Help me feel less stupid!

Hi guys

I've now had my larger tank (230L) up and running for a few months now and I'm slowly getting used to the maintenance differences between this one and the 70L that I had previously.

Here's where I would like you guys to share you "duh!" moments and make me feel a little less silly.

Here's my moment:
I was doing the now usual weekend water change on Saturday morning. This usually means "vacuuming" out around 60-70 litres and topping up with the hosepipe. At the top-up stage my 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son declared war on each other in the lounge. I then went over to negotiate a cease fire using my usual shock and awe approach.

As I'm sure you've guessed by now, the peace talks were interrupted by the soothing sounds of an indoor waterfall, cascading over laminate flooring. Many expletives, a wet and dry vacuum cleaner, all my wife's (soon to be ex!) towels and 8 hours of an 11 fin heater later, things were as dry as I could get them.

Time will tell if the laminate flooring needed more curing or not!

There you have it, let's hear yours.

 

LOL ... hope the floor doesn't need replacing.

 

Bradley,

I would start praying now for some miracle that your laminate floor survives, and secondly the your wife's lawyer ain't half as good as yours.

Laminate flooring, no matter what people will tell you when they sell you the d@mn stuff is NOT water friendly in the LEAST! Being in the building industry, we pretty much refuse to put in wooden flooring until we have finished snagging the house and the owners have moved in. On one ocasion, the owners spent a night with their beds on concrete floors before the laminate arrived for installation the next day. Sadle just a glass of water can damage up to 2 squares of flooring.

If the tank is on laminate flooring, I would suggest seriously considering changing it to tiles. FIrstly you wil never stop water from spilling on the floor. Maintenance around a tank almost always lands up with a bit of water on the floor. And secondly, the weight of a 230 litre tank, (presumably on a stand with pressure points), will eventually pierce through the laminate if enough water accumilates around the legs enough times.

But needless to say, your story did brighten up my morning.

(And I talk about changin your laminate to tiles when I myself have CARPETS instead of tiles!)

 

Nice aquarium disaster story Bradley, here is one of mine

When i first set up my 1.2metre, we hadnt even moved our furniture in and I decided to spend the day alone setting up the tank. Well easier said than done....filing it up meant I had to pull the hose through the house and then somehow anchor the thing so it wouldnt fall out (being very stretched) then turning it on hoping i get the pressure right, its a strange house after all and i couldnt see around the corner.

i walked in to the house to see how things were going, just then i got a call, rushed for my mobile and out of the corner of my eye, watched as the hose lifted itself out of the aquarium and did a dance spraying water everywhere, the laminated floor, the electrical outlets, the everthing.

My first thought was to catch the hose, it didnt even occur to me to switch the tap off, and still try and conduct a professional call with the client that just phoned me.

Of course catching the hose was difficult and when i finally managed to wrestle it out to the garden, i was soaked to the bone, my tank was still empty, my heater and light unit had short circuited and the laminated floor well, i had a lot of unexpected work to do.

Moral of the story is.. SWITCH OFF THE TAP (duh)! or Dont forget to bring along a Tank Buddy, two by two is safer ;-)

 

Towels are a tank fillers best friend ...

 

Definitely Donny!

I can still see myself pushing as many towels under the cabinet (too heavy to move!) with anything flat enough in the house...

 

For under the stand just get a floor standing fan to dry that area up but when i am doing water changes with a vacuum or filling or cleaning pumps always have a towel handy.

 

Howdy there, Kat here Hope ur floors are ok.
My tank started leaking from underneith and I didnt know and wen I finally realised the nice new carpet had a huge mould patch

 

My worst story was whilst gravel vacuuming the tank, I sucked up a paradise fish and ripped its gills open on the bottle neck of the tube! Needless to say, it died straight away!

I'm always extra specially carefull with the gravel vacuum now! Although from time to time the odd neon will go for a swim down the tube! Just as well I use a bucket at the other end!!

Cheers!
Big G!

 

No chance of that happening with my Oscar Big G!
Still, fish slaughter must feel awful.

 

I was also vacuuming my gravel with a tiny pipe to get the most suction out of it. i looked away for one second and felt a big thump coming from the pipe. one of my mollies got sucked 1cm into the pipe. i pulled him out as soon as i saw but he also died withing 5 minutes. felt very bad about that one.

 

I've fetched one of my ropefish in the garden, after having to blow the last 2m to get him out.

 

Did it manage to survive Gilbert? I find ropefish to be very suicidal as mine decided to become biltong the very first day I got him.