Things you have found out the hard way - aquarium related

[Ruth]

I was replying to a post a while ago on RC and thought it would be funny to see what other people that don't rate high up there on the Intellectual scale. I know it's probably already been done buy hey - new day - new blunder. Anyway here is what I posted:

Did you know that if you forget to check that the o-ring on a Mag 350 cannister filter is on and it's not that it will start spewing water quite quickly in about a 3 foot radius? Did you also know that if you happen to be standing in that 3 foot puddle of water the electricity will travel through same puddle of water at an alarming speed and cause you to be able to levitate and scream like a little girl???

[Delphinus]

Did you know that if you're filling a tank with a hose hooked up to your laundry outlet, that you should periodically check the outlet end for leaks? Did you know that you can spill a LOT of water this way because you can't hear the water dripping over the sound of the water sloshing into the tank? Did you know that spouses get really annoyed when you soak their flooring?

[christyf5]

cause you to be able to levitate and scream like a little girl???

http://www3.telus.net/seamonkey68/laff.gif

Any skimmer adjustment made before going to bed is guaranteed to have some sort of overflow resulting in you hearing a giant sucking noise as your pumps run dry due to lack of water because the skimmer has sucked it all up and sent it into your skimmate collection bucket you have conveniently set up because you don't want to have to clean the cup too often :razz: This causes you to bolt upright in bed from a deep sleep and race down the stairs half awake, which usually involves you arms and legs akimbo at the bottom of the stairs because there is about 5-10 gallons of water on the floor which is a nice slippery tile. Not too shabby for 3am eh? :wink:

Luckily I haven't electrically levitated but I suppose I did scream like a girl considering I am one :razz:

Also this must happen at least 3-5 times before you learn anything from it :rolleyes:

Christy :)

[StirCrazy]

Did you know if you let your tank temp get to 115 degrees over night ... everything dies...... :rolleyes:


STeve

[BMW Rider]

Did you know that when you are doing a water change and drain the water down so that the glass heater is high and dry, it will kick on and heat up really hot so that when you add the new water in it will explode into a million pieces and cause you great panic because you:

1. realize that the GFCI outlet that you meant to install would have been a good thing since all that sizzling and popping and smoking that a broken heater under water makes can't be good or safe as you desperatly try to decipher the tangle of cords and determine which one is for the heater so you can yank it out of the power bar.
2. need to redo the whole water change and you don't have enough premixed water ready and must decide whether to let the poor fish stew in the now questionable water or risk doing the water change again with raw mixed water.
3. now do not have a heater in the tank and don't own a spare one and its not good timing because the stores are closed at this time of day and you can't get to a store to buy a new one until late the next day.

I did not know this either until I did it to my QT tank. (actually I probably did know but just didn't realize it).

[OCDP]

did you know that if you drop a set of lights into the water you'll both A) ruin your lights and B) shock the crap out of yourself?? Ok you guys are pretty smart... haha.... but did you know that once the initial shock is over with and you unplug your fixture to go grab it a second time, there is still a massive electric charge in the water therefore giving you another crazy bolt of electricity through your body?

ok so maybe you did know...... haha

ALSO.. did you know: Mr. Danny Zubot got to see me do this first hand? hahaha eeeesh

[Scavenger]

Just because something is concidered "reef safe" is is not necessarily "REEFER SAFE!" and on the same note, urchin spines are very hard to get out from under a finger nail!!

[Aquattro]

Did you know they make little clamp things to keep hoses on barb fittings? Did you know you need to use them or you get lots of water where it isn't supposed to go?

[Invigor]

did you know wearing bare feet on a concrete floor in the basement is a good way to find out if there's stray voltage in your tank?

another one I learned that's pretty widely known now:

did you know when you're setting up plumbing from the return pump all it takes is a tiny hole to make life sooo simple. when you unplug your return pump to make sure your sump doesn't overfill from the dropoff water, you find out the water from the tank starts sucking through your return pipes, so in a panic you plug the pump back in only to have your overflow NOT work and have water pour over the lip of the tank. So while maintaining a certain water level in the tank by plugging and unplugging the pump with one hand, you only have one other hand to find a way to break the syphon from your extremely well glued PVC pipe and when you finally do get the syphon broke, you're scared to try it again.

did you know a 1600gph pump in a 5gal pail isn't a good idea to mix water with while you're on the way out the door late for work.

[Jack]

Staggering home after a fun night out you realize you're using your old toothbrush that you clean your skimmer with.... and at that point don't care and continue. :lol:

[LostMind]

Staggering home after a fun night out you realize you're using your old toothbrush that you clean your skimmer with.... and at that point don't care and continue. :lol:

WINNING POST!! :)

that would be really disgusting...

