Coralife 65 Floor Flooder

[b-diddy]

Hey everyone.

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right spot - sorry if I'm not.

I purchased a coralife 65 a few months ago and this week it decided to blow up and flood my hardwood. I've sent Coralife an e-mail asking them what they're going to do for me and haven't heard a response back.

It seemed to be working fine before this but was a little finicky with the adjustment knob. Anyone heard anything about these in the past?

Ugh. I'm hoping this doesn't make it to small claims court but but I haven't heard back by Friday it looks like it'll end up going that route.

Who makes a good Protein Skimmer that I should look at for my 50 gallon. It'll have to be a hang on. I'm on a bit of a budget so bang for my buck suggestions would be great!

Thanks everyone!

[Myka]

You won't win in court, but good luck trying. A ballast can burn up and burn your house down, and you won't win in court. The only thing that will cover your butt is homeowner's insurance, and it has to cover aquariums in particular. If you don't have that, then you just got "lesson learned".

But ya, those Coralife skimmers are well known to flood floors.

Being a carpenter by trade, if your hardwood was installed properly, and it is high quality hardwood finished on four sides (not the cheap $3-5/ft stuff) then once it dries completely (like a couple weeks) then any warping should go back for the most part. It will probably still be noticable when pointed out though. If it stained, then it's not finished on four sides, and that won't come out.

[wetcoast]

How did the skimmer blow up? Did the chamber crack? Or just overflow?

[Joe Reefer]

Good Luck!

[Pier Pressure]

Sorry to hear about your luck. I had a 150 gallon blow up a couple months ago so I know where you are coming from.

Good luck getting anything for damages. You will be lucky if you get your money back on the tank. No court is going to hold the manufacturer liable for any damage to your home. You agree to take the risk when you purchase an aquarium. FYI save yourself the $100 - $200 (depending on how much you are claiming) filing fee in small claims court.

[Parker]

Floods are inevitable in this hobby, everyone ussualy has at least one. You have to learn from your mistakes and move on, Me, I'm a slow learner and I have had several. With the CSS 65 you might want to drill a hole in the collection cup and put a drain line into a bucket. It will buy you more time when the skimmer does act up..and they do. Be very carefull drilling the hole as the cup could crack on you.

[b-diddy]

If they're selling a product with a defect that is known, common, or regularily occurring they're negligent in continuing to sell it.

"Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for injuries (not accidents). Negligence is a type of tort or delict (also known as a civil wrong). However, the concept is also sometimes used in criminal law as well. "Negligence" is generally defined as conduct that is culpable because it falls short of what a reasonable person would do to protect another individual from a foreseeable risks of harm. Through civil litigation, if an injured person proves that another person acted negligently to cause his injury, he can recover damages to compensate for his harm. Proving a case for neligence can potentially entitle the injured plaintiff to compensation for harm to their body, property, mental well-being, financial status, or intimate relationships. However, because negligence cases are very fact-specific, this general definition does not fully explain the concept of when the law will require one person to compensate another for losses caused by accidental injury. Further, the law of negligence at common law is only one aspect of the law of liability. Although resulting damages must be proved in order to recover compensation in a negligence action, the nature and extent of those damages are not the primary focus of negligence cases."


Would a reasonable person sell a product that was known to malfunction? Of course not.

They would be found liable in court and I work in the industry - I'm not looking for legal advice on a fish forum; just wanted some input if this was a common problem or not.

Any help would be appreciated.

[b-diddy]

Originally Posted by wetcoast

How did the skimmer blow up? Did the chamber crack? Or just overflow?

It just filled up and overflowed. No warning. No explanation.

This wasn't the most expensive skimmer on the planet but I didn't expect it to cost me 5000 sq feet of hardwood!

[rjanzen]

I bought this same skimmer and also had floods. The problem is when salt builds up in the air intake nozzle and blocks the flow of air into the powerhead. If you place your finger over the air intake, you will see the collection cup rapidly fill with water. If you poke a toothpick once a week into the air intake you should not have any floods.

[Brent F]

A fix for it is to drill a hose near the top of the collecton cup and install an overflow line back to your sump. That way, if something goes wrong and the skimmer starts pumping water into the cup it won't end up on the floor. I had to do that with my Corallife 220 and my Red Sea Prism (which is far worse for overflowing).

The last time I had a problem with mine was when I added a large rock to the tank. It raised the water level in the sump enough to cause the skimmer to start filling the cup with water. I heard it and was able to turn it off without a flood.

The key to the corallife working correctly is stable water levels