Your dumbest reef related move? Here's mine....

[Reef Supplies]

This happened right around 3-4 years ago. It was a nice tank, wall mount 120 LBS, mixed sps/lps with right around 100 lbs of live rock. I was doing a nice clean-up that day...the usual water change, topped-off my CR, phosban reactor...ect. The last thing I had to do was fill up one of the reactors with carbon, I had no time, so rather than waiting till the next day I decided to dump it into a sock and place the sock in my drain area of the sump.

The next morning when the lights came on my tank was black. Everything, rocks, corals, clams....overflow, EVERYTHING was covered in pulverized carbon dust! The sock got loose and ended up on the business end of my drain, so for 8-9 hours the drain was pounding the crap out of the carbon turning it into dust.

The recovery was very very long! I did not want to do a full tear down so I took my time. I lost most of my coral over time, the fish were not affected as they all made it.

My dumba$$ move!

[Gripenfelter]

Took apart my UV sterilizer without verifying that the pump was off.

Took a bath and then when I tried to unplug the pump.

ZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPP!!!!!

No damage to tank.

[Reef Supplies]

Originally Posted by Gripenfelter

Took apart my UV sterilizer without verifying that the pump was off.

Took a bath and then when I tried to unplug the pump.

ZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPP!!!!!

No damage to tank.

Ouch!

[Zoaelite]

Little to much force .

[Reef Supplies]

wow

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

Little to much force .

Levi, that's such a classic picture! Its funy because I had the exact skimmer and let me tell you it was a pi$$ off trying to take that off.

[sphelps]

Here's mine

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

Levi, that's such a classic picture! Its funy because I had the exact skimmer and let me tell you it was a pi$$ off trying to take that off.

I still use a hydor skimmer, but don't use the o-ring on the opening, removed that long time ago, thus easy to take off and put back on. Really I don't know why it was that way, as the skimmer still works like a damn without it.

My first stupid episode was on my first saltwater tank. 28G JBJ, cleaning skimmer, took it apart, but didn't put it back together when I decided to plug it back in. Water pumping on the floor, as it was a hang on back skimmer, all over electrical as well. The programmable outlet was toast, as it turned black and was on fire. I was standing in this mess also, trying to unplug everything. Nothing happened to me though.

Seconds: With new tank, while trying to figure things out with this main tank, sump stuff... on 2 occasions, while trying to figure out flow with valves, had water pour over the top tank on my head. NOT FUN!!! Picture me sitting there after this happening and almost crying, wondering what the HELL I got myself into.

[Aquaria]

Mine was adding a manderian to a new 46g tank about 4m old. My other one was a couple weeks ago When I was at the hospital when my g/f was giving birth I forgot to tell the inlaws that they needed to do topoffs and watch my cpr overflow so on my 3rd or 4th night i had a nightmare that my tank overflowed so irushed home to find my Tom aqualifter had failed and the water was about a half inch from the top of the tank and also about an inch above my return pump.... Fishy 6th sense FTW.

[Bblinks]

Powder brown and Achille in the same tank.