Polo reef disaster . . . OMG

[Tonycass12]

I feel bad for them but they just put up a post asking hobbyist and shops to donate corals and fish to help them build back.

Pretty out of touch imo. Its a private aquarium, they have tons of money and more than enough surviving corals to build back up what was lost.

Again sorry this happened to them but it also goes to show that the bigger you go the bigger the risk.

 

[Biff0rz]

I feel bad for them but they just put up a post asking hobbyist and shops to donate corals and fish to help them build back.

Pretty out of touch imo. Its a private aquarium, they have tons of money and more than enough surviving corals to build back up what was lost.

Again sorry this happened to them but it also goes to show that the bigger you go the bigger the risk.

I didn't see Andrew asking for any donations. SWA did offer help from what I saw.

 

[BriDroid]

I didn't see Andrew asking for any donations. SWA did offer help from what I saw.

There was a video of his wife asking, saying she was trying to do something for nice for him. She even offered to anyone who wanted to help her to send out prepaid shipping labels. Sounds like something any loving spouse would do. It’s devastating for sure.

 

[Tonycass12]

I didn't see Andrew asking for any donations. SWA did offer help from what I saw.

 

[areefer01]

I would only imagine taking in corals from fellow hobbyist would bring its own risks and require a lot of space to properly QT. They can't just take in fish or corals and restock.

I'm in California otherwise I would offer them my 9 to 10" Biota Gold Line Rabbitfish. That would be a great home for it. But alas back to that QT thing.

Best we can do, as fellow hobbyist, is not second guessing them or playing armchair QB. Send positive thoughts and encourage. They will find the root cause and correct. We have probably been there once or twice if we are being honest and in the hobby long enough. We are only human.

 

[MikeReefs]

I’ve been watching him and his crew for years. What a tragic crash, sadly it’s gonna be a long recovery with that much life lost. That next video is going to be devastating. I’m sure shops donating would help but give it time and space it out. Last thing they need right now is massive live shipments

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I feel for those guys. If you've been in this hobby for any length of time, then you've experienced something similar. Of course, for those guys, the scale is much larger.

Seeing the tank in the background, it looks like there was quite a bit of loss, and that would definitely take the wind out of anyone's sails.

I'm sure plenty of people will reach out and help out in ways they think best.

I'm also sure his wife has best intentions and I can see how it can come off as pretentious.

I thing the take away here is, regardless of wealth, everyone gets their fair share of catastrophic events.

If it were me, I'd be a bit blue, no doubt, they are as well. I don't think this is the end of polo reef. I think this will be chalked up as a hard lesson learned and they will rebound.

 

[wolfmansreef]

I feel for those guys. If you've been in this hobby for any length of time, then you've experienced something similar. Of course, for those guys, the scale is much larger.

Seeing the tank in the background, it looks like there was quite a bit of loss, and that would definitely take the wind out of anyone's sails.

I'm sure plenty of people will reach out and help out in ways they think best.

I'm also sure his wife has best intentions and I can see how it can come off as pretentious.

I thing the take away here is, regardless of wealth, everyone gets their fair share of catastrophic events.

If it were me, I'd be a bit blue, no doubt, they are as well. I don't think this is the end of polo reef. I think this will be chalked up as a hard lesson learned and they will rebound.

Well said !

 

[Kasasah]

Hmmm. Someone might get fired for that...

Hard to fire someone for equipment failure..

 

[wolfmansreef]

Such a tragedy. I met Andrew at a lecture he was giving and he is a nice guy who really cares about the hobby and the animals. Hopefully they can minimize the losses.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I've been privileged to have seen this setup in person.

This project is on a whole different level. I can't imagine the amount of work that will be needed in the upcoming weeks and months. Wish him and his crew all the best.

Andrew is such a great guy, he'll bounce right back - if anything, stronger than before.

 

[NanoSteam]

I don't know after reflecting on it a bit I understand his wives position asking for donations.

She can send $100k to one of the big name coral dealers for colonies to replace everything with for Andrew which if I was in his shoes would do nothing to cheer me up. He has the money obviously so these animals actually meant something to him more than it was a flex.

