We went to New York to visit the most beautiful marine aquarium in the world: Polo Reef by Andrew Sandler, 70,000 liters packed with SPS and LPS corals and lots of species.
This article is also available in: Italiano
On the occasion of the ReefAPalooza in New York (click to see our report) we also planned to visit what is probably the most beautiful private marine aquarium in the world. We, of course, have not seen all the aquariums in the world, at least not yet, but dear readers, what we saw impressed us tremendously.
Let’s start with the size. 17,000 gallons which, converted into liters, goes up to 64,400 liters! An aquarium almost 5 meters by 4.5 meters by almost 3 meters (height), with the basement about 70 cm underground. The whole thing is absolutely spectacular. And yes, get used to it, because I will repeat it often in this article.
Video of the world’s most beautiful 70,000-liter reef marine aquarium
Before we start with the actual article, we leave you with what we can call a documentary of this beautiful aquarium. You will discover where it was built, you will see the beauty of this aquarium, but most importantly we will also reveal all the technical part, enclosed in two floors, and all the tanks that are connected to it. To top it off there are also some pretty rare fish and a preview of an aquarium dedicated to corals that will see the light of day in a few months. So get comfortable, enlarge the video to full screen, put it in 4K and you will be as amazed as we were. The video is in Italian language but you can activate subs.
Our history – background
Like in all self-respecting stories let’s give a little background. Knowing we are going to see ReefAPalooza (here) in New York, and knowing that Polo Reef, the name given to this giant aquarium, is in the vicinity of New York, we contacted Andrew Sandler, the owner, to ask if we could go and see it to write a report for DaniReef.
Needless to say, we immediately set the date to visit, and we were all steamed up about it. In New York we slept beyond the Hudson River, in New Jersey, and to get to Polo Reef we took -in this exact order- a bus, the subway, a train, and finally an Uber. In any case, we were more than happy to do it, and we were looking forward to it.
Then we arrived at this magnificent villa, surrounded by greenery, and already from the outside we knew that we were going to see something out of the ordinary. It was true indeed, though we had seen videos of it before, no one had prepared us for what we were going to see in person. And we hope with our contributions to be able to make you appreciate the majesty of this installation.
We were given one hour, when we could have stayed and contemplated it for weeks, immediately brought up to almost 3 hours. And in that time we dwelt mostly on the video, in understanding how the aquarium works and getting to know Andrew Sandler. The photos were very difficult to take because the 10 cm acrylic sheet creates quite a few problems for the camera. The dream would have been to dive with our camera, but we are content with having seen it. And once again we thank Andrew for granting us the honor of visiting such a marvel, in addition to our sponsors who made this trip possible.
When we entered the basement, where the aquarium is housed, our jaws literally dropped. We saw in front of us a real coral reef. One of those things I didn’t think it was possible to see inside a house.
When we go to public aquariums we usually see very large aquariums with even larger fish. That certainly doesn’t leave us indifferent. Dolphins, sharks, they are incredible to see behind the glass. Or we see small aquariums, such as those we run as hobbyists with beautiful corals, beautifully maintained tanks, but which we will never find in a public aquarium. There are notable exceptions, such as the 5,000-liter marine aquarium at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Bolzano, which is a beautiful aquarium, although 5,000 liters is not 65,000, but which has healthy but not as particular corals as the ones we saw at Polo Reef. Not to mention the fish. From butterflyfish, to parrotfish, from common to rare, you can see anything in here. Any fish that has been talked about because of its peculiarities, you can see it here.
Pure emotion.
You can state that the context is really noteworthy.
Polo Reef: the organization of a 70,000-liter marine aquarium
As we have seen, the aquarium measures 490x450x270 cm and is constructed with 10 cm acrylic slabs, glass reinforced fiberglass for the back and bottom structure, obviously resting on a structurally reinforced basement to handle all that weight. The water flows down to the lower level by gravity where the 10,000-liter polypropylene sump is located, and from here the flow is channeled to a room several feet behind the tank where the two huge skimmers, the sulfur reactor, and the aragonite reactor are located. From here the pipes run under the floor to return to the aquarium. Outside the house, however, the huge uninterruptible power supplies and the industrial chillers find their place.
