Got ~100gal of aquarium water all over my floor

[jtvang125]

So on sunday I was cleaning my 110gal tank. Instead of properly hooking my canister filter back on correctly I just stuck the tube for the return line into the tank with nothing really holding it in. I turned the filter on and watched it for about 30 seconds to make sure it was sucking the water on the intake and returning it to the tank. I went outside for about 30-40 minutes and came back to find that the water pressure lodged the return line loose and was pumping all the water onto my floor. There was about 4 inches of water left in the tank, just barely enough for my fishes to swim but they were freaking out though.

My carpet was soaked for about 5 yards out from the tank. Ended up having to rent one of those rug doctor carpet cleaner to suck out most of the water. The carpet is still damp but should be enough to dry out in a few days.

 

[Platypus]

I'd be worried about mold.

 

[D1gger]

Not good. What kind of flooring do you have?

 

[Gibsons]

I'd be worried about mold.

Me too.

Mold problems can cost you big, as in having the flooring and wall replaced. Put some fans on it, even peel the carpet back to get it exposed if possible.

 

[trmiv]

LOL, good one. Everyone who keeps aquariums has stories like this at one time or another.

One time when we were moving apartments and I had a reef aquarium. We had already moved most of our stuff to the new place, but the tank was still back at the old place. I had to make a bunch of new saltwater to prepare for the move of the tank. So I went to the old place and got my RO/DI going to make some new water, did a few things to pack up some more stuff and left. The next day at work it hit me, I forgot to turn the fucking water off. I rushed back home and got to the old place, went inside and there was a sign on the counter from maintenance that said "You forgot to turn your water off, it overflowed all over the floor and ran into the apartment below."

Oops. Amazingly enough, we got our full deposit back. True story.

 

[rivan]

I had this happen on a 125 gal tank years ago - pumped itself (mostly) empty. Pulled the carpet up and out of the house within a couple hours. Surprised by the wonderful condition of the hardwood underneath (needed refinishing, but otherwise great).

Killed all our fish; had some expensive saltwater friends there. Burned out a high dollar pump, too. Was my house, my roommate's tank.

 

[SonicIce]

duce bigalow?

 

[eits]

you seriously didn't take pics??? wtf is wrong with you? you've been a member since 2004, man... c'mon...

 

[Leros]

I had a canister filter get clogged up and it cracked from the pressure. Through this tiny crack, it misted the entire wall with water and slowly drained my 75 gallon aquarium. This was on the second floor too. So not only was a wall ruined, but the ceiling underneath was ruined too.

 

[JTsyo]

Mental note don't get an aquarium.

 

[spidey07]

LOL, good one. Everyone who keeps aquariums has stories like this at one time or another.

One time when we were moving apartments and I had a reef aquarium. We had already moved most of our stuff to the new place, but the tank was still back at the old place. I had to make a bunch of new saltwater to prepare for the move of the tank. So I went to the old place and got my RO/DI going to make some new water, did a few things to pack up some more stuff and left. The next day at work it hit me, I forgot to turn the fucking water off. I rushed back home and got to the old place, went inside and there was a sign on the counter from maintenance that said "You forgot to turn your water off, it overflowed all over the floor and ran into the apartment below."

Oops. Amazingly enough, we got our full deposit back. True story.

Went to make some RO/DI. I normally just stuff the waste water tube down the drain in the shower.

The waste water tube somehow came out and was just laying on the floor happily spewing water. I only noticed it when the ceiling started to "rain".

 

[jtvang125]

Me too.

Mold problems can cost you big, as in having the flooring and wall replaced. Put some fans on it, even peel the carpet back to get it exposed if possible.

Haven't peeled the carpet back yet but I think it's just concrete underneath.

 

[Powermoloch]

Well ouch. The next time you do a tank clean up...be right next to the tank for the next 30-40 mins...

 

[BoomerD]

Yep...anyone who's been in the hobby very long has similar tales...I emptied most of a 100 gallon tank onto the carpet with a faulty return w/o a siphon break. When the pump crapped out, the tank back-siphoned into the wet-dry...and onto the floor. Thankfully it was freshwater not saltwater. Like the OP, I rented a rug doctor, then put several fans in the room to dry things out. Fortunately, it was warm weather, so everything dried fairly quickly...we moved out about 3 months later.

My wife threw a bitch-fit about the mess...so I sold the tank for a slight profit and didn't have sump-type filtration again for several years.

I built a return for my 40 gallon saltwater tank with a SCWD (Switching Current Water Director) when they first came out, and being the rocket scientist I am, I drilled the anti-siphon hole in the part of the return that was on the outside of the tank...

I dumped about 15 gallons of saltwater before the pump started blowing bubbles...alerting me that something was wrong.

Rented another rug doctor...only this time, since it was saltwater, not only did I have to suck up all the water, I had to rinse the carpet several times with freshwater...

Sometimes, the only way to explain stuff like this is..."SHIT HAPPENS."

 

[Jodell88]

Around two in the morning, the glass at the front of my 25 gallon aquarium detached, spilling all of the contents onto the floor in one second flat. The sad part was my laptop sat directly in front of the aquarium so it went for an impromptu bath. The laptop survived as I am typing this reply on it.

 

[olds]

Pics of girlfriend?

 

[DesiPower]

no faceplate pic = thread fail

 

[Linflas]

I did this once when I was a teenager except it was filling the aquarium with a garden hose I snaked in the window and across our dining room floor. I turned it on and it was filling the aquarium and then got on the phone with my girlfriend and forgot all about it. Fortunately my parents let me live.

 

[OCGuy]

I knocked over a pint of beer once.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

i knocked over a pint of beer once.

ban!

 

[guyver01]

for reference, this is about the size of 100Gal Aquarium.

 

[Red Squirrel]

This thread is worthless without pics!

As for cleanup, get a few large industrial fans blowing at the affected area, and a couple dehumidifiers. Should do the trick hopefully. Do the same in the basement if it seaped through the floor.

 

[Gooberlx2]

The last aquarium I worked at has a 150,000gal tank in front of a restaurant. I remember a couple times where the Life Support staff forgot to shut off the fill after backwashing the sandfilters, and the water level flowed over the top of the acrylic. I can say that restaurant managers become extremely irate when there's ~1,000 gallons of saltwater on their floor and they have to close up shop for a day.

Between my previous career and stories like these here, are exactly why I have no desire to own a fish tank.

 

[olds]

I knocked over a pint of beer once.

That's alcohol abuse.

 

[Rubycon]

That's probably more like 150-180 gallons. The front to back depth looks more like 20+ inches.

for reference, this is about the size of 100Gal Aquarium.

The last aquarium I worked at has a 150,000gal tank in front of a restaurant. I remember a couple times where the Life Support staff forgot to shut off the fill after backwashing the sandfilters, and the water level flowed over the top of the acrylic. I can say that restaurant managers become extremely irate when there's ~1,000 gallons of saltwater on their floor and they have to close up shop for a day.

Between my previous career and stories like these here, are exactly why I have no desire to own a fish tank.

That's a REALLY bad design especially for open side acrylic! There should be a "finger probe" to signal DANGER! when the water is even near the top - preferably 6" or so the MAX line which still should be a good few inches below the brim! They are lucky they only overflowed and not damaged something!

To the OP: Get one of those frog things that has a water sensing transistor in its penis. It sits on the floor and screams bloody toad murder if moisture reaches the pecker tip!