I tripped a circuit breaker

Paul B · Apr 27, 2014

So I am sitting in my basement watching my fish as they were watching me and all of a sudden the lights go out. I was an electrician for 40 years and I can count on one hand how many times my circuit breaker tripped in my house while I was not doing anything like leaf blowing, arc welding or running some heavy equipment. So I look around and I was mixing up some saltwater and in that 30 gallon tub I have a powerhead and 3 heaters.
So before I turn back the breaker I figured it must be one of the heaters. It's always a heater. So I lift one and it is fine, I lift the second one and it is fine. Then I remove the third one and it is all black and scurvy inside and it is full of water. As I am looking for a crack on the glass, it dawned on me. The crack wasn't in the glass, it was in my head. That heater was "not" a submersible heater. It used to have a bracket on the side to hang it on the side of the tank. Like Duh. I have like 8 heaters and I just pick out a few, plug them in and throw them in a tub of water. I should have realized it wasn't submersible when it floated. I even got a big 1/2' nut and rubber banded it to the thing to keep it underwater.
It's just great getting old.
So now I have a spare, large test tube that I can make a really small Nano tank out of :ohwell:

PaulKreider · Apr 27, 2014

:lol: I got a nice laugh out of that! I've never seen a external tank heater :o

Paul B · Apr 27, 2014

That heater was from my freshwater days and was kind of old. I even have older ones that worked by steam. I still find marbles in my tank as some of that stuff has been in my tank from when it was freshwater in the 50s and 60s. Remember my tank was not started as salt. It was fresh, then I added salt and it was brackish, then saltwater fish came out and I added more salt to make it a reef. If I look under my gravel I may find some 45s from Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons. Probably "Big Girls Don't Cry" or one of the other top tens.

MrDJeep123 · Apr 27, 2014

I'm pretty sure you can keep about five fish in that nano.

Paul B · Apr 27, 2014

I got a nice laugh out of that! I've never seen a external tank heater :eek:

That's because my hermit crabs have canker sores on their lips older than you.
MrDJeep, I can keep an eel in there for sure.

PaulKreider · Apr 27, 2014

Hey now! I can almost drink legally!! :nerd:

TJ's Reef · Apr 27, 2014

That's too funny Paul, and was just having one of 'those conversations' yesterday with my wife and just a minute ago in our 'Moderators Forum' I'm thinking about searching through all my junk drawers to see if there is an old bottle of 'Ginko Beloba" or whatever it was back then to keep your mind in tune.......... I can still do a 'Expert' or 'Dificult' level Soduko puzzle in ink without any chicken scratch cheats but for the life of me some much more imporatant things like making a Veterinary appointment for one of our dogs and forgetting all about it..... even with a reminder call the evening before...YIKES! Being an 'Old Fart' sounds a lot funnier than it is...... huh Paul ?

Cheers, Todd