Paul B
NJRC Member
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Flood!!
I hate when I have a flood, but I really hate to have a flood when we have 8" of snow on the ground and are expecting a lot more, and I really hate having a flood, with 8" of snow on the ground when I also have a Doctors appointment and I know the doctor won't be there because she is a Sissy and didn't call me to cancel and they never answer the phone so I have to "write her a letter". I also hate having a flood when the water that is on my floor is supposed to be in the tank and the hermit crabs are shaking their claws at me, "Above the water" and I don't have any salt water to put back in the tank.
This morning I went downstairs (we have a finished basement) where the tank is. I immediately knew something was wrong by the sound of the powerheads spitting a watery mist on the walls. That is usually a bad sign.
My wife was in the kitchen making coffee and I didn't tell her about the flood. The reason I am happily married for 45 years is that I never told my wife we have a fish tank.
So I get to the tank and see the five gallon bucket under the skimmer that collects the skimmer effluent overflowing all over the place. My prize, "State of the art" projector that I watch my video's on is getting soaked.
The High Tech, DIY auto shut off that is supposed to shut off the pumps when that bucket fills didn't work! Oh No. It always worked. So I jump in the water and start pulling out all the plugs. The pumps stop but the bucket is full so I dip a cup in it and slowly remove the water.
I go and look in my workshop, move all the Steampunk stuff out of the way and get to the bucket that I keep with new salt water. OMG, It's empty, just spider webs.
My wife yells "COFFEE is READY" I don't answer. Instead I go to my RO/DI and drain it into a bucket, throw some salt in it and fill a gallon bottle with hot water to float in there to warm it up as it is freezing and corals don't have a sense of humor when you douse them in ice water. I test the salinity, Way off the chart. OK, that will have to do as I don't have any more RO water to add. I didn't let the fish see my swing arm hydrometer but it is probably so far off that maybe the salinity is fine. After five minutes I figure the water is warm enough and I dump in the water. Wife yells COFFEE is GETTING COLD. I make up an excuse but mumble it so she doesn't know what I said.
You can see the bucket under my skimmer that normally takes 2 months to fill.
I run to the closet and pull out 6 or 7 towels to throw on the floor trying to soak up an inch of water. They immediately get soaked and I need more. "WHEN ARE YOU COMING UP FOR COFFEE". I YELL, I am taking a shower. Only a small lie because I was all wet. I get more towels. Now I look in the tank to see if anything is complaining that the water I added was way to cold and so salty that when I dropped a pencil in the bucket, it stood up. No problem because I run a revrse undergravel filter and that allows you to do anything you want. Well almost, I mean I can't drop a dead moose in the tank, but almost anything else and it will be fine.
I just turned around to see if the fish were still alive. The yellow wrasses are spawning so I assume they are fine.
Now I go to see why my auto shut off didn't work. It is basically a GFCI that the pumps are plugged into. A pair of wires go from that GFCI into the bucket so that when salt water hits those wires, the GFCI trips shutting off the pumps. I test it and see that the GFCI did in fact trip, but the pumps were still going. OMG. The GFCI croaked. In all my years as an electrician I have never seen one of those fail in the on position. They usually just don't work.
So I change the GFCI, turn it all back on and get ready to shovel snow. "I THREW OUT THE COFFEE"
I hate when I have a flood, but I really hate to have a flood when we have 8" of snow on the ground and are expecting a lot more, and I really hate having a flood, with 8" of snow on the ground when I also have a Doctors appointment and I know the doctor won't be there because she is a Sissy and didn't call me to cancel and they never answer the phone so I have to "write her a letter". I also hate having a flood when the water that is on my floor is supposed to be in the tank and the hermit crabs are shaking their claws at me, "Above the water" and I don't have any salt water to put back in the tank.
This morning I went downstairs (we have a finished basement) where the tank is. I immediately knew something was wrong by the sound of the powerheads spitting a watery mist on the walls. That is usually a bad sign.
My wife was in the kitchen making coffee and I didn't tell her about the flood. The reason I am happily married for 45 years is that I never told my wife we have a fish tank.
So I get to the tank and see the five gallon bucket under the skimmer that collects the skimmer effluent overflowing all over the place. My prize, "State of the art" projector that I watch my video's on is getting soaked.
The High Tech, DIY auto shut off that is supposed to shut off the pumps when that bucket fills didn't work! Oh No. It always worked. So I jump in the water and start pulling out all the plugs. The pumps stop but the bucket is full so I dip a cup in it and slowly remove the water.
I go and look in my workshop, move all the Steampunk stuff out of the way and get to the bucket that I keep with new salt water. OMG, It's empty, just spider webs.
My wife yells "COFFEE is READY" I don't answer. Instead I go to my RO/DI and drain it into a bucket, throw some salt in it and fill a gallon bottle with hot water to float in there to warm it up as it is freezing and corals don't have a sense of humor when you douse them in ice water. I test the salinity, Way off the chart. OK, that will have to do as I don't have any more RO water to add. I didn't let the fish see my swing arm hydrometer but it is probably so far off that maybe the salinity is fine. After five minutes I figure the water is warm enough and I dump in the water. Wife yells COFFEE is GETTING COLD. I make up an excuse but mumble it so she doesn't know what I said.
You can see the bucket under my skimmer that normally takes 2 months to fill.
I run to the closet and pull out 6 or 7 towels to throw on the floor trying to soak up an inch of water. They immediately get soaked and I need more. "WHEN ARE YOU COMING UP FOR COFFEE". I YELL, I am taking a shower. Only a small lie because I was all wet. I get more towels. Now I look in the tank to see if anything is complaining that the water I added was way to cold and so salty that when I dropped a pencil in the bucket, it stood up. No problem because I run a revrse undergravel filter and that allows you to do anything you want. Well almost, I mean I can't drop a dead moose in the tank, but almost anything else and it will be fine.
I just turned around to see if the fish were still alive. The yellow wrasses are spawning so I assume they are fine.
Now I go to see why my auto shut off didn't work. It is basically a GFCI that the pumps are plugged into. A pair of wires go from that GFCI into the bucket so that when salt water hits those wires, the GFCI trips shutting off the pumps. I test it and see that the GFCI did in fact trip, but the pumps were still going. OMG. The GFCI croaked. In all my years as an electrician I have never seen one of those fail in the on position. They usually just don't work.
So I change the GFCI, turn it all back on and get ready to shovel snow. "I THREW OUT THE COFFEE"
