Well it finally happened

[bmoraski]

After doing water changes for 2 years ( still with buckets lol ) and not having problems, i almost killed my sons 10 gal. I turned my head for a minute ( more like 4 or 5 min. ) and overfilled bucket and almost emptied tank completely ! i cant believe it, im always so careful. if i had been a minute later they would be dead. and of coarse there was a nice mess, but thank god i caught it in time. Just having one of those MONTHS i guess. Just thought i would chime in with my idiot of the month story !lol
later

 

[Lotus]

If we're draining a tank and doing other things, we usually put the end of the siphon that's in the tank a few inches above the substrate. That way, even if we forget, we won't leave the fish out of water.

I hope the mess wasn't too big!

 

[OrangeCones]

A few months back, I was in my LFS to buy California Black Worms (the last batch I had to buy, since they breed so easily), and they had drained a 75gallon tank full of huge angels down to the gravel. They were as big as your hand spread out. The owner of the store was filling the tank back up in hopes of saving some, but they were just floating in the water

I agree with Lotus's suggestion, keeping the siphon at a good level so if you do get sidetracked (so easy to do!) it won't be a problem. My hubby actually marked the edge of my first tank with a perm marker, to be able to tell how much 5gallons is, since the waterchange bucket was 6 lol

 

[bmoraski]

after i vacuum gravel i usually put a net over vacuum with a rubberband, and leave a few inches from bottom. Guppies can get sucked up real easy, there a pain in my @#@ ! lol
but i wont do tanks when im burnt from work anymore, even if im a day or 2 late for weekly water change!
i meant to say i put vacuum down in gravel so i wouldnt have to put net on !
its called laziness.

 

[bmoraski]

A few months back, I was in my LFS to buy California Black Worms (the last batch I had to buy, since they breed so easily), and they had drained a 75gallon tank full of huge angels down to the gravel. They were as big as your hand spread out. The owner of the store was filling the tank back up in hopes of saving some, but they were just floating in the water

I agree with Lotus's suggestion, keeping the siphon at a good level so if you do get sidetracked (so easy to do!) it won't be a problem. My hubby actually marked the edge of my first tank with a perm marker, to be able to tell how much 5gallons is, since the waterchange bucket was 6 lol

i think that sucks
and imagine the poor sap that would get one of those fish that happen to make it.if they made it

 

[OrangeCones]

i think that sucks
and imagine the poor sap that would get one of those fish that happen to make it.if they made it

He said none made it, and he fired the 'kid' he had hired (who had stepped outside to smoke and talk on his cellphone...)

But yea, you'd take perfect care of it and find it dead a few days or weeks later due to the stress it went through.

 

[blamejames]

bummer deal glad that hasnt happened to me yet! and hopefully it wont cant say that it wont tho lol!

 

[LAVMAN]

I just did the something similar. i am setting up a new 30g w/ sand and had it filled and then siphoned out water to get rid of the cloud and i made the mistake of turning on my filter too early so it buggered up the pump soo i took the filter off and went in another room to check it out more closely and came back 5 mins too late and the bucket was over flowing and i have carpet so it was a good lesson to learn the hard way because i never wanna do that again!!

 

[bmoraski]

Ya, some did make it to the carpet but a roll and a half of paper towels and some wet socks later, i think i got it all. No smell yet ! lol
thank god i always put something under buckets, upstairs i use a big long box from some shelf or something i put together. i guess it helped some. lol
like i said no smell yet. and we need to shampoo our carpets anyway, but they are only a year old ! lol

ps
im sick of learning things the hard way !

 

[Newman]

ps
im sick of learning things the hard way !

But thats the most memorable way to learn ! *laughingc

 

[Nemo'sMom]

and that's why I stay up way too late reading all the posts .... an ounce of prevention or some such nonsense!

 

[JRB__]

.....ps
im sick of learning things the hard way !

But thats what makes it fun!

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it!!!

 

[bmoraski]

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it!!!

lol
i love it
How true that is !