Custom Reef System Design

A living, breathing, growing ecosystem that accurately replicates a living coral reef… it is mesmerizing, and all you have to do is see one to understand. To some it may sound like a daunting task to develop and maintain such a fragile thing. In truth, it relaxes you and has been proven to lower blood pressure. Owning a reef system of your own is an amazingly beautiful adventure that yields nearly endless rewards and instills a sense of peace and enjoyment few ever experience. Let Wet Work introduce you to this remarkable, educational hobby and show you how, through new technologies, reef keeping can be simple… even for the novice.

Our personally designed installations and upgrades to existing systems dramatically reduce the labor factor so you can spend more time enjoying your system. Monitoring and control systems let you sit on the beach in St. Barts or Biloxi and manage your system from your smart phone. Extremely energy efficient pumps and LED lighting are a few of the hallmarks of our systems. Aquacultured animals and highly porous ceramic rock help permit a sustainable collection level on wild reefs.

Your degree of involvement in the design process is up to you, but when you see how much fun we’re having, you’ll want to jump in. What you see from one corner of the glass is not what you see from another. The display changes as you move through the room. You’ll also notice what’s absent… Hardware. Tubes. Pipes. Wires. And once it’s built, you will find we’re firm believers in hand-holding once your system is operational. Even though an installation is complete, our partnerships are far from over. We are available for consultations on site, by phone, or via email for as long as you own your system. When you hire Wet Work, you are working with me, the owner and unlike many aquarium maintenance and installation companies, we are fully licensed and insured. Our installations are designed to last for a lifetime, not just a few years. So go ahead and indulge yourself. Check out our photos and drop us a line so we can start a conversation and begin designing your own unique and amazing reef aquarium.

Features

ILLUMINATION

The average aquarium’s lighting is not particularly attractive and warms the aquarium too much. Hot flourescent and even hotter HQI and metal halide bulbs are thankfully a thing of the past and we have phased out these lights on systems we currently maintain. We believe aquarium lighting can and should be beautiful and energy-efficient, that it should employ only LEDs because the technology now exists to allow their application to even the deepest displays, that it should be on display, and that the suspension systems to hang these lights should be completely unique to every project. No cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill mass produced hanging mechanisms; only custom-crafted, genuinely original solutions will hang over your newly designed or restored aquarium.

SYSTEM VOLUME & BACK-UP PRECAUTION

Your reef display can be the size of a purse or as large as a cabana. Any size is viable, but it is a simple fact that larger volumes of water are much more forgiving of any unforseen problems… and unfortunately, accidents do happen. For this reason, we recommend to design reef aquariums on a larger scale where there is greater resiliency. Catastrophic failures only occur when a system is incorrectly constructed or installed. Our experience eliminates this possibility. Whether nano or monstrous, we install back-up systems from simple battery back-ups to whole house generators to solar power systems, minimizing losses in the event of a power outage. Oxygen levels deplete rapidly in closed systems without water circulation –- the smaller the system, the more quickly it happens. Reservoirs providing automated evaporation replacement and properly located valves and switches allow huge volumes of water to be changed while you sit back and relax with a cocktail. Larger aquariums are more work to build, but they definitely are much more beautiful, sustainable, and enjoyable.

MOBILE DEVICE SYSTEM INTEGRATION

Do you really want just anyone looking after your reef aquarium while you’re away? Whether it’s just for the day while you’re at work or while you’re off in business classes, there’s no reason to worry. There’s an app for that! Seriously, there is. Using a particular brand of controller/monitor, you can completely monitor and control your system from your iPhone 4 or later model. Got a ‘Droid? You will have to be a bit more patient; the ‘Droid version is still in development. Add a webcam and you can activate the auto-feeder from your phone and watch your fish eat. Switch on a doser to add a little more invertebrate food. Calcium too low? Switch on another doser or increase its output volume. All that control at your fingertips makes it easy to keep your sea creatures happy and healthy… and it’s just plain awesome.

Process

DESIGN

Listen. This is what we do. We want to hear you expound on your desires, wishes, dreams. Tell us what your ideas are for the perfect reef aquarium. Whether our first meetings are via Skype or in person, somewhere in South Louisiana or in the Pacific Northwest or Europe, we craft our project proposals based on listening to you. We work closely with architects, interior designers, and contractors — eletricians, plumbers, carpenters, everyone and anyone that needs to be involved in the process to bring the project to completion. Rest assured though, Wet Work maintains very close scrutiny of all work done by others on any of our projects and we have zero tolerance for sloppy or shoddy work. It is our job to ensure every detail of our projects are constructed and crafted to the absolute highest standards. System components are selected based on quality and the manufacturing company’s reputation, never on price. Custom components — sumps, lighting systems, custom-machined details — are implemented where necessary to not only add to the aesthetic appeal of the finished project but also to its simplicity and convenience.

