's Avatar
      Ownzordage -
      Holy cow!! Good job keeping a level head and thinking everything thoroughly through before doing this. I hope most-everything survives.
    1. Rachel's Avatar
      Rachel -
      This is simply heartbreaking. I look forward to hearing about your new tank. I hope all your fish and coral survived the tragedy.
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      So far so good. I just posted a blog with a bunch of pictures of the livestock today.
    1. seapug's Avatar
      seapug -
      unbelievable. what an incredible, epic article. Something tells me that system of troughs and lighting rack is going to end up as a permanent addition somewhere in your house. Has the time come to turn the garage into a coral propagation facility?
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      If the garage wasn't unbearably hot, that would be a possibility. With the new tank, I'd really like to build a nice quarantine system to incorporate in the room, but a friend just suggested I get a coral propagation tank set up to start selling corals to pay some of the supplies I use on a monthly basis. I've never been big on selling corals, as I just wanted them to get bigger. I doubt I sell 10 frags a year.
    1. Chris Witort's Avatar
      Chris Witort -
      Does this make you consider acrylic rather than glass on the next aquarium. The durability is what made me go acrylic. I love the scratch resistance of glass but the idea of inevitable seam failure sealed the deal(so to speak) for me.
    1. mhowe9's Avatar
      mhowe9 -
      Marc, having this system set up for a little over three months now. Is there any thing that you would do differently? or any long term issues that you ran into. I am shortly going to be doing something similar as I upgrade my tank.