Murphy visits

imsqueak

imsqueak

Premium Member
Do you guys just never post about Murphy's visits or does he just visit me more often than anyone else?

I fell asleep on the couch and woke to what I thought was unusually loud overflows. The sound of water running and nature - to the bathroom I went. Darn, bathroom floor is soaked, just what I needed... what's leaking? nothing... towels are dry under sink, no leaks from water line to toilet. OK tank comes to mind. Laundry room's flooded (again) water is to the top of the sump and over. That means power out plus something. Something was 20-30g of top off water. GFCI tripped everything under the tank (solenoid for ro/di, ato system) return & skimmer pumps in laundry. I'm still not sure what caused the GFCI to trip or why the ato pump stuck on. I was just over it today so I just got the gfci reset with the pumps and solenoid powered to make up water change water.

6am and 5hp shop vac running. Wife loved that... me too...

Changing ato tub to a salt bucket. I've got that much fudge room for power out plus Murphy.
 
Wow, sorry to hear Murphy has been over for a visit. I can't count how many times I've come downstairs to the "squish squish" on the carpet--the only thing to do is to make sure that Murphy doesn't get you the same way twice...although there are so many possibilities...

Is there a way to make your top-off manual? I'm always scared of automatic top-off devices because bad things can happen fast, but evaporation is slow (relatively :) ). What if you put a valve in your sump that you could open when you needed to fill it? (the valve being tapped into a barrel of FW) This way you could do it every few days--I wouldn't think the corals would mind the input of FW if you didn't let it go too long. It's also a good excuse to check the sump thoroughly every couple of days while the water fills. Just an idea.

Now that I read more carefully the ATO salt bucket sounds good, that way a failure is only a few gallons of water--but I guess you have to fill the bucket more often.

Just keep truckin'--when/if you do that new tank, you can set it up using all that Murphy has taught so far ;)
 
You'd think that with the millions of people in this hobby someone would design and sell bullet/Murphy proof systems. I don't think it's possible. I just got to try to make the bullets smaller.

I usually post about Murphy's visits so I can ; 1) vent 2) explain my tank and it's problems 3) look for input for solutions. 4) If someone reads the problems I've had and they can avoid just one flood it's worth my embarrassment about posting.
 
Well my small clownfish that I bought from Matt is MIA. I have moved rock around, looked in my pipes, 1.5 in. diameter, so it should be in the sump, looked on the floor, no rock slides, and nothing in the tank would kill it. About to do round 3 of looking.
I saw it earlier today and when I fell asleep it was gone.
Maybe Murphy only comes when we are asleep.
 
Mine usually happens in the bathroom when making up water. Actually, the float valve is pretty bullet-proof (been working in millions of toilets for decades), and I don't mind lugging 5 gallons at a pop. I avoid that now by making water in the shower. Although I am a little worried about my skimmer mods I made today, as this thing just keeps sucking more and more air as time passes and I don't want a flood. Guess I'll lower the foam height before I go to bed, as other who've made these mods have woken up to massive splooge all over the place.

Dave
 
A carpet water alarm is a good Murphy-warning. At least you get to it at the first damp. Sympathies!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8072570#post8072570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
A carpet water alarm is a good Murphy-warning. At least you get to it at the first damp. Sympathies!
Click to expand...

I had one; it saved me twice, and then the alarm broke! mush mush walking on the carpet again :rolleyes:

I think it's good to share our problems and successes so that we can learn from both. Don, you may not even have more problems than most; it's just that you aren't afraid to share :D (BTW, I'm up collecting clarkii babies tonight! but only after falling asleep last night and missing a nest of GSM)

KudaFish: sent PM -- don't want you to be clown-less
 
Sorry about all the troubles! I bet your wife is unhappy to say the least! ATO units scare me to death also.

Murphy must live in my 29 frag/fish holding tank also. I had a mystery baby clown disapear also and it was nowhere to be found. I never thought much about it thinking the few crabs and bristles must have made real short work of it. Now my anthia I got from a fellow hobbiest had gone missing in the same tank. I know they are jumpers and have unbelivably searched the room over and almost all frags and all rock are gone so he is not just dead and floated up under something. Funny how happy my huge green bubble looks lately, he has to be catching them and eating them! He can scarf down half a table shrimp in minutes and he is super, super sticky if I touch it feeding it. He will not hardley let go of me much less a nice fresh fish :lol: Sad thing is I haven't even paid for the fish yet! Expensive dinner for my coral I guess.
 
