Share your pain??

[bpete]

Yup. Tearing down the sump and refugium was a pain, especially since it was all unplanned and spur of the moment. Essentially ran to the hardware store to grab the new silicone and then the rest of the evening was devoted to bringing the sump offline and then working on cleaning it out and removing the bad silicone.

Go figure. You can be a very experienced aquarist and still have something sneak up on you like that.

[BluewaterBoof]

It was my first time building a sump. I refused to spend hundreds of dollars buying a fabricated one when I could build my own for $50.

Ironically, the large micromussa colony I lost as a result of the mistake was easily worth as much - if not more - than what it would have cost me to just buy a pre-made sump.

giphy (3).gif

[Boundava]

My most recent oopps involved the new goldfish tank-the 75. (currently the only set up tank in this house with 35 tanks sitting empty in the basement)

The tank was gently used (my old 75 being in said basement), the stand is the same I had from the old house- I just repainted it. I dug up my old surge protector/multiple strip outlet and plugged in a HOB, a heater for cycling, a light and the other HOB in that order with 2 empty outlets left.

My original HOB set up was two Aqueon Quietflows, one was an older design (55-75)-the other the "new" 55 LED version. Plug it all in and they run for 3 weeks thru the cycle and one week after I add fish then the new "LED" version dies overnight. I had heard reviews where the LED one is flaky, so I return it and search the internet for a older Aqueon Quietflow 55-75 (non LED). Find one on Ebay and plug it in and overnight its dead! This is not a coincidence, something is wrong. I try plugging in some things on outlets 3-6 Since I just have HOB, light and other HOB plugged in now) and they are dead, the surge has been faulty the whole time and I am lucky I didn't fry my light and other HOB as it continued to fail!

So I buy filter #3 (a Tidal this time) and a new surge protector and have had no issues with equipment dying since then. Now I have an Aqueon 55-75 that needs a new motor as the surge fried it

I have had many water oopps, but my first electrical one, so check those strip outlets and if they are old get new ones for $9.99 vs frying expensive equipment.

[bpete]

Very good point Boundava. when we try and save some money it can backfire. when I first set up my latest project I had the filter and heater plugged into a strip that was also used for my boy's TV. I would come home and the filter and heater would be off. luckily there were no inhabitants in the tank at that point. little did I know that they had lost the remote for the TV and was turning it off and on by flipping the switch on the surge protector. oops.

[angelcraze2]

This is a really cool thread to help prevent others from making the same mistakes. It's oftentimes not something you think of.

[BluewaterBoof]

I'm still cracking up over the idea of someone having to give a fish the Heimlich Maneuver. I saved one of my dogs when he was a puppy that way, but never knew fish could choke.

[angelcraze2]

Oh yeah they can. I'm pretty sure one of my adult angelfish choked to death. I wish I thought about the heimlich maneuver back then. He was sticking his lips out and eventually was at the bottom laying on his side. I felt so bad, but it was out of nowhere after I fed them pellets. First and only time that happened with prepared foods. Another time I thought my EB ram was choking on a plant piece, but he turned out alright on his own.

Here's a vid of him choking, or what looked like choking

[Taurus]

I have had many water oopps, but my first electrical one, so check those strip outlets and if they are old get new ones for $9.99 vs frying expensive equipment.

You know, this kind of story makes me wonder if there's really any value in using surge protector power strips, especially in situations like this. I can tell you that as a former utility worker that power quality delivered to most residences is pretty darn good. Really sensitive electronics is another situation all together but I don't believe there's any value in using surge protectors on basic aquarium filters or heaters. A good old fashion short extension cord with multiple plugs is pretty hard to beat. And I really think cheap surge protectors are a waste of time and money because they fail so often. I don't use them. You'll get much pretty protection out of a GFI protector, especially around the aquarium. Just make sure there isn't one already on the circuit at the breaker in the load center.

There, that's my two cents or $0.0175 with inflation.

[angelcraze2]

@Taurus are you suggesting the regular power strips over the circuit protector strips? Am I understanding correctly?

Or are the cheap ones those square protectors you just plug straight into the outlet?

[Boundava]

I just put a power strip on, not a surge. With the surges-once its activated I read its a done deal and can't be re set. So if your surge strip saved you once it probably won't work again...from what I read and understood.


https://www.howtogeek.com/212375/why...rge-protector/

Surge Protectors Aren’t Forever
Surge protectors aren’t magic. When they receive a power surge from the electrical outlet they’re plugged into, they have to do something with that extra voltage to get rid of it and shield the connected devices from it.

A typical surge protector uses a component called a metal oxide varistor (MOV). When the voltage spikes, the surge protector effectively diverts that extra voltage to the MOV component. This component degrades when it’s exposed to either a small number of large surges or a larger number of smaller surges. The additional energy doesn’t damage your devices — it stays in the surge protector, where it degrades the MOV.

In other words, your surge protector can only absorb so many surges before it stops functioning as a surge protector and starts functioning as a dumb power strip that’ll let everything through to your devices.