Would You Rather...Dinos or Tank Leak?

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

There are lots of things in this 'hobby' that can make you sit back and think, "Why am I still doing this?" and make you consider giving up. And then there are a couple of things that truly do make you want to burn it all down and never look back. So, let's talk about those things and have a hard question today...

Would you rather deal with a Dinoflagellate outbreak or a tank leak? And why?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Definitely a dino outbreak. No thanks to destroying my house because of course, the leak would happen while I am on vacation.

 

[shakacuz]

dino's are a far cheaper problem to deal with than a leak(unless we're talking about a 1 drop per second leak...). i'd hate to have a blown tank seam rupture and have to deal with the consequences and financial pain afterwards lol.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

A tank leak means I would have to spend a lot of money on a new tank; I'm going with Dinos on this one.

 

[Mark Goode]

When my little sister was around five years old she would ask things like: 'would you rather be shot, stabbed, strangled or run over'. You kinda remind me of her...

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

After 16+ years, I've never had either, so I'll keep it that way thank you :cool:

 

[landlubber]

 

[Timfish]

I've dealt with both over the decades. Dealing with nuisance algae is much easier.

 

[ieatbugman]

I just had a ten gallon tank leak, and then the heater went out a month later on the coldest week of the year. I haven’t had dinos yet (i think) but i would take algae over that headache any day

 

[James M]

What ??? lol

 

[TheMetalReefs]

There are lots of things in this 'hobby' that can make you sit back and think, "Why am I still doing this?" and make you consider giving up. And then there are a couple of things that truly do make you want to burn it all down and never look back. So, let's talk about those things and have a hard question today...

Would you rather deal with a Dinoflagellate outbreak or a tank leak? And why?

i think id perfer anything else but a tank leak.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

 

[Baby Damsel 219]

look a cracked leaking tank is very hard to solve. But dinos will be easy some hermits tangs urchin siphon and ya

 

[deome]

I'm going to be a weirdo and vote for an undefined tank leak mainly because I've dealt with tank leaks before, have designed my system so that most tank leaks happen in the garage sump, and looking for tank leaks is a small part of my daily tank observation (I am a lazy hard plumber, and accept the possibility of leaks due to not fully curing cement connections and/or making dodgy connections).

For example, two bigger leaks I have dealt with: exterior overflow cracked on arrival from BRS, and same overflow leaking from the overflow->lid connection. Instead of shipping the overflow back, I just attacked the crack with silicone and super glue, inside and out, and have not had a problem with it since. The leak from the overflow lid is just a fact of life I've learned to live with--water splashes inside the overflow lid, and through capillary action leaks UP and around the edge of the lid to brine out and dry on top of the lid; I can reduce it by reducing splashes inside the overflow, but short of replacing the overflow I see no way to permanently fix it (no water reaches the floor--it dries into salt lines running down overflow and/or tank). I've also had plumbing connections I've had to replace, bulkhead headaches, cracked sumps, and pretty much every other bonehead mistake that causes leaks.

Been fighting hair algae since April, and I'd trade nuisance tank problems for a plumbing problem any day of the week--plumbing/leak problems can be fixed in a day, usually with less than $5 in materials, and they RARELY kill or damage my corals.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Identification of dinos goes a long way in getting rid of them. A microscope solves that. I don’t even flinch if they pop up anymore. I would definitely rather deal with them. And knock on wood! Don’t tempt fate! Lol.

 

[exnisstech]

I voted other
This is actually a silly question.

 

[boacvh]

I thought this was a very silly question, but now I am really curious to know the reasoning behind the people that voted they prefer a leak. (I mean, a bad leak will fix your dino problem too :) )

 

[paragrouper]

I would prefer not to tempt fate by selecting a future calamity.

 

[Reef Puncher]

Tank leak is the last thing anyone wants. its the worst outcome possible just about. it should be more like would you rather get dino outbreak or accidently massively overdose kalkwasser and lose some sps. or dino outbreak or bacterial infection thats slowly killing your Euphyllia.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Not sure who would choose a tank leak. I hope nobody has to deal with this.