Biggest idiot mistake so far...

Salted Tank · Feb 13, 2021

So we are about to leave for the week at 5am EST tomorrow... at 11:30pm tonight I was doing the LAST thing on my to do list before we leave... water change. I empty about 2/3 of the water in my 10g AIO and go to get my jug of water... oh $h1+!!! I AM OUT OF SALT WATER! I had to siphon what little salt water I had in the back of the overflow into the main tank to at least try to cover my rock work. The top inch of rock is out of water so I put plastic wrap over the bit sticking out to try to keep it moist until tomorrow morning. So it looks like I’m not going to leave for my trip on time tomorrow. I’m delayed until 10am when my LFS opens. I just hope the bacteria that dies on the exposed glass doesn’t affect the tank too much. Moral of the story, don’t be an idiot. Check to make sure you have saltwater before you do a water change. Empty jugs can look full. ;(

Edit: powerhead is in bottom 1/3 of water and is on low. I also moved the heater into the main tank. This should keep everyone safe until I can get the tank full again tomorrow morning.

HD_Reefer · Feb 13, 2021

Salted Tank said:
So we are about to leave for the week at 5am EST tomorrow... at 11:30pm tonight I was doing the LAST thing on my to do list before we leave... water change. I empty about 2/3 of the water in my 10g AIO and go to get my jug of water... oh $h1+!!! I AM OUT OF SALT WATER! I had to siphon what little salt water I had in the back of the overflow into the main tank to at least try to cover my rock work. The top inch of rock is out of water so I put plastic wrap over the bit sticking out to try to keep it moist until tomorrow morning. So it looks like I’m not going to leave for my trip on time tomorrow. I’m delayed until 10am when my LFS opens. I just hope the bacteria that dies on the exposed glass doesn’t affect the tank too much. Moral of the story, don’t be an idiot. Check to make sure you have saltwater before you do a water change. Empty jugs can look full. ;(

Edit: powerhead is in bottom 1/3 of water and is on low. I also moved the heater into the main tank. This should keep everyone safe until I can get the tank full again tomorrow morning.

Been there, done that. You're not an idiot!