When I do something stupid.....

[Vanman]

I usually don't tell anybody, but Al fessed up to dropping his phone in a tank, so here is my story.

Last night about 10 pm I did my nightly water change and refilled my water aging tanks, two 55s. I turned the water supply to the aging tanks off, a hose bib with a hose to a whole house filter and 3/4 inch pvc to the aging tanks.

Fast forward to this morning feeding at 8:30 am and I found water all over the basement floor. I did not fully turn the hose bib off and it continued to drip or trickle into the aging tanks. There was about 10 gallons on the floor and another 10 gallons in the empty tank under the aging tanks. It was a mess that took about thirty minutes to clean up with a shopvac and a mop. Good thing this was in a semi-finished basement with a bare concrete floor.

Tell us about your most recent flooding incident.

[AquaticNerd]

Okay fine, I'll bite on this one since I'm sure some folks will get a laugh out of this.

When I first started out, my water change routine was an extremely slow process. I purchased what appeared to be the weakest aquarium pump I could find online to facilitate the transfer of tank and aged water. Emptying about 50% of the water (or around 50 gals) took 20 minutes, and refilling took 30 due to head pressure raising the water ~5ft vs the ~1.5ft head pressure from tank to drain. It was honestly a "chore" that I didn't much care for. So I went in and purchased a 1/4HP submersible pump. Boy did that fella ever work. A full water change only took about 10 minutes compared to the near hour prior.

So now my water change process went as follows:
1. Start pump emptying tank
2. Sprinkle SeaChem Safe into aging barrel to detoxify chloramines (this was agitated by both a pump and aerator)
3. Wait for pump to lower water to desired level
4. Move pump from tank to barrel and fill the tank.

On two separate occasions I've drenched parts of my finished basement. Once, the hose blew off the barbed connection at the pump while emptying my tank, creating a geyser of old aquarium water which spewed all over the carpet underneath. I was jamming to some music at the time, so it took me a good minute to realize what happened. At that point, probably 5-10 gallons of water was on the carpet. The second, I was filling the tank with aged water when the clamp I was using to hold the hose in the aquarium gave way, allowing the comical water hose snake bit where water was now flowing onto the carpet yet again.

How's the saying go? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? After those two incidents, I ended up getting a threaded adapter for the connection between the pump and the hose and created a U-shaped filling contraption that would thread onto the other side of the hose which meant I no longer needed to use a clamp.

[Vanman]

I am not telling about the times I flooded the spare bedroom turned into a fish room. That was 30 years ago and the statute if limitations applies.

[CliffsDiscus]

I water change two tanks at the same time, one filling and one emptying, but once the phone rings I sometimes forget and flood the garage. My neighbor next door came over and said there water coming out of my house.

[Tshethar]

Let me preface this by saying anyone who has a spouse with suspicions about this hobby should never see this thread... and I have honestly tried to forget some of my flooding transgressions, but let's just say I can see why people put float switches on their aging barrels and alarms under the tanks.

A few years ago when I had breeding behavior for the first time I set up two 40 breeders and a couple of 10 gallon tanks in the master closet, along with an aging barrel, with my water supply coming from the master bathroom. (No basement here... on a concrete slab, fortunately.) Well, after months and months without issue, one night I started refilling the barrel in the closet and I walked away to another part of the house for a second... and forgot what I had started. For quite a while. I believe it was my wife who went to go to bed first...

The closet and the bathroom had tile... the master bedroom, carpet.

Fortunately, it is carpet we have planned to replace (and still do.) Even since then, there is a large section of carpet and underlayment that shows where it was cut with a utility knife, rolled up, and taken outside to dry out for a few days...

[Adamski77]

In my short experience with water changes I only managed to overflow my storage tank one day… I thought I did have enough time for a smoke but apparently wasn’t enough. Luckily storage tank in a basement with solid floor… though mopping was fun.

Reading this epic stories though I think it might be right time to install some buzzers around.

[brewmaster15]

I think its fair to say that I know a thing or two about mishaps and multi-tasking errors surrounding my hobby. I try and fit far too many tasks into far too short a time.

Flooding? Oh Gosh... i think my basement has been flooded dozens of time over the years...often its a case of a tank or storage bin being in the process of filling and the phone rings or I try to fire off an email,pm, or post and lose track of things. If I had a separate distinct fish room itd probably be less of an event but with tanks everywhere its easy to lose track. My best case example though was my upstairs living room display tank. I have a large living room /dinning room area. When we moved here it had nasty carpets so we ripped them out. Cash was tight with new house and our first child so for a year or two it was just plywood.I wanted hardwood floors but oak was just out of our budget instead I bought engineered oak veneer flooring and installed a floating floor. It was still an expensive endeavor. We were thrilled to have it and I was pretty proud of it. Though not hard to install it was my first time using it and it came out pretty nice. Fit was very tight.

Fast forward a short time latter Im doing a water change on the living room tank and get lost in some stupid forum drama that were common back then.. I turn around and theres water fanning out across my new floor! Half the floor is covered. I knew I was in trouble:( I distinctly remember the flooring instructions saying don't wash with water. Engineered flooring swell up and is ruined by water. I went into panic mode.. I ran and grabbed every towel in the cabinet, the dirty clothes in the hamper, the sheets off the bed and threw them on the floor to suck up that water.I dreaded telling my wife I just did something so utterly careless and stupid.

