i feel absolutely defeated

[LuckyReefer]

i’m switching things around in my setup i finally got the sump and skimmer setup i wanted, at first i buy a too powerful pump so i decided to go with the new AI axis 40, great pump has a lot of settings to get it dialed in perfectly which is great. However moving wires around i turned off my power strip which caused the pump to overflow my sump for just a second until i caught it but i guess it was too late i’m assuming the controller got wet which i never planned on using anyways since it has bluetooth capabilities but now i’m back to square one with no pump no filtration so i had to just buy an emergency pump from amazon until i can hopefully return this or just get a new controller.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Accidents happen, you learn from them. Unfortunately the hard way.

 

[Bruttall]

I find it ironically frustrating that so many of the products we use to keep our tanks healthy are ruined if they get wet or submerged in water. Recently dropped the controller for a DCT6000 Jebao in the water and fried it, same with a Pinpoint Salinity Meter.

 

[Nano_Man]

Oh keep going over the years I have had some mistakes some my fault some out of my hands . First sump I had over flowed for 20 minutes before I found out The bad bit was it was 2 floors up and starting to come down room by room this was 25 years ago and my wife still reminds me so when I am doing anything to the tanks first of all I think what if this fails what is it going to do . So it definitely learnt me

 

[Gill the 3rd]

I dropped my fair share of power bricks into the sump when moving stuff around. They were never plugged in, but I had to replace them. Now that I have a fish room, I don't keep any electronics over the sump for this reason.

 

[kevgib67]

Sorry, this hobby has its frustrations but all the wins more than make up for it. While doing a water change I somehow got what on my powe rstrip, fortunately my daughter saw and smelled smoke so it was resolved quickly.

 

[Joe31415]

An important lesson here is to make sure you can always pull the plug on your return pump without the sump overflowing.
One of the easy ways to mitigate that is to make sure the return jet is out of the water (or otherwise as high as it can be), since it'll siphon water out of the DT until it starts sucking air in. I know you can get check valves and vacuum breakers or you can drill a small hole in the return tubing, but IMO, it's still best to make sure the sump can handle the water.

Also, OP, in the situation you were in, with the return stopped and water pouring into the sump, the fastest way to fix that is to move the return nozzle out of the water. At least for me, it's easier to reach into the tank and lift the return nozzle (just until it draws in air, then you can put it back where it was) than it is to try and get the return pump plugged in and wait for it to start moving water.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Murphy makes his share of appearances in the hobby. We plan for and hope for best but despite the failure and setbacks, we still reef on. Rinse, wash, learn, repeat. Good luck

 

[LuckyReefer]

yeah i found this out watching my brother in law set his up i was just so distracted while moving stuff around, i’m using a wifi outlet and i accidentally hit the button to reset it and that made my outlet siphon the water out and it barely barely overflowed until i caught it but it barely got the controller wet so the pump is absolutely useless at this point kinda mad i legit just got it yesterday and had everything finally set up then i get hit with that just super super frustrating.

 

[exnisstech]

If your sump and tank are set up correctly it should never be able to overflow. I have 3 systems with sumps and none can overflow regardless of conditions. Well if I forget to turn the water off when refilling they could but that's the only time.
If yours is overflowing when the pump is turned off (which it's sounds like) then you need a syphon break on the return line or a smaller return chamber. I use both.

 

[LuckyReefer]

so to fix that should i drill a hole in my outlet right above the water line? i have a check valve on my overflow which i later found out i didn’t even need so i’m gonna go ahead and remove that which is all hard plumbed. my outlet is vinyl tubing so is that my best option so that doesn’t happen again?

 

[hexcolor reef]

Not to long ago my main control module for my dosing pump fell in the water the same day I purchased more attachments for it. I had to waste money on another main module which sucked. I could’ve used that cash on something else

 

[exnisstech]

so to fix that should i drill a hole in my outlet right above the water line? i have a check valve on my overflow which i later found out i didn’t even need so i’m gonna go ahead and remove that which is all hard plumbed. my outlet is vinyl tubing so is that my best option so that doesn’t happen again?

Do you have any hard plumbing like a nozzle? The hole / syphon break can be just under the surface otherwise there will be a little stream of water when the pump is on. You just need to make sure the hole is pointed toward the back glass and even slightly downward helps. Don't drill a hole angling upward like my first one
EDIT : sorry about the controller. I dropped my new phone in the tank taking pictures once. It was supposed to be somewhat waterproof but the USB port didn't like saltwater.