Last night's water change could have gone better.
I have the cord for a power head threaded through an enlarged hole in the egg crate cover. So in order to remove the egg crate to get in and clean the tank I need to thread the plug back through the hole. As I am attempting to do this, the middle of the cord fell onto one of my large clams which promptly snapped close on the cable. I patiently wait for him to open up enough so I can remove the cable and get the egg crate off the tank, but every time I try he snaps shut again. I finally move on and try to do the cleaning from the other half of the tank and let him chew on the cable all night if he wants!
Next, I decide to clean the inside part of the exterior portion of my overflow box with a sponge pad. I get it clean, and head down to the basement to add the new water to the sump. I add enough so that the intake can draw water and restart the return pump. I have most of it added and the water is returning to the sump from the display so I figure everything is fine and add the rest. I start fiddling with something else and after a few minutes I realize that I can no longer hear the water splashing into the sump from the display tank. Upstairs I go to see whats up, and of course I have a beautiful waterfall cascading down the side of the tank. I dash back downstairs and yank the cord on the pump, and go back to investigate what the problem is. My wonderful wife and heard my "language" from the kitchen and was already mopping up with towels. Anyways, turns out I had left the sponge pad on the edge of the overflow box, and of course it ended up IN the overflow box and blocked the return.
So along with my wive's help, I finished the water change and commenced to draining a bottle of Pinot Noir.
Oh ya, and I finally removed the power cord from the clams yap this morning!
