Throwback Thursday: What was your most memorable reefkeeping 'oops' moment?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

What was your most memorable reefkeeping "oops" moment? Share your story here!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Building a tank stand upside down

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Touched an electrical outlet with a salty wet hand.

 

[blaxsun]

I mounted my new Radion XR10 G5 Blues on my two IM Fusion lagoon tanks and opted for the AB+ setting - using the defaults. After a week with the corals not looking so hot I asked my LFS and they suggested renting a PAR meter. Came in at around 1000 for the corals. Oops! (my crash introduction to PAR)

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Touched an electrical outlet with a salty wet hand.

Ouch! I bet that was shocking!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Building a tank stand upside down

I've built one backwards...at a reef show.

 

[ChiCity]

got a firm electrical handshake from an aqua clear hob filter when i jiggled the pump by its cable instead of just cleaning the impeller out on a regular basis

there are no shortcuts

 

[Doctorgori]

when I accidentally bought a Reefer G2…oops

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I've built one backwards...at a reef show.

I feel like it is pretty easy to do since all the pieces look similar and the instructions at times aren't the greatest haha

 

[ReefGeezer]

Trusted a swing arm hydrometer... killed some decent colonies of Birdsnests and Monti Caps & Digis.

When I owned an LFS, I built a 300 gallon storage vessel/mixing station with the intention of selling premade saltwater. Filled it one evening and went home for the night. When I got back to the shop the next morning the staff was mopping up the water that flooded the equipment room because the bottom fitting in the new vessel had failed. I was not very popular that morning.

 

[topjimmy]

Like 99.999 of kalk in the ATO people, I nuked a tank when the pump didn't switch off.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

Overflowing my brute can while doing a water change on the fowlr tank. On my nice expensive cork flooring (which has NO business being in a fish room).

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Flooding the basement while making RODI. I've done that twice now.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

My most boneheaded moment was during my first year in reefing (I had lots of boneheaded moments that year...I still have them...but thankfully, they are fewer and farther between). I was dosing something (can't remember what) by hand, and I was also drinking a starbucks coffee. I got distracted in conversation and dosed my latte into the tank instead of what I meant to dose.

No ill effects thankfully, but my fish were wide-eyed, swimming faster, and seemed a bit jittery for a few hours.

 

[Miami Reef]

Touched an electrical outlet with a salty wet hand.

Haha.

That’s almost as funny as the dimanganese decacarbonyl story!

 

[cwerner]

I was installing an auto shut-off valve on my RODI unit and accidentally passed the brine water through the cation/anion DI beds. Burnt through two canisters in about 5 minutes before I realized my mistake.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My most boneheaded moment was during my first year in reefing (I had lots of boneheaded moments that year...I still have them...but thankfully, they are fewer and farther between). I was dosing something (can't remember what) by hand, and I was also drinking a starbucks coffee. I got distracted in conversation and dosed my latte into the tank instead of what I meant to dose.

No ill effects thankfully, but my fish were wide-eyed, swimming faster, and seemed a bit jittery for a few hours.

I could see how that is easy to mistaken, especially if both are beside each other haha

 

[Zero_Cool]

Years back during a move I had a temperature probe on a 1000w heater come loose and fall out of the sump onto the floor of a 70 degree basement. 300 gallon system was 98 degrees before I returned 4 days later to rescape the tank in prep for livestock. Talk about cooking rocks.

 

[Pyrogens]

Flooding the laundry room where my RODI unit is setup... I've lost count how many times now. Wife just laughs at me now.

 

[FrugalReefer]

When I first started out and had Softies, LPS and a few SPS, I dosed the same amount of 2 part day in and day out. I didn’t learn till later that consumption changes over time as things grow and that dosing amounts need to change also.