Well, good news and bad news. Lets start with the good news. I caught this guy and got him out of the tank. It sure looks like a mantis to me:
and this shot. these are the best i can do with my friggen locked in auto mode for everything :
And now for the bad news. When we got back from my father-in-law's wedding, the floor was all wet. We blamed it on the dog originally. After getting the kids into bed and cleaning up the mess, it was an awful lot of liquid to be pee. It didnt smell like pee nor did it look like pee. We then turned our attention to the tank. Sure enough, there was less water in there than there should have been. From my best guess, what i think happened is that our cat used the litterbox down in the basement, which he hardly ever does, and it triggered the automatic cleaning motor. This put too much of a strain on the circut that the tank is on (yes there are some circuts in this house that span the basement, first floor, second floor, and attic) and caused the curcut to trip. This stopped the power to the tank, and the return became a very efficiant syphon. The sump was full when we got home and the floor behind the tank was sopping wet. I quickly unplugged everything and then fliped the breaker. I dried off the cords and slowly plugged them in one by one into the outlet to make sure all the devices worked. The PHs, heater, aqualifter, and return pump all worked fine. I neglected to dry off the surge protector/timer and when I plugged in that, all heck broke lose. So now we need a new surge protector/timer and I am a moron for trying to electrocute myself. LOL
All this could have been prevented if we just went and got the proper return with the holes drilled in it. I have tubing over the tank wall and I poked holes in the tube. Apparently these holes sealed back up and didnt work at all. Nice eh? So I took a bigger skewer, made larger holes, and will test this again once the batch of SW is finished brewing. It looks like the power was off for a while as the temp dropped from 80 to 79, and some of the water on the floor was dry. I think one of the ball coral pieces died in this, and yes, I am sad.
So now there is no point in testing the water as the lights were off for a period of time, the pumps werent pumping, and the water will have new added to it tomorrow, IF i can find the proper return at a LFS. There is a meeting for my local marine aquaruim club tomorrow at a LFS and I am hoping due to this, the LFS has ordered in some goodies. If I cant get the proper return, i will not be adding in the water and not starting the return pump nor the overflow. Someone tell me that this is not a problem in a predrilled tank. Someone tell me that in a predrilled tank, the drain is set at a specific level and kind of prevents you from draining too much and that the return is a simple pipe that once air is introduced, stops the syphon.
I am frustrated, tired, and angry about this. What is more upsetting is that I thought that i had this solved, but alas, I didnt. Never again, i say with conviction, but holding my breath for the next time.