I waited and waited for the inevitable swelling at the joints but it never happened. Between the speed of my panic cleaning and the fact that I really did a good job on the flooring and how new the install was my marriage was saved ! :) I doubt that it would have ended in divorce but I could the potential to lose the rights to a tank in our living room. I have not flooded that tank since. I would like to say its because I am super careful but its probably because a few years ago my wife,Carrie, took over that tank and its Discus.I just help out once in a while. She is far more careful than I am.:)
Al

[Vanman]

I almost forgot the time my 135 in the living room failed at 2 am. My wife woke me up and asked what the strange sound from the living room was. It was the pump sucking air. The bottom glass of the tank was about an inch too short and when the tank was built they just filled it with silicone. It held water for well over a year.

The tank still had about six or eight inches of water and the Discus survived. It was a mess with carpet in a mobile home.

[brewmaster15]

I guess I will update this with my latest flooding event. Today I was doing water changes and had the storage barrel filling. It takes a while so I ran upstairs to grab a cup of coffee..

Got the coffee and was heading back down but noticed an amazon package... so I snagged it and it felt way too light. It was supposed to be a 12 pack of 2 cycle oil... they sent 1 bottle.:mad:

This is leaf season and I use my backpack blower alot at mine and others homes.. I was so ticked I called Amazon to get a replacement. Call went fine.. no problem they said and they would have here tomorrow.

Hung up the phone...bet you can see where this is going... yep that barrel was filling and overfilling the whole time .:(


I NEVER LEARN. Its been awhile since I did that but its still just as much a Pain now as always...

Shop vac and sump pump to the rescue ..thankfully .

[Vanman]

Years ago I put an alarm on top of my 55 gallon drum just for this reason. It was a cheap water sensor meant to be placed by a hot water heater to detect leaks.

[LizStreithorst]

I flood so often it's hardly worth mentioning. But if you want to hear about a flood, Brian has the top story of all time.

[jeep]

So is this some sort of a contest or something? If so, ya'll a bunch of rookies :D

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[For100]

[QUOTE=LizStreithorst;1379327]I flood so often it's hardly worth mentioning. But if you want to hear about a flood, Brian has the top story of all time.[QUOTE]
That would make 2 of us then…. I have my aging barrels in the garage fortunately! But it is way too often that I multi-task while filling the barrels with water. I usually set alarms on my watch to remind me that I am doing it. But guess WHAT….. I forget to set the alarm or I don’t pay attention to it. So, I have water spills at least once every other week. :(

Luckily, we have epoxy floors and I just need to sweep water out of the garage. But it is annoying and frustrating that keeps happening.

[Vanman]

Brian is the winner by far.

[brewmaster15]

Lmao.. you guys have no idea. But yeah.. Brians was a mess.:)

[Vanman]

Enlighten us.

[brewmaster15]

Enlighten us.. Imagine refinishing your basement during the pandemic to a nice family room...and still paying for it..... then imagine redoing it all over. ENough said.

[Charlyc11]

One in a wile I flood my den. Thank goodness I replaced basement flooring with 100% water proof all PVC planks. I was topping off the 120 G and I turned around to watch a show, when my wife a few minutes later comes down gives a yelp and said their is water all over. Well 10 gallons later of vacuuming and now floor is dry like nothing happed. I am sure some seeped under so I ran the dehumidifier for a few days.

[brewmaster15]

Chuck which ones did you use.My office is waterproof .. which was great this flood but they dont make them anymore.
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My family room unfortunately was not.

Al

[Charlyc11]

For the basement I used Home Depot Life proof Seasoned Wood 6 MIL x Multi-Width x 48 in. L Click Lock Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring (19.5 sqft/case)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-Seasoned-Wood-6-MIL-x-Multi-Width-x-48-in-L-Click-Lock-Waterproof-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-19-5-sqft-case-I114813L/300461633

And all upstairs except hall and entry Woodacres Oak 6 MIL x 8.7 in. W x 48 in. L Click Lock Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring (20.1 sqft/case). I got this for the dogs about 8 years ago and recently I applyed it to the 3 bedrooms. This stuff is durable it looks as good as I installed it no scratches and the dogs beat on it. They are also small dogs with small bladder and we both work so they are home alone for hours and they sometimes miss the pads. I do like the basement color and pattern better I should have don the whole house with that one.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-Woodacres-Oak-6-MIL-x-8-7-in-W-x-48-in-L-Click-Lock-Waterproof-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-1-sqft-case-I966101L/300461626



Chuck which ones did you use.My office is waterproof .. which was great this flood but they dont make them anymore.
137227

My family room unfortunately was not.

Al

[brewmaster15]

Thanks.. I will look into it.
Al

[Charlyc11]

Here are some installation photos from 3 1/2 year ago.

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Finished

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[Spinning Blue]

Way before I had any sense, I had a 125 (not discus) tank sitting above a unit filled with a few hundred Vinyl LP's. The Who, Springsteen, Neil Young, U2. Flooded the lot. I still feel sick thinking about it.