OK noobness again. Flood please help!
- Thread starter kurtymac
- Start date
A
alexmir
Guest
No problem, i had my coralife super skimmer overflow 3 times before i got fed up and figured it out. An important thing is to make sure that you drill the hole just below the tube where the bubbles come out of, that way that the skimmate does not flow back into the tank
You made me feel really important sep! haha, glad to know i helped someone out.
You made me feel really important sep! haha, glad to know i helped someone out.
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alexmir
Guest
for some reason the coralife super skimmer's have a horrible problem with overflowing. Mine would run perfectly fine for 2 weeks, and then one day overflowed 5-7 gallons all over the floor. I wasnot happy when i woke up to a soggy floor.
sepulatian
Moderator
They do this just out of the blue? Can you tell when it is about to happen, like the cup is full, or does it just happen?
You made me feel really important sep! haha, glad to know i helped someone out.
You are important to the team. We all are.
You made me feel really important sep! haha, glad to know i helped someone out.
You are important to the team. We all are.
sepulatian
Moderator
Originally Posted by KurtyMac
http:///forum/post/2669723
Did your floor end up smelling and having to be ripped up or was it fine, yea im eather fishing it or selling it on here to get rid of it, now i have to explain to my parents that the skimmer is just natrious for over flowing and i didnt know, and that it wont happen again.
I know that is tough. It sounds like it is all your fault and now you have to convince them that it is not yours, nor the tank's, fault. They will likely not accept it at first. After all, it is THEIR house that got flooded. Show them the info on here though. I would give them a day or two to calm down if it were me. Show that you did research and are not blaming anyone but the manufacturer. Again the " I can't believe what I just found" strategy may help here. It is true.
http:///forum/post/2669723
Did your floor end up smelling and having to be ripped up or was it fine, yea im eather fishing it or selling it on here to get rid of it, now i have to explain to my parents that the skimmer is just natrious for over flowing and i didnt know, and that it wont happen again.
I know that is tough. It sounds like it is all your fault and now you have to convince them that it is not yours, nor the tank's, fault. They will likely not accept it at first. After all, it is THEIR house that got flooded. Show them the info on here though. I would give them a day or two to calm down if it were me. Show that you did research and are not blaming anyone but the manufacturer. Again the " I can't believe what I just found" strategy may help here. It is true.
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alexmir
Guest
Nope, no warning at all, the collection cup was about 1/2 full, it had been running perfect for 2 weeks and then one night overflowed 5 gallons on the floor. It works good when its not overflowing, but will NEVER buy another one of these skimmers.
I would recommend either customizing it like i suggested, or get rid of it, because it WILL overflow again, trust me.
And no, i did not have to rip up the carpet. I just used towels to soak up as much water as possible, then scrubbed the wet area REALLY hard over and over and over again until there was no hope in getting more water up. After a day or two it was fine. run a few fans over the wet area overnight. I have caused plenty of floods learning how NOT to do things! haha, i overflowed my fuge 2 times before i got it just right.
I would recommend either customizing it like i suggested, or get rid of it, because it WILL overflow again, trust me.
And no, i did not have to rip up the carpet. I just used towels to soak up as much water as possible, then scrubbed the wet area REALLY hard over and over and over again until there was no hope in getting more water up. After a day or two it was fine. run a few fans over the wet area overnight. I have caused plenty of floods learning how NOT to do things! haha, i overflowed my fuge 2 times before i got it just right.
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markeo99
Guest
KurtyMac;2669738 said:
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tfolke1
Guest
I work in disaster restoration and we run into this quite a bit. Unfortunatly the water from a fish tank is considered as dirty as river water. Even water that tests as Ideal for a reef aquarium has far more contaminants in it than tap water. Make sure you keep the fan on the carpet for as long as possible. The carpet under the stand will take a lot longer to dry out than the exposed carpet, and if their is pad under the carpet it will be wet long after the carpet on top is dried out. As long as you keep the fan actively drying everything involved you should be ok, otherwise the pad under the carpet will start to stink. Make sure that you have a fan on the drywall as well, or you risk getting mold behind the baseboards. It doesn't have to be a fancy fan, just get as much air-movement as possible. It sounds like you may need to dry both sides of the wall.
