Stupid accidents that you have made...

[2_much_junk_in_the_sump]

I set my new AI Prime 16 down on the couch while I waited for the app to go through its several minutes long start up procedure. I came back to a smoking couch because the program auto starts at 100%. I feel like this should not be the default setting.

I did the same thing with a used hydra 32. I was testing it and put it on piece of cardboard light side down and it came on full blast so I went to unplug it. It was on the cardboard for maybe 5-10 seconds and it was burn through entirely and smoking. It's amazing how hot they get.

 

[Javi89]

Bought a jaw fish once and didn’t do the research that indicated they’re jumpers . After a week he went missing . After two weeks I was cleaning around my stand and found him dried up on the back side floor .

 

[210 Reef Tank]

I have learned to Never walk away from a reservior being topped off. As I get older I get more and more forgetful. You guessed it water all over the floor. Fortunately my tank is in my garage mancave. No worries its heated and air conditioned plus a concrete floor with drains in the floor. Now I know why my wife said No way to having the tank in the house.

 

[WVNed]

I put 60 gallons in the floor yesterday when my refugium overflow plugged with ulva.
That little Maxijet 1200 is such a hard worker. Pumped my system right down in a few hours.

No damage done. I planned for my own senility as well.

 

[User1]

I have a post to a similar thread here somewhere that I can't seem to find. Go figure. If I had a build thread it would be there. Never the less the long and short of it is this.

I asked for help, my daughter said yes but needed a minute, and me in being impatient did it solo. As she walks in to help, I'm on the ladder, and the light fixture is ever so gently waving left and to the right as it hits the bottom of our tank with a puff of sand...

She yells DAD, what the f... and I reply yeah as she quickly reacts to reach in (30" deep tank mind you and she is all of 5'2), pull it out, searches what to do (dang kids and the internet), runs it outside and gives it a bath in RODI water. Wipes it down, gives it another dunk for good measure, wipes it down again, lets it set for a few days, and it is still working today. It is a DIY multi channel using Blue Acro chips so the array and fan Good stuff.

 

[JoeJoesonoma]

I used my acclimation hose to fill up a bucket to transport some fish to my lfs. Was in such a hurry I forgot to pull the hose out from the tank. I was gone for 1.5hrs. Came home to around 20 gallons on the floor. Lesson learned.

 

[CaptainCooke]

Absentmindedly tossed the test liquid from my Hanna Checker Ca test into the tank rather than the glass next to the tank. I was tired and just on autopilot and somehow autopilot went way wrong. It was a definite “omg what did I just do” moment. I did a few super huge water changes and everything seemed to open back up after about a week. I did lose two chromis and a royal gamma.

 

[Midrats]

One time I bought a bucket of balls at the driving range and didn't put the bucket under the chute.

 

[ahiggins]

Like most of us, watching TV while the RO unit is running!!
YOU CAN GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT !!

Omg this is the worst!! I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to frantically check it

 

[cancun]

OMG! This is a great thread! My most recent one.....my 9 inch Red Coris Wrasse I raised from a 1 inch Juvi....my husband and I were sitting here watching TV....we both heard a bang and then a thump....looked over at the tank...lights were off for the night... didn't think anything. Got up the next day....no Wrasse....low and behold there he was dead on the floor behind the tank. I have a (so I thought) tight fitting Clearview lid on my tank. I guess I didn't have it sitting in there right or something. I was totally bummed for months! BTW....that's one of many over the years! The important thing is too learn from them!

Of course I did do the leave the RODI running all night thing....just once though. My husband said at 3am..."did you turn the water off"? I looked like the woman in the cartoon!!!! LOL! Basement was soaked... luckily it is a unfinished basement!

 

[eleslie3]

RODI - check
skimmer overflow emptying sump - check
fish in overflow - check
jumping fish - check

 

[Beardo]

My list would be too long to type but a few notible accidents:

Cutting a large frag off a well encrusted frag plug with a new pair of clippers and went it let go took the tip off my left index finger with it. Wrong tool for the job, so now only use stubby bone cutters.

I pulled a piece of live rock from a tank after treating/quarantining all my fish following an ich outbreak and failed to account for all my fish. After dumping the rock into a bucket of bleach water realized I was missing my starry blenny which happened to be hiding in that piece of liverock. RIP.

The sellers of the house I currently live in, left a bunch of paint supplies and before I had a chance to dispose of it the bottom of a partially full 5 gallon can of paint thinner failed. Fumes in the garage were bad for quite awhile. about a month later, without giving it a thought, I put some Rox carbon in the sump, which happened to be stored in the garage. The lid wasn't on the carbon tightly (a 5 gallon bucket) and the next day my tank was suffering. Lost some of my favorite acros. Activated carbon does a good of job of absorbing contaminant from the air, volatile organic compounds in this case, as it does in water.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Hmmm. I wonder if this AI prime works now that i let it dry out for a couple months. Here, I will place it on my 3 month old hand made, all morise and tennon solid cherry nightstand with a waterfall bubinga veneer top.

