The breakdown of my 280-gallon reef tank

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?........."

Thanks for documenting the whole ordeal..After reading this blog I think just about everyone ran to there tank to checks there seams ..

great photo breakdown marc, thanks for taking the time to put this together. i like that animated gif you made

Jessy made that gif. Have you had any luck with the iPhone video yet, Wes?

Great documentation! I bet it was a great relief when you had everything out of the tank.

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.

Which one is Drewlicious????
sorry about your tank. I am sad that a tank I envy is gone

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!

Holy cow!! Good job keeping a level head and thinking everything thoroughly through before doing this. I hope most-everything survives.

This is simply heartbreaking. I look forward to hearing about your new tank. I hope all your fish and coral survived the tragedy.

So far so good. I just posted a blog with a bunch of pictures of the livestock today.

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?

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.

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.

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.