• The breakdown of my 280-gallon reef tank

    Limbo, anyone?







    The “orange blob” is Montipora capricornis, but for some reason never plated out in the familiar scrolls we are used to seeing. As new sections grew, they inevitably would curl downward only to add more to the blob. Interestingly, it too has found a way to live with another colony of birdsnest coral, intertwining and scrolling. The challenge to photograph it so it could be appreciated was a difficult one, and it was even worse trying to pull it out of the tank. The blob was 26” in length, 9” in width, and 10” in height.




    With all the upper corals out of the tank, more water was drained into the vats and the dry box fell off, now that the necessary water pressure was gone. Fortunately, it didn’t land on anything breakable in that spot in the aquarium. Time to take out the blob. Almost magically, I was able to lift the entire thing up as a single piece with its birdsnest neighbor and the rock beneath. To think, this coral was oirginally about the size of a snackable fruit cup. The amalgamated chunk was too big to remove as one piece, but fate snapped it in two at the perfect spot. The blob was placed in the lower vat, and the rock with the birdsnest and scrolling plates was placed beside it.










    The biggest surprise was when I tried to pull out the corals in the left corner of the tank. A huge Tongan rock supported at least 10 species of life, and when I tugged at it, the entire piece pulled out as one. Even the 12” wide by 7” tall puddle of encrusting Pavona that had grown up the oveflow pulled loose along with it, standing stoically and ready to be transferred out. That plating coral was thicker than I expected, and the back felt like smooth porcelain instead of the brittle porous stoney material we normally encounter.













    One of the anemones was holding onto multiple rocks, and was torn slightly during the relocation. As of now, instead of three bubble tips, there are four.



    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.