But that is not all, because in the room immediately behind the aquarium there are several growth and holding tanks. Currently we have seen two of them, and two others, however, stand alone without being physically connected to the main system. This room is also practically a laboratory and all chemical analysis is also done. Then consider that 3 different ICPs are also done, which are shipped to Germany, ATI and Fauna Marin, and to Miami, Oceamo, every 2 weeks or so, to keep the system under control at all times.
Aquarium tests are done daily for what concerns KH (alkalinity) and phosphates, while 2 or 3 times a week tests are also done on nitrates, calcium, and magnesium.
Behind this first room is a second one, where the skimmers and reactors are located, where the Kalkwasser and osmosis water is prepared, which is produced at the rate of almost 40,000 liters per day. This is an unthinkable value if we look at our small plants coming out drip by drip. In the video you can see the flow coming out of the osmosis tube. Again just one word. Impressive!
Also in this second room is the panel for home automation, which we discuss later in the article, and the quarantine tanks for the fish and corals that are carefully checked before being placed in the main aquarium. They are made of repeated dip baths, and are maniacally checked. It can take up to two months before an organism is placed in the main aquarium. In addition to these tanks, which are clearly seen in our video, we also find other grow tanks, but also aquariums to revive corals that have had problems in the main tank due to fish bites or other causes.
Here they have the water quality of the main tank, but won’t be disturbed by butterflyfish, angelfish and parrotfish. An ideal system.
Let’s talk about lighting: HQi and LED.
When we talked with Andrew about the lighting our jaws literally dropped. The aquarium gross measures 488x457x274=61,000 liters without all the technical part and the sump. Above this volume 2 1,000-watt Maxspect LED lamps, 11 500-watt Maxspect lamps, 1 400-watt Hqi lamp of 14,000°K and as many as 7 250-watt HQi lamps of 10°K. In total we have 10,700 watts. All the HQi lamps, as far as I have seen, are equipped with Lumenarc reflector that older readers will probably remember, please confirm this in the comments.
Illumination starts with sunrise at 8 a.m. which lasts for one hour, with maximum power that with a slight curve reaches 7 p.m. when the sunset phase begins, for 10 hours total. The PAR measured at the top of the rockfall are 500, while at the base they range between 100 and 250. Optimal values to grow anything. And we saw the aquarium from 10 a.m. until late noon–imagine what it might have been like to see it around 5 p.m. at its brightest.
Movement in the aquarium
Thinking about movement in such an aquarium must not be easy at all. Even considering the very generous contribution of the rising pumps. There are 2 main industrial 170,000-liter pumps in the system for filtration. The flow volume through the sump is about 4,500 liters per minute, something about 27,000 liters per hour. Also present is a 170,000 l/h closed loop pump for flow, a 57,000-104,000 l/h Hydro Wizard pump. The total flow rate from all pumps present is 300,000 l/h, almost 5 times the total volume of the aquarium per hour. Given the volume involved we are talking about an incredible movement!!!
Let’s talk about technique
The whole technical part is also absolutely incredible, and it couldn’t be any other way, to successfully run an aquarium of this size and ensure those colors and growths for even the most demanding Acropora. We start with 9,000 kg of synthetic Marco Rock rocks with 900 kg of live rocks, and in the bottom we find 450 kg of live sand.
Mechanical filtration is done with a diatom filter normally used for pools, a 4,000-liter sand filter now filled with glass beads. Chemical filtration uses a 190-liter reactor of activated carbon and an also 190-liter reactor filled with GFO anti PO4 resins. As many as 2 MRC skimmers of 90 cm in diameter and 275 cm in height are used in the system. One UV sterilizer and one ozone reactor of 2.5 grams/hour. 2 water boilers with heat exchangers and 4 industrial chillers of 5 tons.
All this technique leads to having the following values in the aquarium, which I dare say are borderline perfect, as I see the aquarium.
| Temperature | 25-26° C |
| Ammonia | undetectable |
| Nitrites | undetectable |
| Nitrates | 7-15 ppm |
| Phosphates | 0,06-0,1 ppm |
| Calcium | 440-480 ppm |
| Magnesium | 1350 ppm |
| KH | 8,5-9 dKH |
Trace elements are managed according to ICP tests, Calcium is provided by the aragonite reactor while 104 liters of Kalkwasser drop by drop are dosed nightly, nitrates are kept low through the sulfur reactor.