DEVELOPMENT

This is where the real fun begins. The project is complete. The freshwater system test was, of course, a success, the reef has been carefully installed using a combination of ceramic and live rock to create an unusual and highly unique display that effectively hides all plumbing and hardware within the display. Our reefscapes look natural. You won’t see an intake strainer nestled between corals or Loc-line returns dangling below the surface. Here we will guide you in the addition of your system’s inhabitants. Feeling a bit intimidated? Not to worry. Send us a text, an email. Give us a call. Fly us out if you like. We will make it easy and take all the worry out of what to add when and where to place it. There is a huge repository of aquacultured corals globally now, and maricultured (ocean farmed) specimens are just as spectacular as wild ones but put no collection pressure on wild reefs. Here again we can guide you toward a completely sustainable system if you like. Acropora specimens grow particularly fast — up to 1/4″ a month or more — so populating your new reef with tiny “frags” enables you to watch your reef grow before your very eyes.

RESTORATION

You’ve tried and tried. You’ve done everything suggested. You’ve applied every method you were told would work. You’ve got piles of equipment and nothing quite did the trick, and now, you’ve finally thrown your hands up in disgust and you’re about take the whole thing to the city dump. Far too many hobbyists have reached this point because they have been ill advised. They have had an inadequate, cheap, or poorly designed system shoved down their throats; or were told they could dump hordes of fish and corals in their aquarium all at once. It is a regrettable fact that some aquarium stores thrive on your failures, not on your success. Wet Work’s clients are people just like you—people whose moments of success have instilled in them a desire to achieve it again, in spite of expensive and painful losses. Whatever your problem, we can fix it. However, just remember, nothing good in a reef aquarium happens quickly. An overnight disaster can take months to fix, but it can be done and we have the references to prove it.

Body of Work

Marine Pond 5640 - Front of the residence

Reef 99 - Thriving corals post-restoration

Reef 99 - A broad shot shows this system algae free and thriving

Reef 99 - End shot with a beautiful Euphyllia glabrescens waving in the current

Reef 479 - A small section of this large display

Reef 479 - Part of the upstairs equipment room

Reef 479 - The view from the dining room

Reef 453 - Top-down shot of healthy corals

Reef 453 - Just half of one side of this peninsula style display

Reef 453 - A fully custom system and the inception of unique lighting solutions

Reef 363 - A large female Pomacanthus imperator rules this display

Reef 363 - Careful specimen placement creates a natural reefscape

Reef 363 - Proper and consistent maintenance will always yield incredible results

Reef 325 - A macro shot of a healthy Porites porites specimen

Reef 325 - Exuma Sound is beautifully reflected in the glass of this Bahamian shoreline reef display

Reef 325 - The owner enjoys his indoor reef

Reef 296 - Just moments after filling this very deep display

Reef 296 - Highly porous ceramic reef allows unique reefscape solutions

Reef 296 - Carefully arranged equipment makes maintenance a breeze

Reef 2050 - This large aquarium and its stand are carefully moved into place

Reef 2050 - Still under construction, this system will be the focal point in this part of the residence

Reef 2050 - Careful routing and placement of all electrical components is critical

Reef 174 - A strip and re-fit restoration yields beautiful results

Reef 174 - View from the great room through the aquarium to the Louisiana bayou

Reef 174 - Sunroom side of the display

Reef 173 - Just half of a large Montipora spongodes grown from a small frag

Reef 173 - A restoration in a doctors' office

Reef 173 - Beautiful corals and healthy fish

Reef 137 - A reef development project within an already operational system

Reef 137 - Careful placement and occasional trimming are required in smaller displays

Reef 137 - The result of meticulous maintenance

Reef 121 - This sustainable system includes ceramic reef rock and Orphek LED lighting

Reef 121 - Unusual solutions are often required when cabinet space is limited

Reef 121 - Neatness always counts

Marine Pond 5640 - Primary return lines for this major architectural element

Marine Pond 5640 - Drain and return lines in the upper and lower sections of the pond

Marine Pond 5640 - Rear of the residence

Underwater Photography

A large colony of severely endangered Elkhorn coral

A juvenile Napoleon wrasse gets a grooming

Spectacular Acropora sp. colors

A highly unusual Porites formation

The iconic Moorish Idol

An ancient and massive Tridacna gigas

Schools of lyretail anthias populate a tabling Acropora specimen

Lavender sea squirt

Typical reef wall crowded with various filter-feeding species

A beautiful Symphillia specimen

Symphillia color patterns are highly variable

A large male Pomacanthus imperator patrols his territory

A pair of Amphiprion perideraion tend their eggs

Stylopora sp. and Seriotopora sp.

