Tell your flood stories

[AlexKilpatrick]

I thought it might be interesting to share flood stories, so that other people can learn. I'll start:

1) Probably the most common -- I had my returns too low, and when I turned off the sump pump, the reverse siphon overflowed the sump

2) I set up a temporary siphon hose from the main tank to the sump, to filter out some gunk in the tank through a sock. I wasn't watching it, and it fell out, siphoning about 20 gallons onto the floor.

3) I had a submerged pump fitting pop off and spray water out of the sump all over the cabinet, floor, etc.

4) Numerous RO/DI mini-floods, mainly from starting water generation and forgetting about it. I have fixed this by putting a timer on the water generation part.

I have never had PVC plumbing or a tank fail. All of my floods have come from "temporary engineering" or lack of attention.

[Derry]

How about the 30-gal mixing trash can springing a small leak and seeping a couple of gallons of new salt water into the carpet?

[subsea]

I emptied out a 55G tank onto a carpeted den, At the time I was working 7 days on and 7 days off. Due to illness I was asked to work 14 days. At this point in my marriage relationship (37 years in Nov) I had not been away more than 7 days at a time. I sent my "soul mate" roses. Unknown to me the salt water had leaked onto the carpet and had started getting ripe. Yes, the median that our fish live in is alive.

This sceanario happened because of the floss floating up and blocking the overflow wier return to tank. The pump sucked the level down to the bottom of the u-tube pump inlet in the tank. Everytime the wife got a wife of the decaying marine water, she would look at the roses. Fools and children have all the luck.

Have a good time with this thread.

Keep the peace, spread the Faith.

Pat

[Viet-tin]

Try 150 gallons and everything else inside spilling out due to the front pane falling and crash landing all over...that was quite a mess. Then a 60 gallon being broken by your little nephew who decides he likes throwing D sized batteries at fish...

[prof]

My list is soooo long I don't even know where to start...

My best is probably when I came home and water was running out the front door. I blew a seam on a 150g tank and it lost about a third of the water. 50g does not seem like much until it is able to run across the house, out the front door, and create a little stream down the driveway.

I love my fish room! All spills can just run out the garage.

[+mcallahan]

happily, this is one thread I cannot contribute to.

[mikedelgado]

mee 2 ,knock on wood

[offroadodge]

me either, had a reverse siphon issue while water changing but it didnt over flow anywhere. Had enuff room in sump. I have since changed all of that to where if all fails it wont siphon tank out on floor.

[muddybluewater]

I have never had any major floods with my tank but did have a washing machine run water into the house for about an hour one time. At least it was clear water.

[AlexKilpatrick]

THe idea of a seam failure is really scary. There is nothing you can do to prevent that or mitigate it (short of going acrylic).

For you guys who had tanks crack, how old were they? Did you have any warning signs?

[+Daniel]

I have had one-- the tube from my topoff was accidentally pulled out of my sump. I was gone for a weekend and my Tunze Osmolator emptied 18 gallons of FW (thank goodness it wasn't SW) on to the tile and carpet.

Daniel

[Cool Breeze]

I had an RO topoff line fall out and empty 50 gallons of water in my hall and living room. I tried to dry it out. 3 days later it started to smell. I had to rip up the carpet, dry it out and replace the pad underneath. It was a royal pain. I make sure my RO line is secure now.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Cool Breeze

[+ACampbell]

The only incident I've had is when the calcium reactor return fell out of the sump. It was outputting at a high right and I had several gallons of calcified water on the tile floor.

Remembering to turn off the RO is a different story. I have flooded the garage floor numerous times. Check out this blog post.

[Viet-tin]

THe idea of a seam failure is really scary. There is nothing you can do to prevent that or mitigate it (short of going acrylic).

For you guys who had tanks crack, how old were they? Did you have any warning signs?

we had the tank for years. The center brace fell off but we didnt think anything of it and one day during the middle of the night we heard a crash and rushing water and 150 gallons of water, glass, gravel, rocks, and fish all over the floor. A couple of the fish made it but whhatever landed on sharp glass was gone.

[Daisy82]

This is a good thread! Maybe it will prevent a few disasters. Had a close call last week - a hose popped off the return pump, and it was spewing water a foot high. Fortunately the pump was in the middle of the sump so it was all contained, but just a few inches and it could have been a soggy situation!

[prof]

Center braces are important

I have lost seams on multiple tanks and they have been 25+ year old tanks.

[+mcallahan]

when I got my 90G I decided to buy the tank new to avoid any issues with seams/seals. You can have the cleanest, most balanced water in the world, but if the 4 walls holding it go, none of that matters!

[JamesL]

This happened a looooong time ago to a 29g freshwater tank. This tank was in my room on the second floor, which was above our living room.

I had changed the gravel out in the tank (was re-decorating it). A while later we were sitting in the living room with the fan on, and it started raining in the room. I must have knicked a seam while changing the gravel out.

[pbnj]

I keep my return pump (Mag) laying on its side to avoid any potential for the "geyser" effect.

[mhart032]

Mine was just a couple days ago. i left the ro/di on and left that morning to have surgery on my knee it had been on all day for about 15 or 16 hrs, i had about 40g of ro on the floor when i got home. i live in an apartment and my ro is hooked up in the laundry room witch is basicly a closet by the kitchen and dining area. it reached all accross the floor. thank god i have a couple buddys that manage hotels so an extractor was secured the next day. it does smell pretty bad still even after 3 shampoos, im going to need to replace the pad. it was lovely to come home to =/

[AlexKilpatrick]

Thanks for the stories. Please keep the coming. So far, it seems like we have the following major groups:

Cause 1: Failed Connections

Solution: Do not use gravity or friction as a means of maintaing a connection. Use clamps, preferably redundant

Cause 2: Lack of attention / forgetfullness

Solution: Timers / Shut-off valves / Alarm clock

Cause 3: Tank failures

Solution: Avoid old tanks

[Viet-tin]

oh and make sure you dont try and unplug stuff when outlet or yourself is wet...you'll be in for quite a shock if you do. I sure do love gfcis