What do corals and fish eat?
After looking at the technique, we cannot help but dwell on the diet that is fed to the fish and corals. A point that I think is fundamental for the proper management of a marine reef aquarium. Let alone for an aquarium of this size and with these results.
The basis of fish feeding is a mix made from fresh and frozen seafood and seaweed. Then there is never a shortage of dried Nori seaweed and industrial coral food such as Reef Roids and Benepets. Phytoplankton and Acro Power are also dosed daily. Reef Moonshiners is dosed along with Seachem Reef Trace.
A dream automation
For an aquarium of this level, it is impossible not to get help from a professional automation system. Just think of how many plugs, how many actuators would be needed to manage such a complex system. That is why a dedicated automation system was created.
We are talking about 1 million 300 thousand lines of code. A simple system that works only locally, and allows you to manage almost entirely all the pumps, all the accessories, all the aquarium lights. How much water to run through the various filters, through the two skimmers. How much should be cooled and how much heated. How much kalkwasser. In short, every detail goes through this home automation system. A spectacle. Especially for someone who is in love with these things.
Above you can see some details of the screenshots to give you a sense of the overall complexity. Everything is studied at the table and then put into practice. Truly a fantastic system.
The history of Polo Reef
The aquarium was not born as we see it today. But it was originally designed primarily for fish, but then, as in so many other things, the more you get the more you want, and after a few years it was thought to include corals as well.
Initially, with the aquarium already heavily populated with fish, they began to insert a few small corals here and there in the expectation that they would grow and fortify. But inevitably every attempt was in vain because of the constant attacks brought by the many fish present. So the decision was made to set up completely with corals, filling the aquarium completely. This way things quickly got better. The fish were not immediately enticed to attack the single coral and thus was born Polo Reef as we know it today.
And this also makes us think that it would often be better to populate our aquariums massively and not one coral at a time…
Just think that at the time of our visit Andrew confirmed to us that there are 5 people in charge of the aquarium. 2 full time people and 3 part time people. And this we believe gives an idea of the overall effort required to maintain an aquarium of this beauty and complexity.
Every morning it is necessary to dive into the aquarium with the wetsuit to clean the panes, because given the thickness of 10 cm it would not be feasible otherwise, and to check the corals and possibly move them to the recovery tanks.
Polo Reef is an aquarium that can be seen from three sides
The aquarium can be seen from 3 sides. The most beautiful one is the front part, a second part, which you see above, faces directly onto the gymnasium, and the third part, opposite this one, faces a connecting corridor. Beautiful to see but obviously very difficult to photograph. The back part is made of fiberglass, but in any case it contains the base of the rockfall and cannot be inspected.
It is, of course, possible to go above the aquarium to do maintenance, but after seeing it (watch the video so you can appreciate it too), we believe that Andrew often enjoys the aquarium from that unusual position.
From whatever angle you look at it, it is a thrill, a spectacle. In every corner you can see something fantastic and unusual. I for example am in love with the butterfly fish Chaetodon semilarvatus, endemic to the Red Sea, simply fantastic fish. And I also found them inside Polo Reef.
Not to mention the Acanthurus leucosternon, the many, many angel fish. Plus all the ones we were not able to photograph but you can see in the video. Very easy to be speechless.
It was really hard not to be fascinated by such a vision. As we also told Andrew, it is almost impossible to find an aquarium of this size that has so many spectacular fish and corals. Yet that is exactly what is in front of you. You don’t know where to look. Those of you who have been diving in tropical seas and look at the following photo might find it hard to believe that this is actually an aquarium and not real Nature.
And I think that is the greatest compliment that can be paid to Andrew Sandler.
The tridacna and settling aquarium we found in the technical room
As we mentioned, two technical rooms with growth and quarantine aquariums are developed behind the aquarium. One of them is totally dedicated to Tridacna and we present this gallery for you to enjoy the beautiful corals and beautiful tridacna.
New developments, additional aquariums, our final comments and all links can be found on page two.