Space is crowded on Indonesian reefs

A beautiful red Lobophyllia colony

Species are often seen growing within other species in Raja Ampat

A typical section of reef

Colors and formations are infinitely variable

Acropora sp. macro

Acropor sp. macro

Crowded reef life

Diversity in Raja Ampat is unmatched

Pachyclavularia sp. macro

Acropora sp. macro

An aerial shot of the reef structures in Raja Ampat

This pregnant male dwarf seahorse is barely 1 cm long

A tiny goby rests on a colorful Mycedium specimen

Biography: F. Samuel Slobusky

Between dives, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, 2009

The journey of Wet Work essentially began when founder F. Samuel Slobusky went on his first dive in the Bahamas at the age of 11. Tethered to a hookah rig, he found this crystalline and colorful world vastly different from snorkeling in the canal behind his home near Biscayne Bay. Already an avid reader at that age, Sam started gathering as much information as he could about the underwater world. Just before his 13th birthday he joined his father and a group of his friends in a SCUBA certification class taught by retired Navy diver Dick Rutkowski and received his NAUI Junior SCUBA Diver certification card on his 13th birthday. Trips to the Bahamas at that time were nearly weekly and as Sam’s skills as a diver improved, so did his passion for the marine and reef environment. Happy to see the Boa Constrictors go, Sam’s mother bought him his first saltwater aquarium the following Christmas — a 30-gallon tank on a metal stand with an under gravel filter and a copy of “The Saltwater Aquarium in the Home” by Robert P. L. Straughn. Not having much luck with this, he further sought the expert advice of Dick Boyd, a true pioneer in the hobby decades ahead of his time. Mr. Boyd became his mentor and as Sam’s knowledge grew, so did his successes. Summers were spent at Seacamp on Big Pine Key and no opportunity was ever missed to be underwater and every volume published on the subject was rabidly consumed.

New interests in architecture and design formed which led Sam to architecture school but his love of the sea never diminished. A move to St. Thomas, USVI allowed the diving and research to continue, occasionally tagging along underwater with the Atlantis submarine and Bono the pet barracuda. After a move to New Orleans, Sam set up a small version of Walter Adey’s reef microcosm system in the Marine Systems Lab at the Smithsonian. Using atypical natural methods, the system was a success and proved which combinations of technologies yielded the best results. Sam continues to stay abreast of and test the latest technology and innovations in the hobby so his clients can enjoy the benefits.

Six months after Hurricane Katrina, a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, specifically Heron Island, was a dream come true for Sam. During a brief association with a local aquarium store, he decided there had to be a more involved approach to a relationship with a client, to succeed through their success rather than through their failures. Wet Work LLC was formed in November 2007. The mission: to closely work with a select clientele; apply a “client-for-life” approach; design for the clients’ desires but not at the expense of the systems’ ability to sustain life and effectively grow; to ensure the strictest attention to every detail; and to guide the client for as long as they wished toward success. Then, to further his knowledge, he undertook an adventure to the remote Raja Ampat area of Western Papua, Indonesia to dive what have been documented as the most bio-diverse marine environments on the planet. It took four days to reach Kri Island. They literally had to drag him out of the water at the end of each dive.

“There is no greater fortune than being able to do what one truly loves for a living. My work is my passion. I have traveled to wonderful places, met and worked with wonderful people, watched systems grow and develop, and watched clients’ knowledge and enjoyment simultaneously grow. This is the ultimate reward for what I do — seeing their understanding and knowledge grow so when they look through that glass, they genuinely understand the complexities of what is taking place on the other side of it.” — F. Samuel Slobusky

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

Contact

F. Samuel Slobusky, Owner | Wet Work LLC
New Orleans, Louisiana | (504) 458-3019
LA License # & Insurance Policy # Upon Request

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