What was Your Worst "Leak?"

rocketmandb · 04-21-2005, 07:00 AM

I'm just curious as to what peoples' worst "leak" horror stories are. By "leak" I mean any event that puts water on your floor.

I'll start with a few:

1) 1990 - 200 gallon reef. Doing a water change on my 200. I had bought about 50' of small flexible tube to siphon water into the bathtub. It was taking so long (small tube) that I decided to run across the street to start my laundry. I was gone for about 20 minutes and when I opened the door and stepped in upon returning I felt/heard "squish." The tube had fallen out of the tub and I put probably about 30-40 gallons on the floor.

Lessons Learned: Secure siphon hoses on the output side regardless of how much extra hose you throw in the tub!

2) 2001 - 180 gallon reef - fresh water spill. I started filling my makeup water tank with RO/DI for my tank in the office. I forgot about it. It was Friday. I didn't find it until Monday. We're on the second floor. Makeup water tank holds 45 gal, RO/DI pushes 60 per day. Do the math

Did I mention we're on the second floor?

Lessons Learned: put an overflow to a drain on your RO/DI makeup tank if at all possible.

3) 1994 - 100 gallon reef. I was going to replumb a pump and had moved all the electrical out from under the tank. I had loosened the pump hose clamps and was shaped like a pretzel getting up under my tank to reach the shutoff valve to the pump. The hose to the pump broke loose and water with 5' of head pressure shot out of the pump and landed right on all the electrical stuff I had pulled out from under the tank to keep from getting wet. My hand just happened to be right in the middle of all that electrical stuff. The tw... the tw... the twitch I have I'm sure is not related to that at all

Lessons Learned: 1) Unplug everything before you do anything where water leaves the tank. 2) Make sure you've got an adequate mechanism to break siphon on the pump return lines. 3) Make any valves, access areas, etc. easy to get to. 4) Shut off all valves before you start disconnecting things.

Anyone else?

Darren

Matt Rogers · 04-21-2005, 08:30 AM

I did the same as # 1 Darren with my 75 long turtle tank a few weeks ago.

I didn't secure the hose and started talking on the phone. After a while I looked over and it appeared the turtle knocked the hose out and it was pouring water on my living room rug.

Probably 6 gallons or more.

Took a week to dry and 2 weeks to get rid of the mildew smell.

I am with you now, secure the hose!!!

matt

seawillow · 04-21-2005, 01:54 PM

OMG Darren...that weekend one was probably the best.....I really hope you've learned from your mistakes....lol.....I guess my worst was when I woke up about 3 in the AM and noticed that the tank sounded funny (it's right beside my bed). Jumped up and noticed that it was only half full. Ran down to the fishroom to find that the hose to the main return pump had blown off. Fortunately the fish room is in the basement and there was no real damage done. Guess that's one way of doing a major water change...lol....Lesson learned...always make sure that the hose is clamped onto the pump....duh!

Craig Manoukian · 04-21-2005, 03:00 PM

Lost power a few weeks ago and my antisiphon was clogged with salt on my return fron the sump. 5 gallons of water on the upsairs floor! Note to self to clean the antisiphon hole regularly as part od tank maintenance!

NUHTTY · 04-21-2005, 04:39 PM

I have a habit of leaving my RO/DI running while falling asleep on the couch. I usually walk into the kitchen and see my 6 gallon jug overflowing. I do this quite often so I obviously havent trained myself yet!

gettingfiesty · 04-21-2005, 06:28 PM

Well, I have left my RO/DI running enough times that I now turn on the stove timer and have tought my son how to turn it off if I am not home--thankfully I don't run it straight into the sump or I would have definite problems.

My worst leak--and hopefully it will stay the worst as it wasn't really that bad--was last week when I decided to replace the ball valve on my skimmer with a gate valve and when I turned the water back on it shot water into the skimmer cup out the emptying hole and straight down the front of me and right toward the electical outlet. I quickly tipped the skimmer over so that it quit shooting water out of the sump. Then I unplugged it, cut the new gate valve off of it and put the ball valve back on.

It was one of those "oh I am ready before the hubby, I will just get the skimmer going before we leave" moments that ended up with me having to change and fix my makeup/hair.

Birdlady · 04-21-2005, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NUHTTY

I have a habit of leaving my RO/DI running while falling asleep on the couch. I usually walk into the kitchen and see my 6 gallon jug overflowing. I do this quite often so I obviously havent trained myself yet!

DITTO! Except mine is in like, a foyer! My hubby trained me! Boy, I gotta hide it when I forget to turn the RO/DI off!!!! I have woken up in the middle of the night two or three times running downstairs mumbling...OMG! Did I shut the water off????!!!!!!!

rocketmandb · 04-22-2005, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seawillow

OMG Darren...that weekend one was probably the best.....I really hope you've learned from your mistakes....lol.....

That day I went to the local store, bought a bulkhead and some PVC and plumbed an "I Forgot" overflow from my makeup water container to the nearby sink.

And oh did the mildew kick in... people in the office were pissed at me for weeks

The only good news is that the office under us had not been completely built out so there was only some unfinished drywall damage.

Darren

beamer · 04-22-2005, 11:30 AM

Like gettingfiesty, I also use the stove timer.

Let's see...which flood should I talk about? j/k. although I have had a few.
One night my hubby heard a funny "water" kind of noise. I jumped up and the hose I keep in the trash can ,with the pump running, had come loose and was pouring water out everywhere. Probably only 5 gls but on the floor (tile thank goodness!) it seemed like more. I had just bought a shop vac so it got used for the first time and I was glad I had it. I now secure the hosing very securely and I highly recommend anyone in this hobby to buy a shop vac of some sort.

When I first got my tank (about a year ago) I learned quickly about syphoning. I was doing a water change and pumping water from my 50 gl trashcan into the tank. I needed to go do something so I cut off the pump so there would not be any accidents,....hose still in the tank (secured). When I came back the trashcan was overflowing with water. Oh my gosh, I had no idea that once the pump was cut off that the water could syphon back into the container. Now I know. My shop vac got used again.

The most frustrating one was when I was hooking up my Magnum 350 for the first time to polish the water. I finished up with it, turned it off, and then unclipped the top. Oh, my, gosh!! Water went everywhere!! Especially up into my face. With all of the force from the water, I could not put the top back on. I had a new entertainment center close by and I was trying to shield it from the spraying water. I was kind of in shock from it and couldn't think of what to do right off so the water kept on coming. I finally pulled the tubing from the tank. Next time I'll be sure that the valves are turned off on the Magnum hoses. That was embarassing! and I was the only one there! Again, I used my shop vac. A must for hobbiest...a shop vac, and tile flooring.

Cindy

seawillow · 04-22-2005, 12:26 PM

This is a great thread...at least I know I'm not the only one around who needs a timer to remember the water is going on the RO/DI....funny thing is, we have all the parts for the auto shut-off. BF hasn't hooked it up yet. He says he'll do it when the 210 is up and running. Only thing is, I need mega water NOW! Thank goodness for shop vacs!!!!....lol