Power Head Disaster

[scoobydoo]

Anyone ever have a PH fall into the sand, start a sand storm and make your LR fall???? Well, that's what happened to me when I got up this morning. Shut everything off, fix everything, do a water change and 3 hours later I still have a cloudy tank. Good news though is I didn't lose any fish or inverts.

 

[hydro]

hasnt happened yet......it slides on the suction cups and i have to move it about every other day it sucksssssss :nope:

 

[ogdog30]

WOW, never heard anything like that! it sounds funny, :hilarious , but holy crap you must have been stressed!:nervous:

 

[scoobydoo]

No, not funny at all and yes HIGH stress level. PH fell in a corner completely blew all the sand off the bottom, talk about HIGH sand dunes which then set the rocks falling, avalanche. I had to get out of the house this morning for an appointment, hook up the PH and leave. FELL AGAIN. HOLY SH*T! It's ok now but my rocks are not the same as they were and my water is still cloudy but I think it will settle down in a couple hours. Fish are ok but I think a little annoyed since it woke them up! I'll have to feed them a treat to make them feel better.

 

[scoobydoo]

hydro, take your power head out and clean the suction cups. I think that's what happened with mine and made it come off. Good luck and hope you never go through what I did.

 

[vito525]

Years ago I had a powerhead come unstuck and point OUT OF THE TANK!!! Needless to say it drained alot of water on my apartment rug, hard to explain to the maintnence guys LOL.

 

[scoobydoo]

oh no

but a good way to do a water change

 

[decaywunz]

These are some scary stories!!!! Hoping none of them happen to me!!!! :nervous:

 

[hydro]

thanks 4 info scoobydoo,,i will clean them tonite when i get back from dinner.............it will give me something to do :jumping: :jumping: :jumping:

 

[mudplayerx]

Another example of why I am a STRONG advocate of putting the live rock directly on the bare-bottom of the tank, and then moving the sand around it.
I use rubberbands to hold my powerheads in place. I still use the suction-cups but the rubberbands are sort of a belay line.
I like the rubberbands ( LOL I just made a typo and put rubbernads)...because they allow me to further point the powerhead in a direction i want. I have both my powerheads pointing to the surface so that I get surface agitation. I highly recommend this to anyone without an overflow or surface skimmer.

 

[scoobydoo]

mud, how do you use rubberbands?

 

[rubberduck]

hope none of that happens to me :nervous:

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally posted by scoobydoo
mud, how do you use rubberbands?
I loop the rubberband around that adjustable plate (the one that you use to direct the flow of water), tie it in a knot, and wedge the other end of the rubberband under the glass canopy.
Nothing brilliant, but it works lol.
edit- Make sure you anchor the other end of the powerhead either againt the glass or with another rubberband, or it will squirt water out of the tank should the suction cups fail.

 

[angelofish]

Make sure the suction cups are clean and keep the surface youre sticking them on is clean too. After a while they will loose there suction strenghth.Sometimes you can find compatible replacement suction cups at the dollar store. Hope this helps.