First Major "Oh Crap Moment"

[cracker]

My best "O C" moment. A Mag 36 hard plumbed 5,1/2 ' up the back. Forgot to attach it to the return manifold. Plugged it in. A solid 1.5" stream of water reflecting off the ceiling!

 

[addict]

come on Dave,,i kow you have a few (hundred) stories to tell...

LOL!

Well, thankfully I'm pretty good at learning from other's mistakes, so I don't have that many.

Let's see...

First was the time that I got a mouthful of foul sandbed water when changing over the tank, but that story is in the 'Have you ever tasted tankwater' thread.

Then there was the time that I had the bright idea to turn off my skimmer at night (I have no idea why). I inadvertantly had knocked the venturi inlet tube off of it's perch during a water change, and that night, when the skimmer shut off, the tube decided to turn into a siphon (since it was overhanging the side of the sump).

I awoke the next morning to the sound of a slurping Mag5, and my sump was almost completely dry (it had been at full running capacity the day before)... thankfully it only held about 5 gallons, so I only had a minor flood to deal with, though I did have wet socks.

My third 'oh crap' moment still amazes me to this day.

I had the bright idea that I wanted to add a black clown goby to my tank, because I thought it would be cool having it hang out in my SPS... little did I know that they just love SPS polyps (this particular variety), and it went to town after I put it into the tank.
Figuring it would die down in a couple days, I let the goby be, but soon after I figured out that the problem wasn't going to get any better. So, I spent the better part of six hours trying to catch the little bugger, and I finally netted him (after trying to skewer him several times, which were unsuccessful).

In triumph, I stuck him down in my refugium, which is part of my sump, figuring he couldn't do much damage in there. Things were going fine until I came home the following afternoon and noticed that the goby was back in the tank, once again going to town on my SPS... the little b*@#!rd had swum through my Mag 18 return pump and gotten pumped back into the tank... talk about luck... :bugout:

He shoulda been mincemeat.

So, I spent about fifteen minutes catching him (I had learned his weakness the day before), and he went into a breeding box inside the refugium... I wasn't taking any chances after that.

That's all I can think of offhand... I'm sure I can come up with some more if I concentrate harder...

 

[Witfull]

bright idea

these are dangerous

 

[addict]

LOL... even a dim bulb like me gets a bright idea now and then... and you're right, they're dangerous.

 

[crushton]

Thanks for the great laughs - I really don't feel too bad. Although I jinxed myself because major "Oh Crap Moment" number 2 happened just days after number 1. Here the carpet is drying from the first 30 gallon water leakage. Now we are like where is the @%&@ water coming from? Well the refugium I am trying to get going under the stand had a little problemo. It is a 10 gallon glass tank. I had it propped on 2 bricks (I know this is sounding really stupid) - the bricks were so I could fit the mass of wires under the tank. Well I guess the pressure over the week did something and put a hairline crack in the bottom of the tank. (I realize now I should have put padding between the bricks and the tank - lesson learned). It slowly leaked out until we noticed and then it rapidly progressed. This time the water spillage was the lovely seawater smell. What really amazed me too was that the powerstrips were actually sitting in a little bit of water and nothing tripped. I really had a mess.

Oh but the good new is - I saved the two yellow-tailed damsels that were in this tank. Had to make an "emergency tank" for them in my top off tank. I have a mess to fix tomorrow :cry1:

I love the knife story. I did that in the dishwasher last year - 7 stitches and lots of "you idiot" looks - especially at the ER when I was getting my tetnus shot. :cry1:

 

[cracker]

Crushton, Don't feel bad. I have spilled so much water I finally threw out the ruined carpet and painted the bare slab with concrete paint.

 

[crushton]

Crushton, Don't feel bad. I have spilled so much water I finally threw out the ruined carpet and painted the bare slab with concrete paint.

I agree - but the only problem is that you have to completely take down the tank and move it. I think we will ceramic tile eventually.

My husband broke a hygrometer (?) thankfully on top of the glass (before MH) so non eof the pellets went into the tank.

Fun fun fun