Fountain of Flood

[SaltyTemple]

So check it off as one of those things that every new reefer has to experience. The horrible gut wrenching flood. I came home from work today and went to look at the lovely tank (which has it's first two fish, a catalina goby and black sailfin blenny) and found the water level below the return pipes. Wait a second... so I look below to the sump where water is spurting from the 24mag into the air with seeming beauty. ACK!!! the clear tube popped off the valve and all of that lovely tank water spewed all over our games room. It was only then that I realized my carpet was seeping with wonderfully salty water. ACK ACK!!! (SOB) so we've just spent two frantic hours trying to clean up this awful mess and get everything back up an running. But I am happy to report the two fish seem no worse for wear, can't say the same about my husband though... Thanks for reading - I'm sure you guys understand.

 

[SaltyTemple]

So I'd say we lost about 20gallons. The RO/DI unit will be working overtime tonight!

 

[big t]

Ok valuable lesson here, never ever use clear tubing, it is unreliable, can split any moment down the line. Use the clear braided w/ hose clamps if you must, but spa flex or rigid pvc are the way to roll. Good luck w/ your cleanup venture, hope it goes well.

 

[nasher8860]

I agree with Big T. Spa-flex or something similar,check your local pool/spa supply. Or try and find a Pond Store thats where I got mine at,they've got rolls of the stuff in almost any size you need.
Good Luck with cleaning up, Glad to hear the Fish are ok.

 

[clayswim]

Sorry to hear about your spill. I think we've all been there. I agree with Tom, plastic hoses always lead to trouble. I like hard PVC; I never have to worry about it. Be sure to mix your salt good before adding it to the tank. Newly prepared salt is extremely caustic and can wreck havoc on your pets.

Clayton

 

[spongebob lover]

LOL !!!
Shauna i understand you totally .
you should be glad you are not my downstairs neighbour though
so far i have flooded our apartment 3 times + 1 no tank related , and trust me, by the third time my husband was about to almost have a heart attack because it was really bad, so yeah i'm the expert when it comes to flooding apartments :lol:

 

[Kensn]

Shauna that is terrible. I can imagine the mess. It shouldn't happen to someone as nice as you.

 

[Krish]

I feel your pain. I had it happen to me and my wife had a fit. I added some new nozzles and didn't drill a hole to break the siphon. Seeing the diy nozzle was about 5 inches below water level I lost quite a few gallons on the floor. Good luck getting it all up.

 

[SaltyTemple]

Okay, so two hours was WAYYYYY to modest! It's now 10:30 and we've been working since 5:30. We've done four loads of towels, I don't seem to have enough to sop up the mess. We've lost a 10 plug belkin power strip and a CPU power supply which was powering the fans on our ballasts. We're now re-wiring the whole system. It's just rough that we only got this stuff a couple of weeks ago. On the plus, we've done our first water change! It was also more like 30 gallons lost, I know because we're still filling the tank back up and the RO/DI only does about 3 gallons a go. He he, and I was hoping to clean the house tonight! I'm just grateful that our friend Jacob also came over and has been kind enough to help with the shorting circuts and jumping on the towels to pick up the wet.

 

[SaltyTemple]

and thanks Ken, that was a very nice thing to say!

 

[Kensn]

Shauna, get yourself a shop vac to pull that water out of the rug. If ya don't have one, get one they come in handy. Get it real dry, don't want a mold problem, or damage to the subfloor. Don't want to sound like a bringer of doom, but just want you to be aware of those things.

 

[SaltyTemple]

Thankfully James has a wet-dry vac and he spent about an hour or so working with it. Once it wasn't getting any more water we switched to the towels. I really appreciate all of your guys' advice. I didn't know the worry with the clear tubing. Now I know and we're going to look into changing it.

 

[CarlaW]

Shauna,
Sorry to hear about your excess water problem, it happens to all of us .
These guys got you covered with real good advice!! Good luck with the cleanup. Have you thought about throw rugs? I know that sometimes they can be kind of cheesy, but they sure make the cleanup part a little easier.

 

[NaH2O]

Sorry to hear about the flood. I've done my fair share of flooding. Umm...I almost took out our furnace because I flooded one of the heating ducts, and it was full almost all the way to the furnace. Well, that happened twice, but the second time the duct wasn't as full . I no longer fill my RO/DI container near the vent. If it is a small container it goes in the utility sink. Oh....then there was the non-tank related flood.....that caused the whole entire ceiling of an 18X12 room to be taken down, and new carpet padding in 3 rooms, and subfloor drying.....gaaaaaa!

There are alarms you can buy that go off when the floor gets wet. Maxx/Nick has one that I saw last time I was out there. Might be something to look into for peace of mind. Good luck with the rest of the cleanup!

 

[CarlaW]

Sorry to hear about the flood. I've done my fair share of flooding. Umm...I almost took out our furnace because I flooded one of the heating ducts, and it was full almost all the way to the furnace. Well, that happened twice, but the second time the duct wasn't as full . I no longer fill my RO/DI container near the vent. If it is a small container it goes in the utility sink. Oh....then there was the non-tank related flood.....that caused the whole entire ceiling of an 18X12 room to be taken down, and new carpet padding in 3 rooms, and subfloor drying.....gaaaaaa!

There are alarms you can buy that go off when the floor gets wet. Maxx/Nick has one that I saw last time I was out there. Might be something to look into for peace of mind. Good luck with the rest of the cleanup!

Ya see Shauna, sometimes it happens more than once .
What was that stage that Mojo was talkin about....................................

 

[NaH2O]

ROFL, Charlie!!! I don't think I'll ever leave the moron cycle :lol:

 

[CarlaW]

ROFL, Charlie!!! I don't think I'll ever leave the moron cycle :lol:

Geesh, I thought there was a nicer name for it. I think we all get stuck in that stage for a whilke, you should have seen me this week when my main return pump quit, then to top it all off my cpr overflow that's on my fuge broke. Moron cycle wasn't quite what I called it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wrightme43]

How about this one. I glued every piece of pvc on my return except one. LOL I bet you cant guess which one started leaking one night in the dark while I was sleeping. LOL I also used to use a prizam pro deluxe skimmer (aka floor flooder) and had many exciting advetures with it. I also have nice wood floors. There is no way to clean under the stand. I am moving my tank and I know its going to be ruined under there. I may just have to move the tank into another room, seal off the living room with plastic and duct tape Put a fan in one window blowing in and a fan in the other blowing out. And refinish the whole room. So dont feel bad. Oh yeah and I also spilled almost a whole can of (the big one) of purple primer on the floor a while back too. That was a top of the line Moron day.
Steve

 

[Krish]

Our cabinet man broke the main pipe upstairs when we were renevating. The water shot from the bathroom into the second bedroom and we couldn't find the shut off valve because the previous owners put cement blocks over the valve. By time as we got the water off it seeped from upstairs downstair and on our newly made cabinets. I though it was the funniest thing, but my wife didnt. In case you don't know me I laugh at pretty much everything and I'm always getting in trouble for it LOL.