Hey! It works!!! Like 5 seconds later.. SON OF A *#^#*$!!!

spent the weekend sanding and refinishing. Its the lights fault ,NOT mine.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

My list would be too long to type but a few notible accidents:

Cutting a large frag off a well encrusted frag plug with a new pair of clippers and went it let go took the tip off my left index finger with it. Wrong tool for the job, so now only use stubby bone cutters.

I pulled a piece of live rock from a tank after treating/quarantining all my fish following an ich outbreak and failed to account for all my fish. After dumping the rock into a bucket of bleach water realized I was missing my starry blenny which happened to be hiding in that piece of liverock. RIP.

The sellers of the house I currently live in, left a bunch of paint supplies and before I had a chance to dispose of it the bottom of a partially full 5 gallon can of paint thinner failed. Fumes in the garage were bad for quite awhile. about a month later, without giving it a thought, I put some Rox carbon in the sump, which happened to be stored in the garage. The lid wasn't on the carbon tightly (a 5 gallon bucket) and the next day my tank was suffering. Lost some of my favorite acros. Activated carbon does a good of job of absorbing contaminant from the air, volatile organic compounds in this case, as it does in water.

Ouch man. That sucks but great tip!!!

Actually, same goes for stored RO water. I have read that it being so pure it agressively binds to things.

 

[Drendo]

Wow, what a story. A true cautionary tale!

 

[Difrano]

My latest mishap happened last week, I added a used MP10 to my tank a few weeks ago that bought here on R2R, I was happy to install it, but decided to not zip tie the cable of the dry side to the tank until I was happy with the location of the MP10, days went and procrastinated the cables... one day will do it... until last week I was using my flipper and knocked out the wet side and I just was able to think oh **** the cable is not........ Bang the dry side dropped about 5 ft and hit the ceramic floor while running at around 90%... huge grinding noise. I said nah this is easy YouTube has videos on how replace bearings, ordered bearings replaced them same noise.... shaft bent and motor unbalanced... so I had to spend $120 buying a new dry side on saltwateraquarium.com..... so this used one is now more expensive than a new one......

 

[Maximitsurugi]

YOURE IN DEEP IN SKIMMATE

CHAPTER 1


1. Forgot to turn off the top off when doing a big water change.

2. Using a HOB overflow. Just...just don't.

3. Using a Toms Aqualifter pump without the pre filter.

4. Not maintaining Tom's Aqualifter pump. Clogs one day while I was out. Return keeps sending water, none going back into sump, Ato keeps going. Tank turns into an infinity pool and house turns into a swimming pool. Witness the moment wife turns into her mother.

5. Underestimating a gallon of water. A gallon in a jug looks like 10 on the floor.

6. Reaquascaping and moving your previously cute, mild mannered, Bruce Banner, Clownfish's house and watch him turn into the Incredible Hulk from that moment on.

7. Putting hand in tank with aforementioned Hulk Clownfish. You'll never get that side of the tank back. If my tank dies from old tank syndrome it's because I don't go over there no more.

8. Being excited about the gunk your new skimmer is pulling, wanting to show your buddies, and leaving it there, then change something with tank chemistry and watch it freak out and dump all the muck back into the tank. Fool!

9. Trusting the wife to put the filter socks in the washer that is supposedly completely soap free. Oooh look at all the pretty bubbles. Mad water changes and carbon stuffing ensues

10.Not realizing flatworms and Pocillopora larvae look pretty similar and nearly having a heart attack. Either way...both must die.

Chapter two out after enough sales of Chapter one.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Just recently I set up an observation tank for my fish coming out of qt. Had the "live rock" and water all ready, added the bacteria, left it for two days. Then realized I never added salt. So, begin again...

I also insisted that the electric shocks I was getting from the moonlights was just a fluke. Never mind that I would get shocked and it would trip a circuit too (thank goodness). The third time it was such a large shock, it put me on the ground. I removed the lights the next day. No shocks!

 

[Hugh Mann]

Hmm, let's see here.

Setting up my tank for the first time, mixed salt directly in the tank (no livestock), but forgot to account for the sand and rock displacement. SG of 1.038.

Not quarantining incoming livestock. Velvet, massive losses.

A couple of minor RO floods.

My solution to the RO, especially because mine is slow as heck (5 gallons in 4 hours), is I set it filling a 15 gallon bin, which I siphon into a 30 gallon bin in my basement slightly slower than the RO produces. I can run the thing constantly for over 24 hours without overflowing. As soon as I can source a food grade 50 gallon barrel (a rarity in my parts) I plan on going straight into that with a float valve.

A bit cumbersome perhaps, but I live alone so don't bother me none.

 

[KyRo]

I saw a little bit of bubble algae on a rock. Just the smallest couple bubbles and I said "ehhh i'll clean this up sometime". I forgot about it and it took over my whole tank. I was scraping my rocks for hours and this stuff was not coming off easily. Now I feel I'll have this problem forever.