What was your last big mistake?

[Gutter19]

I rushed putting my BioCube 29 up, and didn't think to put a GFCI in the outlet directly behind the tank. Putting the tank in front of an outlet to begin with was the first mistake. I just wanted a clean look. I can't move the tank myself in order to install one and once I have a friend help move it, there is the possibility of the tank itself falling off the stand.

And another which actually happened this morning. A sexy shrimp got sucked into the return and lay helplessly between the filter pad and glass. As I attempted to rescue it, the shrimp fell in between and down to the BioBalls. So I had to remove them all very carefully as to not grind the poor shrimp up. It did however give me chance to add some MarinePure balls to the mix.

Typing those out really makes me feel like a fool.

 

[aaron23]

didnt dip corals when i started my tank . . . now i've got some problems

 

[Duke4Life]

The blue gudgeons that I haven't seen in 4 weeks.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Not buying anything when I was at Aqua SD on Sunday.

 

[20LogR]

Trying to fill my Neptune feeder while it was over the tank. I popped out the feeder container and all the food that was in it (it was still half full) spilled into the tank. I did this in the evening before I was leaving on a week long trip. Was up all night mixing saltwater and trying to suction all the food out and do a water change. The fish were happy though because for a few hours it was a constant smorgasbord. Fortunately I got it all taken care of, went on my trip and nothing bad happened because of it. It was pretty stressful though and I worried the whole time I was on my trip.

I've done this twice now when it was mostly full. Never hours before I had to leave on a trip though. I just turned the powerheads up and let it all flow into the filter sock.

 

[Jimmyb819]

Leaving my ro running to overflow all over garage floor and wife's boxes of goods.did this at least four times in two years

I've done this way to many times. Twice I forgot and left it running overnight, and my reservoir is in a carpeted room. Talk about a mess!

 

[lyrical]

Dating my bf. I turned his hobby into an obsession and spent all our money hahaha.

 

[nport19]

Putting a new fish into my reef setup after not putting one in for close to two years. All the other fish a bullying the crap out of him.

 

[Jej34]

Taking a break from radio controlled helicopters to get into something cheaper.

Bahahaha, I was wrong

 

[cnseekatz]

Mounting a piece of electronic equipment (MP10 controller) in a place where it could fall into the sump...

 

[briancarterkc]

You people with your RODI overflows flooding your top off bins...you ain't got nothing on the guy (me) who had his auto top off connected straight to the RODI (which was connected straight to the tap). My double fail-safe setup of a timer and a float valve let me down while I was on vacation and I came home to a flooded living room and a freshwater tank full of dead coral and fish. Repeat after me...NEVER. EVER. CONNECT YOUR ATO DIRECTLY TO YOUR RODI!

 

[20LogR]

Can I add a new one?

just a few minutes ago i was going to do a quick 5g water on a QT tank. I walked away and forgot about it, ending up putting 20 gal of water on the floor and doing a full water change instead.

 

[tigre44]

I thought this might be a fun topic to bring up in order for people to share their experiences. I for one just had one occur yesterday that I thought might be funny to share with everyone. I had been having issues with my RO/DI unit and decided to call BRS to get to the source of the issue. They were a great help and concluded that my RO membrane was probably faulty to begin with and sent me a new one free of charge! I got it in the mail and followed the directions and opened the cap to the RO membrane container...and discovered that I had forgot to install the original membrane that came with my upgrade kit.. No wonder I was getting horrible TDS readings. Looking forward to hearing others big mistakes.

You people with your RODI overflows flooding your top off bins...you ain't got nothing on the guy (me) who had his auto top off connected straight to the RODI (which was connected straight to the tap). My double fail-safe setup of a timer and a float valve let me down while I was on vacation and I came home to a flooded living room and a freshwater tank full of dead coral and fish. Repeat after me...NEVER. EVER. CONNECT YOUR ATO DIRECTLY TO YOUR RODI!

How do you have yours connected now? I have mine direct connected now for 3 yrs no problem but I only leave it on when I'm away due to using up the di resin. I keep the float valve clean no salt buildup. Like to hear if there is a better way.

 

[briancarterkc]

How do you have yours connected now? I have mine direct connected now for 3 yrs no problem but I only leave it on when I'm away due to using up the di resin. I keep the float valve clean no salt buildup. Like to hear if there is a better way.

Yep. My setup didn't fail me for 2+ years. Just picked vacation to do so.

I have a separate top off vessel that I have to manually turn on the RODI to refill about once a week. The vessel is 10g to my 80g setup (65 DT + 15 sump). If the ATO setup fails, worst case scenario I dump 10g of fresh in an 80g system. While I'd still have a little water on the floor, the reef would be fine.

Seriously...your setup will fail at some point. Please don't be the next me with literally $7,000 - $10,000 (a 65-head Duncan was just one of 30 species I lost) worth of dead livestock and a $15,000 insurance claim for the water damage.

 

[alxjrz]

I usually make drinking water manually on my 180gpd Spectrapure system on the weekends. Saturday night while I finished making water I switched the flush membrane on and proceeded to put away the drinking water only to hear noise coming from the rodi the next day late in the afternoon...

 

[tigre44]

My big mistake was trusting a check valve in the return line to the sump. Power went off when I was at work and water back siphoned into the sump and all over the floor. Also splashed on electric shorted out caught fire and somehow fire sent out on its own. I came home to floor with inch of water, smoke in house, partially burned aquarium stand, soaked sheet rock. Solution: got rid of check valves drilled two 1/8" holes in return line but still need to for out the holes weekly and moved tank away from elec outlets.

 

[tigre44]

Yep. My setup didn't fail me for 2+ years. Just picked vacation to do so.

I have a separate top off vessel that I have to manually turn on the RODI to refill about once a week. The vessel is 10g to my 80g setup (65 DT + 15 sump). If the ATO setup fails, worst case scenario I dump 10g of fresh in an 80g system. While I'd still have a little water on the floor, the reef would be fine.

Seriously...your setup will fail at some point. Please don't be the next me with literally $7,000 - $10,000 (a 65-head Duncan was just one of 30 species I lost) worth of dead livestock and a $15,000 insurance claim for the water damage.

Thanks I'll work on it!!!!

 

[p.pep85]

using a canister filter trying to save a few bucks.

 

[Lonny]

Thinking I could do this without an RO/DI system!!!!!!!! Got one on the way now.

 

[Gamma]

My biggest mistake happens on a pretty regular basis...my ro/di is in laundry room which is where my sump is located under the back side of my DT flush mounted in living room wall. I have the cleanest laundry room floor because no matter how many timers I set...I always manage to get distracted filling my four 5 gallon buckets with water for my weekly changes. Results...inches of water flowing out of my laundry room into living room. Now I just plan on it by throwing towels down on floor before I get started!