Nightmares in the hobby

[PapaFishRocks]

My actual nightmare was coming home from a bad day at work 15 yrs ago to find my beautiful toddler had worked out the child locks and poured her milk into the sump.......... everything was gone by the time I walked into the house. Most of the livestock had been with me from my teens, through university and numerous house moves. Then bam, gone in a day.

Still have my rock though.......a geologist needs his rocks.

I don't think I can ever leave this hobby, it's literally and addiction!

She was just adding calcium for the corals.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Do you think this was a set up? Who has a camera in their living room like this?

A lot of people have cameras all over the inside of their house

 

[Cichlid Dad]

My biggest fear is sticking my hand in the tank full of juice from a bad piece of equipment. I stopped using cheap power heads and charging everything from AC to DC. it happened to me about 3 months ago when cycling my new 120. I was using a cheap power head while cycling the tank. I didn't have any animals in yet but got a good jolt.

 

[NaCl addict]

Entering and existing in the hobby, we encounter many fears such as loss of a prized specimen, tank leaks, a certain pest or equipment failure.

What is yours?

Freaking Phosphates!! Nothing has worked for me so far.

 

[KrisReef]

This one is active:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/weird-growth-into-tank-seam.1083326/

 

[Fish Styx]

I agree with Fish Styx. I've had diseases and pests and algae takeovers and a slow leak last year that at least gave me time to move the livestock and drain the tank....but a catastrophic blowout or a house fire are what make me sweat.

Oh, I guess I also worry about floor failure. My tank is oriented parallel to the floor joists, so before installation I went down there with foundation blocks, 2x8s, and jacks. I put up a header supporting about the midline where the tank sits. But since I've had water issues in the crawlspace, I do worry about those blocks shifting and the floor supports not working right, leading to a busted floor. Had a guy down there about a year ago doing mold remediation and I asked him if he noticed any issues with the header/jacks and he said no, but I still worry!

*-*slaps tank*-* "that ain't going nowhere":

 

[Chemjab]

Entering and existing in the hobby, we encounter many fears such as loss of a prized specimen, tank leaks, a certain pest or equipment failure.

What is yours?

You people are freaking me out!:eek: Nobody let my wife see this thread!:rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:
Not really freaking me out, I mean these are scary stressful things for sure! IMO it is a good idea to look at what could happen and do your best to prevent it like Fish Styx said.

Like most who have been in this hobby for more than a minute, I have survived tank crashes and devastating losses to disease outbreaks (among other horrors). While I would normally never want to revisit those, I would absolutely go through them again ten times over if it meant I didn't have to experience a catastrophic seam failure or a house fire. Those are the two that truly keep me up at night.

JayM you have the right of it. These are the main take-aways I've picked up from stalking this sight for the past month.
1.Take care of everything inside our circle of influence (water quality, feeding, etc).
2. Be watchful of the things inside our circle of concern (floor sag, failing equipment, etc).
3. Let go of things outside our circle of control (sudden seam failure, OMG that would be awful)

No nightmares here. The only thing I could imagine being a nightmare would be something out of my control, and I don’t worry about things that I can’t control.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You people are freaking me out!:eek: Nobody let my wife see this thread!:rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:
Not really freaking me out, I mean these are scary stressful things for sure! IMO it is a good idea to look at what could happen and do your best to prevent it like Fish Styx said.


JayM you have the right of it. These are the main take-aways I've picked up from stalking this sight for the past month.
1.Take care of everything inside our circle of influence (water quality, feeding, etc).
2. Be watchful of the things inside our circle of concern (floor sag, failing equipment, etc).
3. Let go of things outside our circle of control (sudden seam failure, OMG that would be awful)

It comes down to risk and while low does exist. Its a reminder to check your tanks and systems, maintain equipment and keep Tamika level- I check level twice a year

 

[squids30]

Clearly mine is buying a used redsea tank to enter the hobby before knowing about seam failure issues.

I was told it's just the gen1s that have issues. I have a rs 525 g2 and so far so good. It's only 2 months old. Only had water in it for about 2 weeks.lol

 

[Gumbies R Us]

A lot of people have cameras all over the inside of their house

We keep cameras watching our house when we go out of town!

 

[snorklr]

well I've already been through a hurricane where the storm surge was higher than the top of my sump, a hurricane where the power was off for 2 weeks while I was stuck in another state, a couple heaters that have failed on or off and one that tripped the GFI when it failed which shut everything else off, a chiller that stuck on and made the tank look like a mug of beer dripping with condensation, a tank that got too hot and killed everything which is why I bought that chiller....but the thing that worries me the most atm is a zoa/ paly colony that's become invasive and is smothering other stuff and I have no clue what to do about it without potentially nuking myself...

 

[Fish Styx]

well I've already been through a hurricane where the storm surge was higher than the top of my sump, a hurricane where the power was off for 2 weeks while I was stuck in another state, a couple heaters that have failed on or off and one that tripped the GFI when it failed which shut everything else off, a chiller that stuck on and made the tank look like a mug of beer dripping with condensation, a tank that got too hot and killed everything which is why I bought that chiller....but the thing that worries me the most atm is a zoa/ paly colony that's become invasive and is smothering other stuff and I have no clue what to do about it without potentially nuking myself...

Like this?

 

[Troylee]

Misinformation and influencers…

 

[snorklr]

Fish Styx at least those look good...this is what I'm dealing with up top...and I just spotted 2 aiptasia in the photo I hadn't noticed before

 

[Reign1]

I lived my nightmare when my tank crashed while on vacation in Italy.

Was on a ferry on Lake Como and my house/dogsitter called and reported that the display tank’s water level was really low. Facetimed to see what was going on and realized that the ATO broke. Had her place an airstone, but still came home a week later to tank full of dead fish.

I stopped trusting optical ATOs after that day and get extra anxious whenever I take vacations now.

This was my nightmare.. I was in Italy and was constantly checking my APEX.
Thankfully no issues.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Fish Styx at least those look good...this is what I'm dealing with up top...and I just spotted 2 aiptasia in the photo I hadn't noticed before

Do you have a plan on getting rid of them?

 

[Reign1]

My second nightmare is power loss.
Yup this happened a couple weeks ago @ 1am due to wind/winter storm. I was in bed and didnt get up but the next day I was freaking out.
I finally went to harbor freight and bought a gas generator ..
I didnt lose anything but it was a nightmare for me.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My second nightmare is power loss.
Yup this happened a couple weeks ago @ 1am due to wind/winter storm. I was in bed and didnt get up but the next day I was freaking out.
I finally went to harbor freight and bought a gas generator ..
I didnt lose anything but it was a nightmare for me.

This has always been one of my worst fears with my tank!

 

[BryanM]

This has always been one of my worst fears with my tank!

I definitely sleep easier in this regard after we installed solar and about a half home battery backup. The battery is more for selling energy back to the grid, but it definitely eases the mind a bit around power failures.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I definitely sleep easier in this regard after we installed solar and about a half home battery backup. The battery is more for selling energy back to the grid, but it definitely eases the mind a bit around power failures.

Sadly, I can't do that in my town home! When I get an actual house, I would love to go solar!