What's the dumbest thing you've done?

[Joe Reefer]

Thats some good stuff.

It took me at least 10 times to stop unpluging stuff with wet hands.

30 gallons of water spilled on the floor takes longer to clean up than you would think.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by Ruth

Oh the things that I have done. It's actually probably a miracle that I am still alive.
Had a filstar canister filter on my old 75g. and decided to do a water change and general cleaning right after I had my Sunday morning cup of Java. Still in my PJ's and bare feet I niftily completed the water change - cleaned the filter and replaced media - closed it back up - went and grabbed my cup of coffee - and fired it all back up. Did you know that if you don't check those retarded canister filters carefully to make sure that the large O ring is in place it can spray an amazing amount of salt water out onto the floor in an amazingly short period of time - we're talking seconds here? Did you also know that salt water is an excellent conductor of electricity? Things I now know - I can levitate - with a full cup of coffee - and scream a high pitched squeel just like a little girl.

Oh and another one - I was retrieving a coral in my 230g that had fallen to the very bottom in the middle under the center brace. This requires that I stand on a chair and to actually reach the coral I had to turn my body sideways to get the most possible reach. As I was making a quick stab for the coral my long spined urchin appeared out of no where and I rammed one spine right under my middle finger nail and about 3 others in various digets. Like any sane person I immediately removed my hand from the source of the pain very quickly at the same time taking a large step backwards........into thin air.

I could go on but you probably get the picture........some things are just better forgotten.

Oh my god, Ruth....you had me laughing outloud

[Skimmerking]

First got my 120 going and hoked up the RO/DI unit couldnt figure out why i wasnt getting any water OH YA dumb ass me for got to take the wrapper of the pre filter's ,but guess what it worked great after I took them off...

[adidas]

the dumbest thing i've ever done happened when i was new to the hobby...

my first tank move, I had to store my fish in a rubbermaid container overnight... I just left them in with a heater and the lid on....No airstones, powerheads... my Unicorn tang died Stupid!!!!

[adidas]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I mean the thing the collection cup drains into, that has a ping-pong ball that closes the air exhaust when it fills, which basically shuts off the skimmer.

tell me more about this awesome device

[Delphinus]

This is the one I'm using, http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s..._ID=ps-pmpw410

There's a larger version made by PM as well, as well as a number of other brands that sell the same thing.

The collection cup drains into this thing. There is an "exhaust" port that has a ping pong ball that floats. If the waste collector fills up, the ping pong ball floats and pushes up against the exhaust port. (It's basically a low-tech "foot valve.") Then air can't escape out, which puts back pressure on the skimmer, and the skimmer can't produce foam against the backpressure. So although the skimmer is still "running" per se, it's effectively "shut down" until you empty the waste collector.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Very cool. Never seen that before. See, you learn something new every day, even if someone else had to learn the hard way first

[justinl]

dumbest thing ive done. HA. well a week ago i got a carpenters wrasse. four days ago it died. I thought nothing of it. today i just noticed that i have a massive ich outbreak. my damsel is freaked enough that i can't get a good look at her. my foxface looks like it dipped its fins in the sugar bowl (on the body there are white spots surrounded by brown flesh... i assume that's bad). my new puffer (two days) has mild ich around its mouth and dorsal fin.

lesson of the day: QUARANTINE THE F***ING FISH!!! i thought i could skimp on it and now it's costing me and my fish.

[Doug]

Been doing this for so long, I have done most of the things mentioned.

Left the water maker running when going out, despite putting a note on the door to turn it off.

Cranked the skimmer up just before leaving. This was pre-waste collector.

Not understanding the relationship of the alkaline well water and ro with no di resin and the higher levels of alk. in some salt mixes. Took a couple years and several lighting/tank combo,s to figure this one out, despite all my experience.

Scratching my new starfire 180 cube before water was even in.

Sigh, I could go on.

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Doug

Scratching my new starfire 180 cube before water was even in.

ouch!