Friendly reminder: Check your plumbing!

[ashr]

So I just wanted to send everyone a friendly reminder to always check your plumbing lines when your doing your weekly maintenance.

We had a leak from a pipe line bust on us last night away 12:00pm and if I would have been up to catch it i would have lost 30 or so gallons... What a mess it made ! But if I would have been checking on these regularly it wouldn't have happened!!

Just a friendly reminder

[ashr]

Now that I cannot edit my post..
I meant to say,

if I would have not been up to catch it, it would have left a large mess..

[kien]

That's a good PSA (Public Service Announcement). Although, I had to double check to be sure you were still talking about reefing..

I suppose it's a good idea to check, reefing or otherwise.

[ashr]

haha My bad, I wrote it pretty quick and I suppose i should have taken my time, but it works for both!!

[sphelps]

If a pipe suddenly burst or broke free how would weekly inspections prevent it? Also what kind of pipe were you using that would actually burst from an aquarium application?

[ashr]

By checking your plumbing and seals you can see if anything is coming lose or degrading. These things do happen you know.. haha

Also it was from my pump to my chiller. It came undone.. the silicon didnt hold and the force of the pump blew it apart.

[sphelps]

I see, it sounded like you were describing an actual burst pipe which seemed unlikely is all. While I agree checking plumbing may not be a bad idea I don't feel it's necessary when done properly. 90% of the plumbing in your home is concealed behind walls or other obstacles making checking virtually impossible without destroying something. This plumbing is put under much higher pressure and temperature loads than our aquariums yet it lasts for decades without issue if done correctly.

A better suggestion would be doing things right the first time to avoid devastating failures that can ruin your home. Using silicone to attach hoses to pumps is a bad idea and, as you now know, likely to fail. Using appropriate hose clamps or hard glued PVC fittings is the proper way to do things.

[JetJumper]

I second this! I had a line let go on a pump that was 1500gph and it shot right near a powerbar. We all know what power and saltwater do right? wasn't pretty.. I was pretty "anal" about my wiring as well which was all nicely tie wrapped and set a side.. however I never thought of a pump line letting go like that..

Ever seen a T5 fixture that is on a PC4 from digital aquatics get wet? you don't want to.. its like an indoor LIGHTNING show!!! I had to kill the power to it which I needed to step in the water.. that wasn't fun.. quite the shock.. again, this happens normally at night.. it was 3:00AM. My Wife heard it as she is a light sleeper.

Triple check the pipes!!!!!!!!!!

[jtbadco]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I see, it sounded like you were describing an actual burst pipe which seemed unlikely is all. While I agree checking plumbing may not be a bad idea I don't feel it's necessary when done properly. 90% of the plumbing in your home is concealed behind walls or other obstacles making checking virtually impossible without destroying something. This plumbing is put under much higher pressure and temperature loads than our aquariums yet it lasts for decades without issue if done correctly.

A better suggestion would be doing things right the first time to avoid devastating failures that can ruin your home. Using silicone to attach hoses to pumps is a bad idea and, as you now know, likely to fail. Using appropriate hose clamps or hard glued PVC fittings is the proper way to do things.

I understand what you are saying but it hardly the same thing comparing house plumbing and aquarium plumbing.
In a perfect world all of our plumbing would be done perfectly the first time but we all know this is far from a perfect world. So for everyone else, take the time to check your fittings and hoses any time you have a chance, better safe than sorry.

I think it was sound advice, other contributions notwithstanding.

[sphelps]

It is the same, why would a leak in your aquarium plumbing be more acceptable than your household? We often use or at least we can use the same parts that are used in residential and commercial plumbing applications, there is no reason to lower your standards. I don't mean to critical but if something was executed poorly the solution is not increased inspection which to be frank won't do anything. The solution is to fix the problem, the cost of doing so is often very little and it makes no sense risking all kinds of damage that can result from not doing so.