Don sorry to hear the bad luck I can bring over my amp. tester and we can see what amps you are pulling that is my only guess.
OK as for bad luck the frags I got last week the one Mel want mostly went south on me guess it was tomuch stress on it I think I might just have like three pieces left of it so I am going to share with Mel and art has one think its ok haven't heard yet we will see so I guess I have had my bad luck for this month
 
How about another hole near the top of the sump for it to dump into the drain in case of an overflow?
 
Fred, I definitely thought of that. Maybe hook a hose to a big bladder type bag.

I cant imagine not using ato. I still have to research which solenoid I need to get to replace the one I have that doesn't completely shut off the water when the floats say to do so. All this gives me an idea of a meeting topic~lets see if Runner will help me with his ATO design.

Angela, you will find out how easy/frustrating to realize fish or frags go missing with your big tank.

And I have several water alarms somewhere. I have one actually in use under the stand where I normally have floods...

I guess I'm off to find the culprit. I have to time my computer and tank working time because my little helper wont allow me to type or work on the tank without her helping me. She's napping now so I have an hour to figure it out and play on the pc.
 
Thats Funny because I was just looking at the tank tonight wondering where a big spagetti leather disapeared to. It is lost somewhere and I just noticed tonight it was no where to be seen! I hadn't even missed it so it must be buried in the aquascape somewhere :lol:
 
I don't need Murphy. I have hydroid jellyfish spreading over every uncovered surface now. I am about ready to punt and start all over again with new live rock.
 
The sump should have excess capacity to catch the top off water. I use a gravity fed topoff system with a Kent float switch in the return section of the sump. The topoff holds 10 gallons. It is a rubbermaid tub sitting on 2 salt buckets for elevation. Put your RO unit next to the topoff if possible and have it fill a garbage can using a float switch. When you need to fill the topoff container you either pump it or use a pitcher to scoop it out. Add kalk while doing it. If the tank empties into the sump the sump needs to be able to hold it also. I guess if the power went off and my float switch stuck open I could get a flood. My float switch will clog with kalk and close and if I don't catch it the return pump will blow air into the tank which caused rtn for me once. Sorry bout the troubles Don, I have been there. I spill water all the time doing water changes, a hose will come out of a container and sqirt all over. I am not brave enough to have a reef on my hardwood floors.
 
The biggest Murphy I had was when my son pulled my 200 gal per day RO systems waste water hose from the drain and it ran in the laundry room all night. It flooded the laundry room, daughters bed room and garage.
 
BTW, I am still idling on my auto-topoff creation. I will do it soon. My main anti-Murphy will be that my resevoir will be only 5G containers -- which can not overflow my sump even if the switch refuses to shut off.

My biggest Murphy thus far seems to be the time we lost power and the siphon did not break because I had not been maintaining and cleaning my siphon holes on my return lines. I was out of town and my wife was stuck trying to stop the flood -- then restart the siphon on the U-tubes again once power came back. It took a month before she stopped mentioning that one. I suppose a few mouthfuls of tank water will do that to you. I try to make my setup as idiot proof as possible because I travel at times up to a week away from home. Even my overflow was contained under my stand -- which has 3-1/2" of sealed containment. If I ever hose our carpet, I don't know if my wife would be happy (because we get a new one) or upset. I do know I wouldn't hear the end of that one for years, though.
 
Same as reefracer. My return is around 1/2 inch below the surface and the last piece is just stuck in there so I can turn or adjust it. Just an idea for when the tank evolves.
 
Murphy lives with you guys too. I thought he was only friends with my family. Our biggest murphy moment thus far (knock on wood) is when power went out and my return pump (that doesn't have a one way valve in it) started a reverse syphon and continued to do so until it had no more to suck out, and I had left the loc line about 6 inches under the surface of the 29 tank. Needless to say we had a soggy carpet for quite some time afterwards.
Our biggest murphy moment non-reef related was when I had not securely fastened our sugar gliders cage all the way and was playing video games one night in our trailer at college and got a call from my wife to check on the glider. When I did get around to checking on the glider (gizmo) I found him not in his cage but in the toliet where I hadn't put the lid down. He was alive but barely his nose being just out of the water was the only thing saving him. He is alive and well now. Which I am glad for as he was more expensive than most coral, or fish at $150.
Andy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Stray Voltage - GFCI Question
Replies
11
Views
621
wvned
wvned
E
What’s the best way to approach this?
Replies
3
Views
297
SantaMonica
S
Z
Old Elos 70 - how to raise water level and reduce water noise?
Replies
9
Views
487
discotu
discotu
F
How to measure water level?
Replies
2
Views
329
FishTri
F
R
Ph Control Set Up
Replies
0
Views
367
rdavidw
R
Back
Top