How to make a mess

[Head Case]

Oh my, what power we noobs have of making things harder than they need to be. Infamous last words - I’ll just figure it out as I go, how hard could it be? I coulda tried learning what to do before getting started, but I took the other approach. Saltwater all over the kitchen, welder’s tools, and some of the most creative profanity I’ve ever come up with, lol.

Phosphates are crazy high. Tried rowaphos in a bag for a couple weeks, didn’t make much of a dent. BRS GFO reactor and a Sicce pump oughta do it. I don’t want the pump in the tank, and I don’t have a sump, so I apparently have to prime it. A little spillage here and there but we’re set to go. Plug in the pump and I give the back wall of the kitchen a good “spritzing” with some tank water I’d pulled out to cycle through the reactor to get the fines out of the GFO.

Ok, so apparently the push connects don’t seal unless the tubing is fully seated. No worries, fix a few spots…to discover I’d cut one section too short. No worries I’ll just…dang hold on now…son of a… ok let’s see what I have in the garage to get this out. 15 minutes and a YouTube later, I finally get enough grip on the stub with my MIG pliers to get it out.

Back to the kitchen, cut new tubing, and just for good measure bump and knock over the reactor while trying to connect the pump. Deep breaths , in through the nose out through the mouth. I have now spilled more water than I have managed to run through the pump. And this is just the initial test!

Im going to order some quick connects so that I don’t have this drama every time I need to change the GFO. I keep telling my wife that at some point the tank will be settled to where we (mainly I) can just enjoy it, but we ain’t there yet!

 

[NanoNana]

Oh my, what power we noobs have of making things harder than they need to be. Infamous last words - I’ll just figure it out as I go, how hard could it be? I coulda tried learning what to do before getting started, but I took the other approach. Saltwater all over the kitchen, welder’s tools, and some of the most creative profanity I’ve ever come up with, lol.

Phosphates are crazy high. Tried rowaphos in a bag for a couple weeks, didn’t make much of a dent. BRS GFO reactor and a Sicce pump oughta do it. I don’t want the pump in the tank, and I don’t have a sump, so I apparently have to prime it. A little spillage here and there but we’re set to go. Plug in the pump and I give the back wall of the kitchen a good “spritzing” with some tank water I’d pulled out to cycle through the reactor to get the fines out of the GFO.

Ok, so apparently the push connects don’t seal unless the tubing is fully seated. No worries, fix a few spots…to discover I’d cut one section too short. No worries I’ll just…dang hold on now…son of a… ok let’s see what I have in the garage to get this out. 15 minutes and a YouTube later, I finally get enough grip on the stub with my MIG pliers to get it out.

Back to the kitchen, cut new tubing, and just for good measure bump and knock over the reactor while trying to connect the pump. Deep breaths , in through the nose out through the mouth. I have now spilled more water than I have managed to run through the pump. And this is just the initial test!

Im going to order some quick connects so that I don’t have this drama every time I need to change the GFO. I keep telling my wife that at some point the tank will be settled to where we (mainly I) can just enjoy it, but we ain’t there yet!

Every. Single. Day. of my life right now. Me: Oh !*%#! Someone else in the room: what’s wrong?! Me: oh nothing I just poured 3 gallons of water on the hardwood that’s all. I got it!

 

[Formulator]

I keep telling my wife that at some point the tank will be settled to where we (mainly I) can just enjoy it, but we ain’t there yet!

I’ve been telling my wife this for 9 years

 

[Head Case]

ok, much less comedy tonight. Went about as it probably should have last night. Only snafu was “dang, sure am getting a lot of material through the outlet even after it began running clear. Research inter webs…oooooooh, that’s what the sponges are for.

Tomorrow night I attempt to hook it up for real, so who knows what kind of disasters lie ahead. I’ll say this, I sure am glad to be making all this mess and mistakes at about. 15 cents a gallon with my RODI instead of $6 a gallon with PetCo premix.

 

[crazyfishmom]

About three months ago I looked at my Apex app on my phone and my temperature probe was off the chart. Same with pH and everything else was going nuts. First assumption: is the house on fire? Second assumption: the heaters went crazy and the fish are boiling alive.

I call my husband, he works just a few minutes away. He makes his way home. He calls me and tells me everything is fine.

I come home hours later… what my husband did not notice is that one of my hoses got loose from a pump and the entire sump drained… 40-45 gallons of water on the hand wood floor behind the tank. All fish are fine. The UV bulb had blown but that was the extent of the damage.

Turns out I had not tightened the hose onto the pump appropriately. Completely preventable rookie mistake. I will make many more. Have definitely made many more that I won’t mention now.