[christyf5]

Staggering home after a fun night out you realize you're using your old toothbrush that you clean your skimmer with.... and at that point don't care and continue. :lol:

Ugh, that gives new meaning to the term "morning breath" :eek: :razz:

[Joe Reefer]

Staggering home after a fun night out you realize you're using your old toothbrush that you clean your skimmer with.... and at that point don't care and continue.
That is freakin hilarious!
:rofl:

[Ruth]

The probability of your large 6" Hippo tang taking taking a huge dump multiplies many fold the closer he gets to the suction hose that you are furiuosly sucking on the other end of!

[trilinearmipmap]

Actually I have found out that I can't run 3 plant tanks one breeding tank one fry tank and a reef tank and have a job and take care of three kids and a wife.

[marie]

did you know wearing bare feet on a concrete floor in the basement is a good way to find out if there's stray voltage in your tank?

ceramic tile, overflowing skimmer and bare feet is also a good way to discover a hole in the extension cord as well

[psuedo]

cats and fish tanks do not mix well if you have any wires or hoses hanging from them. This happened 3 or 4 years ago now, but the cats decided to chase each other behind the tank when in the middle of the night, and lets just say I woke up to an empty 77 gallon tank and a carpet with 77 gallons of water in it and a pump running dry.

The only good thing about that incident is I decided I hated cichlids and turned it into a reef :biggrin:

[Matt]

Did you know that too much water pressure is worse than not enough when you're installing an RO/DI? Did you know that even pure water will stain your clothes after it s(t)eeps through the kitchen floor into the basement laundry?

Did you know that the best way to make your telephone ring is to be up to your armpits in salt water?

Did you know that MH lights run pretty hot, and that you shouldn't touch the glass sheild when they're on?

And finally, did you know that idiot-proof assembly instructions only mean that they can prove you're an idiot?

[Griffin]

I have a problem with to much water

Did you know when filling a large garbage can with ro/di water takes about 9 hours. In knowing this when going to bed you still forget to shut it
off when you go to work in the morning causing a nice flood.
Remembering this you only fill the garbage can at night but after a couple hours you forget and go to bed waking up to a flood of nice clean water.
Making a large note to remind you to shut off the water and sticking it on the door only helped once.
After the clean up of the water and doing a water change you go to bed only to find you forgot to turn off the skimmer and it causes its own flood after the collection container overflows.

On a good note though - when having a power bar catch fire causing huge amounts of smoke - which will in turn causes the fire department to bust open the front door, not being able to see, go to the wrong end of the house and put 2 large holes in the wall behind the computers but come up with no fire - they head to the front room and use Co2 everywhere - which mixed with smoke kills all your livestock in your tank by morning - still no fire but the smoke is gone after busting out a window and opening the doors and using fans.
The next morning the cause of the fire is found - a expensive powerbar - but the heat from the fire melted a hole in the ro/di line making a perfect arc onto the power bar which either put it out or fueled the flame then put it out. Great - but the fire department failed to turn off the ro/di water and i had another flood. :lol:

Now i have a auto-shut-off for top ups and way to many spare towels but i know when its all running again i will find a way to make the floods return to my little corner of the world. :biggrin:

Jack wins though :lol: :lol: :lol:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Way to go Jack :lol: :lol: :lol:

Did you know that it is a bad idea to train your 14" Volitan Lionfish to eat from your hand, especially if you still have to clean the glass by hand (this was before magnetic algae scrappers were available)? Yup, used to have my Lion come up to eat smelts, squid, prawns & whatever other seafood I could get at the local shop. Then one day, I shoo him away with a net so I can clean his tank but my fish in another tank (I think it was a smooth horn shark) jumped & made a loud banging noise against its canopy. Of course I turn to look at the shark tank to see if the canopy was going to fall in or if it was carpet surfing. While I am suitably distracted, my friendly Lion swims over to see if I have a nice, tasty snack in my hand for him.

Yup, you guessed it. 2 poison filled dorsal spines jabbed into the middle finger (how appropriate :lol: ) of my right hand, since the smart guy that I am, I was still scrubbing algae when not paying attention to where the Lionfish was. Before I could even finish the thought "This is going to F...g hurt......" the poison hit & Holy Cr@ppers Batman did it hurt. Yank the arm out of the tank, get my buddies to take me to the ER at Mt. St. Joseph's & wait an hour in the waiting room while answering stupid questions like "Your mother's maiden name?"

