Rant - My Idiocracy

[newguy1983]

Well Well Well...

First off, Happy Easter to all my fellow Reef Central pals.

This is just a me thread...wanting to vent and rant, because I know several of you have been there...

Today, started off as a great day. Weather is nice, fish are happy and my Cyano is redder than ever...I always do my water changes on the weekends and decided that Sunday would be a better day than Sat since I we have been busy with preparing for a new born.

This morning, I drain approximately 2 gallons out of my 15g tank...no big deal. To avoid the shock of so much new water in my tank (with it being small), I always set up my 5g deltang with a slow siphon and let it fill up slowly - it will usually take approximately 30 mins or so to fill up the 2g...

Well, let me tell you, a lot can happen in those 30 minutes to get you side tracked off the hand at task. My wife asked me to sort and start the laundry - which, having a pregnant wife - I happily complied as baseball wasn't scheduled to be on for another two hours or so. So, after sorting and starting the first load of laundry, I feel like I should start to clean up - and in doing so, I put all the trash from getting ready to move in a box and take it out to the car, then drive it to the dumpster. At this point, I must of already lost track of time...because when I come back from taking the trash out, I walk into the kitchen to grab a drink...and when I go into the family room, I step on lovely, salt water soaked carpet and padding. :-( I look over at the deltang, and it is completely empty. So, I dumped 2.5 gallons of salt water on our carpet - and spent those two hours waiting for the games to start drying out the carpet. Luckily it was 70 degrees and a nice breeze today.

I haven't told the apt complex yet (closed today) and dont know if I will - because it had dried out nicely today...so, we'll see...

I still want to blame this on wifey...but I dare not say it to her face or it'll be the end of me...

Thanks for reading...

Happy Easter!

 

[tkeracer619]

LOL been there done that! I flooded my house with a CSS about 4 times before buying a real skimmer. Then I had a seam on a 150g tank go out and dumped the contents on the floor. You could always reward yourself for cleaning that mess up with some new addition to your tank or a new handy tool =]

Shop vacs are our friend.

 

[sikpupy]

I used to do that stuff all the time. I have learned that I either have some sort of safty device set up, or, just dont do it at all unless I am there at ALL times.

I hate to say this, but, you have to take the blame for it. I know, I know...... I know how much you dont want to think you could do such a bone headed thing, but, man up, take it on the chin! I am always forgetting or missing something and of all the things I do miss, I miss my mind the most. Just remember, next time if the wife asks you to do something, just say "You dont know how much I want to for you babe, but, I am right in the middle of doing "X", and, remember the last time I tried it? I will be more than happy to do "X" when I am finished here.".

Oh well, what can ya do?

Glad to hear you got it cleaned up easily.

 

[MrRyanT]

I've done something similar many times. I finally found a simple way to not do it anymore. My cell phone has an alarm clock on it and I know approximately how long it takes to fill a bucket or whatever. I just set the alarm on my phone to remind me to turn off the water. I haven't a spill since starting this method.

 

[newguy1983]

I have to agree with your idea sikpuppy...but have you ever had to convince a pregnant woman to do something that goes against what she wants? Very hard...if not impossible...

 

[sikpupy]

LOL, yea, well, while I cant say I have had a "pregnant" woman to deal with, kind of been there and done that. This is where diplomatic skills come into play. You know, back rubs (they especially like thier ankles rubbed), kisses, oh, and a lot of butt kissing :lol:

 

[newguy1983]

I already play in the massages and butt kissing when I want something new for the tank, so, I think I'll need to research other diplomatic means...

 

[qfrisco]

I've done something similar several times, specifically when filling up my ATO reservoir. I have to do this every 7-10 days, and when the reservoir is empty, it takes about 6 hours to fill back up with RODI water. I always set an alarm on my phone to remind me to check it after 6 hours or so. Everytime I convince myself that I don't need to set an alarm, I forget and end up with water all over the floor. Fortunately, it's always been RODI water, and my tank is on tile, so cleanup is easy, but still....

 

[ReefEnabler]

Sorry to hear it... been there! but I'm lucky to have the fishroom in the garage..

one question..... What is a "Deltang"?? I assume some kinda bucket, but a googling revealed nothing.

 

[newguy1983]

Here is a deltang...

http://inmarkinc.thomasnet.com/ImgMedium/Deltang.jpg

Basically, a 5g milk jug...

 

[ReefEnabler]

ah ok, I have like 4 of those :lol:

 

[BuddhaKiss]

I've done something similar many times. I'll leave my RO running and would sometimes forget to turn it off. Can't tell you how many times I've come downstairs in the morning to a soaked carpet as my RO container has overflowed. Having tired of it, I finally broke down and spent $2 on an egg timer....

 

[ReefEnabler]

I just put a float valve into my mixing tank which helped.

Of course I still make the mistakes even with filling my "deltangs" with mixed SW from my 1/2" drainage bulkhead. Takes about 2 minutes to fill, and I usually start doing an alk test or looking at the skimmer etc. by the time I look back my "deltang" is overflowing all over the garage floor :lol:

can't stop using the word deltang now