Just need to vent…

[Fruity Reefer]

I had one of the most stressful and morbid things happen to me today.

I was watching tv and noticed my tank start shooting bubbles like crazy, jumped and ran over to figure out what was going on and my sump exit chamber was almost dry (super confusing) then I realized my display was almost over flowing (super alarming) and I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on.

I then realized one of my overflow guards had somehow gotten knocked off (I’m looking at you turbo snails) at which point I decided to inventory my fish and noticed my filefish was missing. I then realized he had swam through my overflow and was lodged inside of my plumbing. 4 hours and tons of water on the floor later I ended up having to get a drain snake and run it through overflow/sump and literally wedge him out of the return (sadly he didn’t survive the ordeal due to not being able to get water passed him in the plumbing).

One of the most stressful, morbid and sad things I’ve had happen during my reef adventure and I just wanted to vent. lol

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Oh man! That's rough! I'm sorry that happened to you.

 

[VintageReefer]

Wow. That’s sounds both stressful and traumatizing…I’m sorry you had to go through this

How does the overflow guard attach/detach ? Can that be improved ?

 

[edsbeaker]

The bright side is that you were home to catch it! That could have been catastrophic! Sorry for the poor filefish.

 

[Fruity Reefer]

Wow. That’s sounds both stressful and traumatizing…I’m sorry you had to go through this

How does the overflow guard attach/detach ? Can that be improved ?

Yeah, I am brain storming it now, it’s been fine for a little over a year now but im about to Fort Knox my overflow because this was toooo much

 

[VintageReefer]

Yeah, I am brain storming it now, it’s been fine for a little over a year now but im about to Fort Knox my overflow because this was toooo much

Can you show a pic or link of the overflow guard ?
Is it one of the lids that goes on top?

 

[Duane family]

I feel for you, I had a similar accident early this morning.

7am this morning while watching MotoGP and in-between sessions I decided to do my weekly 10% water change. With only blue lights running I turned off the pumps and started the process, first was to clean the overflow guard so I pulled it off and went to clean it. Then about 10min later I pulled the overflow filter sponge to rinse that off, one of my little chromis was laying on the sponge, he had expired. He must have gone into the overflow area when I took the guards off and when the water ran out he was caught by the filter sponge. Because of the low level blue lights I didn't see this happening.

I'm not as upset as you are about your loss but I'm disappointed I didn't see this and stop it.

Sad things happen all the time in this hobby unfortunately.

 

[Fruity Reefer]

Can you show a pic or link of the overflow guard ?
Is it one of the lids that goes on top?

It’s a little custom piece I made a year ago after one of my clowns decided to take a water slide into my sump lol.

Its 2 pieces of Marco rock blocking the inlet for the return heads (one of those is what got knocked off) and a small piece of acrylic I shaped over the overflow with slits for water.

I am probably going to come up with a permanent attachment in place of the Marco rock, I kept it easier to remove for cleaning purposes but I was shocked something (most likely one of my turbo snails “bulldozers”) was able to bump out the Marco.

 

[VintageReefer]

It’s a little custom piece I made a year ago after one of my clowns decided to take a water slide into my sump lol.

Its 2 pieces of Marco rock blocking the inlet for the return heads (one of those is what got knocked off) and a small piece of acrylic I shaped over the overflow with slits for water.

I am probably going to come up with a permanent attachment in place of the Marco rock, I kept it easier to remove for cleaning purposes but I was shocked something (most likely one of my turbo snails “bulldozers”) was able to bump out the Marco.

Can you show a picture ?
Or let me know what model tank this is ?

Depending on the situation…I know 3d printers that could probably custom make a perfect fitting piece for you

 

[RedReefer]

Omg. Sucks. I hope you have a better day today!