Leave the hospital, call Poison Control & they tell me that "Poisons are enzymes, Enzymes are proteins & Proteins denature (break apart) when heated. So, sir, pour as hot a water on your arm as you can stand." Well at this point, I can bloody well stand almost boiling hot water. The poison was travelling up the arm & through the shoulder & I was begging my bro to cut off the arm before the poison hit my internal organs. So off to the kitchen to get 1st or 2nd degree burns from using water that was too hot, but what the heck, it worked. Poison broke up & the arm healed up nicely, blisters & all.

Needless to say, Mr. Lionfishy was traded back "cheap" the next day back to the LFS I originially bought him from. I think it was Paul's when they were still located on Kingsway & Earls.

Lesson learned. No poisonous fish. Now to just avoid my 2 very large long-spined urchins :eek:

Anthony :cry: :cry: :cry:

[OCDP]

Ouch Anthony... can't even imagine how badly that must have sucked/hurt. (or the other way around :lol: )

Now I know not to get a lionfish of any sort ! Beautiful... but clearly they can cause a lot of grief and pain.

[Johnny Reefer]

Did you know that there are two kinds of ScotchBrite scouring pads and that one is "Heavy Duty" and will scratch glass??!!

In the 90's I'd use the green "No Name" scouring pads for years on a FW 90 I had. No problem. Then switched to ScotchBrite, one day, 'cause the "No Names" were sold out. Got the green one 'cause that is what I always used. Green. Over time, scratches started appearing on the inside of the glass, but I just thought it was me getting bits of gravel stuck between the glass and the pad when I scrubbed down low, below the gravel line. I thought it was the gravel bits scratching the glass. So I made a mental note to be more careful not to get gravel bits stuck between the pad and the glass. But it just kept getting worse. More and more scratches. Finally, I clued in to check the packaging next time I was at the grocery store. Sure enough..."Heavy Duty" "Will Scratch Glass". And there's the blue ones, right beside them that says "Ideal For Glass". :redface: :rolleyes:
Did you know? I do!

Cheers,

[christyf5]

Don't leave frags to set on your eurobracing and then reach into the tank. The frag can attach to your armpit just as easily as it can bond to the frag plug, and crazy glue is itchy under there :razz:

Smooth move, Exlax :rolleyes:

[reeferaddict]

Some damn funny stuff here... most of which I have also experienced firsthand... Reading Christy's signature made me think...

Once you have released the smoke out of a piece of electronics, anybody know how hard it is to get it back in? :mrgreen:

Some of this ISN'T funny as it could be disasterous...

DRIP LOOPS... I found it amazing how quickly a power bar could flame up after being shorted out by saltwater... :redface:

Leak testing - I bought a used bowfront KNOWING it had a leak... I was pretty sure I fixed it, I filled it up on the balcony and everything seemed fine... so inside it went... moved the entire contents of another tank into it... things were just starting to look nice a couple of days later when I heard the ominous "crack".... followed by the unmistakeable gush of water flowing where I knew it shouldn't... (down to the power bar of course). :rolleyes: It's absolutely amazing how even after a long hard day one can get instantly motivated to save lives ... I would recommend NOT stepping in the pool of water until the breaker has been shut off... next time I leak tested for 2 weeks... :idea:

[WWWD]

wow you bought it even after a pile of people on the board told you that bowfronts are dangerious and inherantly leak?

[reeferaddict]

Yup.... I'm a pretty handy guy. :mrgreen: I knew it leaked when I bought it... just the first time I tried to fix it I thought I could get away with just fixing the one seam... turned out I was wrong. I ended up stripping and resealing the whole thing... no problems since I did a "proper job". I think you're right about bowfronts being more prone to leaking, but I honestly believe that's a quality control issue at the factory... Believe me... if it leaks again I will rethink things for sure.

[Ruth]

Maroon clowns can and do bite! This is especially dangerous when you are standing on a chair with a metal fondue fork poised to finally jab the dreaded black crab that has been evading you for months despite your far superiour intelligence and craftiness. It can cause you to pull your arm - fork and all out of the tank surprisingly quickly and take a giant step into.............midair. There is a reason that hardwood floors are called that - they are hard!

[HimSelf]

Do you know that after reading all these stories strange thoughts and images goes through a person’s mind when an unexpected sound comes from the direction of the fish tank?

Also not to mention that your heart skips not one but tow beats.

Funny but also scary stuff we have here. However I will keep on laughing until it happens to me one day (knocking on wood).

:mrgreen:

[reeferaddict]

This is just %$#@ great! :rolleyes: I gedda add another one....

When releasing your brand new nudibranch that you've been looking for for 3 months to kill those nasty flatworms into your high flow system, give him an opportunity to settle somewhere instead of being helplessly sucked through the water column into the oncoming rush of a Seio 1100... :eek: !!

Sometimes I just wanna stick my head right in and breathe real deep... :rolleyes: