Tank scare! Share your stories!

THESTRZA · May 26, 2023

Wanted to share my evening!!

As I turned my pumps off to feed my coral I somehow had my ato hose dip under the water level and it began to siphon my tank on the floor! Luckily it was only a couple of gallons, but naturally I thought there may have been a small crack in the tank! What a helpless feeling that is!!!!!

Share stories some of some scares you may have had with your tank or if you just happened to be in the right place at the right time for failing equipment, etc.

SnazzyUrchin792 · May 26, 2023

I once confused a piece of equipment with a escaped snail

SnazzyUrchin792 · May 26, 2023

That was worded awkwardly. I meant I thought a piece of equipment was a snail

Northern Flicker · May 26, 2023

Zachary2008 said:
That was worded awkwardly. I meant I thought a piece of equipment was a snail

I’m honesty still confused

PhishMonger84 · Jun 30, 2023

turned on my return pump in an AIO prior to connecting it to the return flow nozzle, i had a geyser for a few minutes before i realized what was happening.

Slocke · Jun 30, 2023

This week I managed to accidentally pull the temperature sensor out of the tank. Didn’t realize until the next day and my tank was 87F.
Luckily only lost a torch that wasn’t happy to begin with.

PhishMonger84 · Jun 30, 2023

Slocke said:
This week I managed to accidentally pull the temperature sensor out of the tank. Didn’t realize until the next day and my tank was 87F.
Luckily only lost a torch that wasn’t happy to begin with.

I've done that too!

THESTRZA · Jun 30, 2023

Slocke said:
This week I managed to accidentally pull the temperature sensor out of the tank. Didn’t realize until the next day and my tank was 87F.
Luckily only lost a torch that wasn’t happy to begin with.

Oh man!! That for me is my fear as my tank is pretty well automated. When life gets busy it is easy to let things slip!

snorklr · Jul 1, 2023

bought a used chiller from a LFS...we ran it in a bucket at the store to make sure it worked...flushed it and hooked it up...the next morning the tank was covered in condensation and looked like a nice frosty beer mug...fortunately only clean up crew at the time...the temp sender in the unit was bad, and epoxied into the titanium coil...didnt want to deal with that so went for a probe in the tank, but that required an updated circuit board....so that was an extra 200 bucks...

WestMI-Reefer · Jul 1, 2023

Dropped something on top of this and cracked the glass a couple weeks ago. Active leak. I cut the plumbing off and took the top off. Now im thinking about drilling the back glass to connect the overflow. It’s always something, but that one scared me.

Gumbies R Us · Jul 28, 2023

WestMI-Reefer said:
Dropped something on top of this and cracked the glass a couple weeks ago. Active leak. I cut the plumbing off and took the top off. Now im thinking about drilling the back glass to connect the overflow. It’s always something, but that one scared me.

I could see that causing a scare!

Nate Chalk · Jul 28, 2023

THESTRZA said:
Wanted to share my evening!!

As I turned my pumps off to feed my coral I somehow had my ato hose dip under the water level and it began to siphon my tank on the floor! Luckily it was only a couple of gallons, but naturally I thought there may have been a small crack in the tank! What a helpless feeling that is!!!!!

Share stories some of some scares you may have had with your tank or if you just happened to be in the right place at the right time for failing equipment, etc.

We once came back from vacation. With my highly undersized sump at the top . Skimmer blowing fish poop foam right out on the floor about 4 ft from the tank.

That was fun.

Plenty of spilled water.

Since then built a highly oversized sump myself. And wa la no problem!

Gumbies R Us · Jul 28, 2023

Nate Chalk said:
We once came back from vacation. With my highly undersized sump at the top . Skimmer blowing fish poop foam right out on the floor about 4 ft from the tank.

That was fun.

Plenty of spilled water.

Since then built a highly oversized sump myself. And wa la no problem!

That would be something to come home too

PicassoClown04 · Jul 28, 2023

Nate Chalk said:
We once came back from vacation. With my highly undersized sump at the top . Skimmer blowing fish poop foam right out on the floor about 4 ft from the tank.

That was fun.

Plenty of spilled water.

Since then built a highly oversized sump myself. And wa la no problem!

France Flirting GIF by Robert E Blackmon

pezgal · Jul 28, 2023

Zachary2008 said:
That was worded awkwardly. I meant I thought a piece of equipment was a snail

I could probably mistake my giant turbo with a powerhead if I didn't have my glasses on. He's very close in size and general shape. Usually he's doing his best to knock everything in the tank over though.

Alexraptor · Jul 28, 2023

My maroon clown once bit me while I was working on my 15 gallon, and I "almost" tipped it over me when I lurched back.

littlefoxx · Jul 28, 2023

THESTRZA said:
Wanted to share my evening!!

As I turned my pumps off to feed my coral I somehow had my ato hose dip under the water level and it began to siphon my tank on the floor! Luckily it was only a couple of gallons, but naturally I thought there may have been a small crack in the tank! What a helpless feeling that is!!!!!

Share stories some of some scares you may have had with your tank or if you just happened to be in the right place at the right time for failing equipment, etc.

My house outlets are sketchy at best, the best one is what I use for my tank. Went out in the middle of the night, like everything! Only reason I knew was cause my reefbeat app for my red sea lights alerted me to a connection issue. Went down to check it out and was like OH S*** and was able to “tap” the plug in the outlet to get it going again. Thought it was a power cord thing so ordered a new one with surge protector. Turns out our house is having issues with the breaker and we need an electrician… no issue with the new plug in so far but scary for sure!

littlefoxx · Jul 28, 2023

Alexraptor said:
My maroon clown once bit me while I was working on my 15 gallon, and I "almost" tipped it over me when I lurched back.

Lol my female picasso bit me for the first time a while ago and I flung my hand back so fast that I smacked my elbow on the corner of the wall behind me, the same elbow I had re constructive surgery on! Grabbed the rim of the tank on accident and felt it tip a little on me and let go! Tanks a 125… that would have been a mess

SnazzyUrchin792 · Jul 28, 2023

Just tonight, my whitetail damsel bit me while I was introducing a new tuxedo urchin to the tank. I dropped the urchin, and it fell several inches, bounced off a rock, and fell several more inches onto the sand.

THESTRZA · Jul 30, 2023

littlefoxx said:
My house outlets are sketchy at best, the best one is what I use for my tank. Went out in the middle of the night, like everything! Only reason I knew was cause my reefbeat app for my red sea lights alerted me to a connection issue. Went down to check it out and was like OH S*** and was able to “tap” the plug in the outlet to get it going again. Thought it was a power cord thing so ordered a new one with surge protector. Turns out our house is having issues with the breaker and we need an electrician… no issue with the new plug in so far but scary for sure!

Stress!!!!!!!!!!! I love automation, but sometimes I get really nervous relying so heavy on it!!

Zachary2008 said:
Just tonight, my whitetail damsel bit me while I was introducing a new tuxedo urchin to the tank. I dropped the urchin, and it fell several inches, bounced off a rock, and fell several more inches onto the sand.

Yikes! Never a good feeling getting bit/ hitting something sharp in the tank. I wear gloves most the time, but if it is a quick thing I usually don't