Polo reef disaster . . . OMG

[smitten with ocean life]

unfortunately i have nothing that i can offer him other than my sympathy

 

[vetteguy53081]

57K views · 1.5K reactions | A message from Andrew | Polo Reef by Andrew Sandler

A message from Andrew

www.facebook.com

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i dont have facebook. what does it say?

 

[mfinn]

i dont have facebook. what does it say?

He just talked about the possible points of failure ( maybe a couple valves, ozone and plastic, ect.) All of the unforeseen circumstances that contributed to disaster. Planned future upgrades. His gratitude to people reaching out.

 

[corosato]

i dont have facebook. what does it say?

2 sequential valves failed in their closed loop and drained water into their Sanded Filter which overflowed backwards into their RO and French Drains. Top few feet of Acros expelled their Zooxanthellae and spiked the nutrients and they lost about 40-45 fish on top of it. they are doing a post mortem to see what caused it and likely have to replace all their valves as a precaution

 

[smitten with ocean life]

how awful. so where did all that water end up? in his home?

 

[corosato]

sounds like what flowed out of the RO barrel flowed out safely

 

[mfinn]

how awful. so where did all that water end up? in his home?

French drains

 

[RobynR]

i dont have facebook. what does it say?

I don’t either, but it let me watch it online without logging in.

 

[revhtree]

Man this is so heartbreaking! Just watched the update video and our thoughts and hearts are with Andrew, family and team.

Also we’re not going to kick people when they’re down, we’ve never been about that and we’re not ever going to be about that Please refrain from chided remarks.

His wife was being an awesome wife plain and simple. He doesn’t need money or corals this video was an act of love from his spouse.

If you see posts that need to be reported please report them. Thanks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

sounds like what flowed out of the RO barrel flowed out safely

He gave a summary of the incident and described possible causes. Will repost soon

 

[AydenLincoln]

Man this is so heartbreaking! Just watched the update video and our thoughts and hearts are with Andrew, family and team.

Also we’re not going to kick people when they’re down, we’ve never been about that and we’re not ever going to be about that Please refrain from chided remarks.

His wife was being an awesome wife plain and simple. He doesn’t need money or corals this video was an act of love from his spouse.

If you see posts that need to be reported please report them. Thanks.

I agree with this whole heartedly. It was a nice intention and the hobby is all about coming together when someone else faces tragedy like this especially someone who has given so much to the hobby. I wish people didn’t take it the way they did. Speaking from someone who has seen the tank in person and seen his generosity and all that he does for the hobby and beyond just the hobby. He invites strangers into his home, he donates to school programs, reef conservation, and more. He truly is a genuine and kind person and his wife meant no ill intent and even was going to pay for shipping.

 

[MikeReefs]

Andrew explains what led to the system loosing 2/3 of the water. Control system malfunction, Valve problems and WiFi problems getting alerts late. Not having enough water on hand to fill the tank up quickly. Just a list of things that went wrong all at once. Just a terrible crash that couldn’t of been anticipated

 

[fish_collector]

The WiFi goes out during the same time frame a computer controlled valve discharges water…could Polo Reef have been the victim of a cyber attack?

I appreciate all that Andrew and his team have done, I hope he gets the answers soon and can move forward.

 

[Blennioidei]

The WiFi goes out during the same time frame a computer controlled valve discharges water…could Polo Reef have been the victim of a cyber attack?

I appreciate all that Andrew and his team have done, I hope he gets the answers soon and can move forward.

I would think its just negligence. I have a leak alarm, but I think I only checked it once in the last two year. I am sure it works -> until it turns out it not

Its all reefers worst nightmare. I hope Andrew the crew and the tank all recover quickly from this.

 

[maroun.c]

It’s truly heartbreaking.

I’m sure Andrew will rebuild stronger. Large systems, no matter how well planned, can still fail, and the bigger the setup, the bigger the impact.

Credit to his wife as well. Reaching out to the community felt genuine and supportive, not like asking for donations. She was simply standing by her husband, who has given so much to the hobby and community.

I’ve been through something similar when my own tank failed and flooded our home, and my wife’s support is what helped me believe I could rebuild. I imagine Andrew felt the same.

I wish Andrew and his team the best in finding the cause and putting the right fix in place. I also respect that they shared this setback openly, not just the successes. It shows the reality of how unforgiving this hobby can be.

On the technical side, I had a smaller but similar Apex failure where programs, alarms, and probe settings were wiped. Since some of Andrew’s valves are controllable and there was also a Wi-Fi failure, I also wonder if that was connected to the incident.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Whether you like the guy or not, this is truly sad to see. I've met some of his team at trade shows before, and they are all passionate about reefing. Hoping the best for him, his family, and his team, and hoping that this doesn't happen again.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

It’s truly heartbreaking.

I’m sure Andrew will rebuild stronger. Large systems, no matter how well planned, can still fail, and the bigger the setup, the bigger the impact.

Credit to his wife as well. Reaching out to the community felt genuine and supportive, not like asking for donations. She was simply standing by her husband, who has given so much to the hobby and community.

I’ve been through something similar when my own tank failed and flooded our home, and my wife’s support is what helped me believe I could rebuild. I imagine Andrew felt the same.

I wish Andrew and his team the best in finding the cause and putting the right fix in place. I also respect that they shared this setback openly, not just the successes. It shows the reality of how unforgiving this hobby can be.

On the technical side, I had a smaller but similar Apex failure where programs, alarms, and probe settings were wiped. Since some of Andrew’s valves are controllable and there was also a Wi-Fi failure, I also wonder if that was connected to the incident.

Im not a huge fan, so I only skimmed through the video, but didnt he say several times that there were two valves on that line? One electronically control, but one was manual, that had to be opened by a wrench? Perhaps I misunderstood or misheard.

 

[rjp83]

Im not a huge fan, so I only skimmed through the video, but didnt he say several times that there were two valves on that line? One electronically control, but one was manual, that had to be opened by a wrench? Perhaps I misunderstood or misheard.

Yea. One had to be opened via wrench but I believe he said that one or both were never cycled routinely. I can’t remember.

 

[Biff0rz]

He runs a lot of ozone, probably deteriorated some seals/valves.