Asking the community for bits and pieces of coral provide something money can't buy... seeing the community Andrew sees himself a part of, separate from wealth status coming together to help even if it's small I'm sure would help cheer him up. At least putting myself in his shoes that's what would get me out of the rut.

 

[NewR33FER]

I can’t believe it. I just watched a video about this masterpiece the other day. Wow

 

[areefer01]

So....if someone has a flat tire you don't offer to help because the happen to be driving a Mercedes?

 

[mfinn]

Seeing the tank in the background, it looks like there was quite a bit of loss, and that would definitely take the wind out of anyone's sails.

I'm sure plenty of people will reach out and help out in ways they think best.

I'm also sure his wife has best intentions and I can see how it can come off as pretentious.

At first I thought it was a tiny bit strange her asking for help.
But then I thought about it and I would bet Andrews spirts are about as low as they could get and this was her way to try to rally his followers/fans and fellow hobbyists into maybe reaching out with piece that they could spare. She offered shipping labels which was good.

I've done this twice over the years. Shipped someone a box of frags after a big crash.
They were just someone I knew over the internet.

It was mostly symbolic.
IDK, you could take it several ways I suppose.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

At first I thought it was a tiny strange her asking for help.
But then I thought about it and I would bet Andrews spirts are about as low as they could get and this was her way to try to rally his followers/fans and fellow hobbyists into maybe reaching out with piece that they could spare. She offered shipping labels which was good.

I've done this twice over the years. Shipped someone a box of frags after a big crash.
They were just someone I knew over the internet.

It was mostly symbolic.
IDK, you could take it several ways I suppose.

100% a loving wife trying to help her husband cope with the enormity of that loss.

I don't know the guy and have only seen youtube videos of his tank (OK mini ocean), but you can absolutely see he has a true love and passion for the hobby.

 

[VintageReefer]

Sure he can rebuy coral. But this is something that breaks your spirit. I don’t care how rich someone is or how tough someone acts. This hurts. He is connected to his tank, just as we are with ours.

His wife isn’t asking for coral donations to save money. She wants to cheer him up and to show him he’s got a community of people that care and that want to support him through a hard time. People that want to give back to someone that’s given so much. There is a difference between a coral bought and a coral gifted. Only one comes with meaning. Andrew needs to heal and rebuild just like his reef does.

I would be honored to give a part of my reef, to help rebuild his. Polo Reef + Team, I will be in touch. When you are stable and the sands have settled, I have a homegrown 50+ head Duncan colony I’ll send your way

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Sure he can rebuy coral. But this is something that breaks your spirit. I don’t care how rich someone is or how tough someone acts. This hurts. He is connected to his tank, just as we are with ours.

His wife isn’t asking for coral donations to save money. She wants to cheer him up and to show him he’s got a community of people that care and that want to support him through a hard time. People that want to give back to someone that’s given so much. There is a difference between a coral bought and a coral gifted. Only one comes with meaning. Andrew needs to heal and rebuild just like his reef does.

I would be honored to give a part of my reef, to help rebuild his. Polo Reef + Team, I will be in touch. When you are stable and the sands have settled, I have a homegrown 50+ head Duncan colony I’ll send your way

Going to turn that 50 heads into the largest wild porites colony in the world....except 17000 gallons worth of duncans... lol

 

[dvgyfresh]

100% a loving wife trying to help her husband cope with the enormity of that loss.

I don't know the guy and have only seen youtube videos of his tank (OK mini ocean), but you can absolutely see he has a true love and passion for the hobby.

Have I some Xenia and GSP for him lol obviously joking here but also true

 

[dkline]

I don't know after reflecting on it a bit I understand his wives position asking for donations.

She can send $100k to one of the big name coral dealers for colonies to replace everything with for Andrew which if I was in his shoes would do nothing to cheer me up. He has the money obviously so these animals actually meant something to him more than it was a flex.

Asking the community for bits and pieces of coral provide something money can't buy... seeing the community Andrew sees himself a part of, separate from wealth status coming together to help even if it's small I'm sure would help cheer him up. At least putting myself in his shoes that's what would get me out of the rut.

I think that is really the point. Clearly he does not need the monetary help. But he is always having schools tour the facility and working to help the community with research and videos and speaking events. So if the community said thank you by trying to help him when he needed a boost I think that would be something that would mean more to him than money.