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tfolke1
Guest
The expensive answer is to rent giant industrial Dehumidifiers and High CFM airmovers from a restoration company, but that would get costly quick and really freak your parents out. If the wall is only painted, just keeping air movement on it for a couple of days will prevent mold from starting and dry the wall out. The drywall will act like a natural wick and pull moisture 6 to 8 inches up the wall, but for 15 gallons it shouldn't be that bad. The First place that you will get mold is behind the baseboard and on the carpet under the stand so keep an eye on that area, and focus your fans there. The baseboard prevents the wall from drying out properly. Assuming you posted as soon as this happened, you caught it in time to prevent any real damage.
**IF you think the water ran thru to the drywall on the floor below, you will need to get some airflow going down their as well. We have electric meters to measure the moisture content of drywall that allow us to see if the drywall was affected and to what degree, but They are a touch on the expensive side. I believe some drywall contractors use them as well.
If you have a small basement Dehumidifier get it up to your room and close it in, it will help dry the building materials faster. just watch the water levels in your tank. I didn't catch where you were located, but your home Air-conditioner will lower the general humidity in the house, which will help the walls and carpet dry out as well.
**IF you think the water ran thru to the drywall on the floor below, you will need to get some airflow going down their as well. We have electric meters to measure the moisture content of drywall that allow us to see if the drywall was affected and to what degree, but They are a touch on the expensive side. I believe some drywall contractors use them as well.
If you have a small basement Dehumidifier get it up to your room and close it in, it will help dry the building materials faster. just watch the water levels in your tank. I didn't catch where you were located, but your home Air-conditioner will lower the general humidity in the house, which will help the walls and carpet dry out as well.
pjlovesbaskets
Member
READ VACATION DISASTER (old post) It will explain my story. The middle of June my siphoned about 15 gallon all over my house while on vacation. I contacted the company and they are probably going to replace my carpets and ceiling. I am now getting estimates for them. Get that thing out of your house,IMO. If you google it, you will find a ton of people who say that it overflows on a regular basis for no apparent reason. Mine was a coralife for 125g.
reefkprz
Active Member
to avoid the skimmer incident (same thing happened to me when I was out of town for work) set the skimmer up in the sump, that way if it does overflow all that happens is it will flow back into the tank, thus eliminating any chance of it overflowing any collection container.
veni vidi vici
Active Member
Originally Posted by alexmir
http:///forum/post/2669635
This is how i kept my skimmer from overflowing on the floor
I drilled a hole in the collection cup just below the walls where the bubbles come over and flow into the cup. I drilled the hole just barely smaller than the size of airline tubing. Do this very carefully so that you do not crack skimmer. Take about 3 feet of airline tubing and run int down into a 5 gallon bucket!
It works great, keeps the water from getting onto the floor. I tested it a few times, purposely overflowed the skimmer and not a drop on the floor.
Heh he ...Good idea but i think he needs a 15 g bucket.
My CLSS 125 overflows from time to time .usually after i clean it or shut it down for awhile,but ive never had it overflow 15g.I have mine in the sump now so if it overflows.....it overflows.
http:///forum/post/2669635
This is how i kept my skimmer from overflowing on the floor
I drilled a hole in the collection cup just below the walls where the bubbles come over and flow into the cup. I drilled the hole just barely smaller than the size of airline tubing. Do this very carefully so that you do not crack skimmer. Take about 3 feet of airline tubing and run int down into a 5 gallon bucket!
It works great, keeps the water from getting onto the floor. I tested it a few times, purposely overflowed the skimmer and not a drop on the floor.
Heh he ...Good idea but i think he needs a 15 g bucket.
My CLSS 125 overflows from time to time .usually after i clean it or shut it down for awhile,but ive never had it overflow 15g.I have mine in the sump now so if it overflows.....it overflows.
reefkprz
Active Member
here is the thread from my coralife SS incident
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/252264/murphys-law-you-know-it
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/252264/murphys-law-you-know-it
stdreb27
Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2671498
to avoid the skimmer incident (same thing happened to me when I was out of town for work) set the skimmer up in the sump, that way if it does overflow all that happens is it will flow back into the tank, thus eliminating any chance of it overflowing any collection container.
You beat me to it. Just set the skimmer in the sump and if it does overflow it goes back into the water collumn.
http:///forum/post/2671498
to avoid the skimmer incident (same thing happened to me when I was out of town for work) set the skimmer up in the sump, that way if it does overflow all that happens is it will flow back into the tank, thus eliminating any chance of it overflowing any collection container.
You beat me to it. Just set the skimmer in the sump and if it does overflow it goes back into the water collumn.