Resolved Thanksgiving Day

So i decided not to travel home to Illinois for Thanksgiving this year. I spent most of the day searching the net for stellar deals on tank supplies/equipment for Black Friday. I found a bunch of stuff to buy to better my reef system.;D
After spending the majority of the day at home alone in my recliner, i decided to hook up with some buddies for a Thanksgiving Day feast! So i bundled up and hopped on my bike to head out on a half hour bike ride in the freezing cold to meet up with them. I was gone for about 6 hours.
When i returned home and was unlocking my door, i could hear some water noise When i entered my apartment i noticed that the return pump and 6inch piece of tubing in the back of my 29gal Biocube had come unattached from the elbow that fitts onto the return nozzle The water was spewing out of the tank and hitting the arm of my JBJ K2 Viper 150watt MH Fixture. Not much water left the tank at all! For the most part the stream was just returning to the tank but the splattering water had hit the wall behind the tank and little drops had run down the sides of the tank and stand. There was some air bubbles swirling around the tank. Not that big of a deal right?
Welll:-/ upon closer inspection i noticed that the UV glass lens cover on the Viper had shattered due to splattering salt water which must of landed on it and the sizzling caused the glass to break! So i than looked in the tank and noticed some little chunks of glass on my LR. Luckily the glass shattered very well into bigger, rounded pieces that were very easy to remove from the tank without cutting my fingers. But i noticed that there were a couple of pieces in between some rock work where i couldnt reach.
I dont think that this is a big deal because glass is made of sand and it will just blend in with the sand. I have a Royal Gramma and a Coral Beauty that i dont think will try picking the chunks up?
Thankfully the Hamilton Technologies MH bulb that i just replaced about a month and a half ago was fine. It did have a couple splatters of dried up saltwater on it, but was lighting properly. So i removed the bulb from the fixture and cleaned up the shattered lens.

So........... i came to this conclusion:
I am so thankful that the accident had not reached catastrophe status!
All of my livestock appears to be fine. The only real loss was the UV lens that goes in front of the MH bulb. I am hopping that JBJ can get me a replacement for cheap. So many crazy images keep popping into my head that i am trying to forget, like
1. FIRE ( My poor dog
2. ELECTROCUTED TANK
3. FLOOD

So this THANKSGIVING i am thankful for the modest luck that i seem to drag around with me

I have a couple questions?
1. Should i worry about the few pieces of small chunky glass that feel into the tank?
2. Should i replace the MH bulb?
3. Were any of my corals exposed to harmful MH rays? Since the UV lens was not in place for some time???

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

I'm glad this worked out well for you and you have a good attitude about it.

 

inwall75 you gotta have a good attitude when things go wrong. If you dont they wont get any better, especially in this hobby. It seriously could of been so much worse!
I just learned that i need to secure things in and around my tanks better.
So i guess tomorrow i will be trying to put my 36inch T-5 light fixture over this 29gal biocube that i got for my new 40gal breeder setup. But until i get a replacement UV lens, ill use the t-5s or start dragging out the old Biocube hood (which still works perfectly). I almost kinda miss the radical light cycle you could get out of the stock hoods. Sunrise, daylight, sunset, moonlight! I dont have any SPS and i hope my torch coral and hammer coral dont mind the decrease in lighting from MH to PC again.

 

They will be fine. Just give them a little more food if it takes a long time for them to replace your glass. I've grown SPS under PC lighting before. It's not ideal, but it can be done.

 

Got the old Biocube hood back up and running. Really has a different feel than my MH. I kinda enjoy it a bit? Weird i know. Called and left a message with JBJ and sent them an email? Havent heard anything back yet? It is black friday. hopefully by the middle of next week ill get a response.