Vacation disaster. Thinking about getting out of the hobby.

[pjlovesbaskets]

Not sure what happened except this. I came home from a 6 day vacation to find my fish overfed by the house sitter and my protein skimmer siphoning water on the floor and leaking to the first floor. The two floors are soaked and I lost about 15 gallons of tank water. I am not sure if I will have to re-drywall the ceiling at this time or not.
The skimmer was working fine when I left. The skimmer appears to have acted like a siphon and has clear water in it unlike skimmed water and it over flowed everywhere. (hang on skimmer)
My husband is &*@@#$ and wants it out of the house.
I unplugged everything. I am so sick about this because of the mess. I don't know if I can leave a fish tank again over a vacation after this. I need to go up and test the water which will be high and do a water change. I am trying to decide whether to take the fish back to the LFS or to purchase more RO. I haven't done anything including getting the water at the right level due to having to purchase water first. It was too late to go last night. We lost a gold fish and 3 betas in other tanks due to overfeeding and my tang looks like he is ready to die.

 

[sydneywood]

I hope this doesnt discourage you and cause you to shut down your tank, I dont know what it's like to even want to quit dealing with saltwater. When I was in the hospital in Dec 06 our power went out and my husband lost some huge fish he had for years, broke his heart. Now we make sure that someone will check on the tank daily and most important, we portion out each tanks food for the day and write very specific directions. We have found that it is easiest to deal with frozen foods while we are gone and to portion them out and put each dose into a ziplock, it works very well for us. Good luck and I hope you dont give up!

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Thanks. I am doing better. Then ceiling in the living room will need painted. Probably won't have to replace it. The carpets are still very wet.
Still not sure what caused the skimmer malfunction. Any suggestions? This is what I think happened after looking at everything. I can't imagine over feeding did it since I know how much food I had before I left and what is left. My skimmer malfunctioned causing water to siphon everywhere including into my surge protector which I had my skimmer and filter. It melted the area on the protector that the skimmer was plugged into and then turned it off. So the filter stopped a good 12-24 before I found it. That is why the water was so bad when I got home causing me to think over feeding.
I added new water. The readings were high as I suspected before the water change the readings were...
Ammonia 1
nitrates 80
nitrites 25
PH 8
Everything else was fine. I removed a dead yellow tang this morning.
The filter is back up and running the heaters are back on. The power jets are running. I am afraid to plug in the skimmer. If it was connected to the melted part of the surge protector. should I assume the skimmer is bad? It was clear that water got into the surge protector. The protein skimmer was brand new in Nov. so I will call the company tomorrow to see what they think.
I am in the stage of saving the fish. I don't want to quite the hobby I have learned so much and have cared a lot about it but I am undecided since it appears to involve a handyman side of me that I just am not good at and could have started a fire. I will give it a week and see how I feel. My husband is actually in a great mood and probably has noticed how devestated I am.

 

[groupergenius]

Was it a CPR bakpak skimmer? Mine did the same thing last year. To this day, I have no idea why it freaked out. But it has not done it since.

 

[sepulatian]

I am in the stage of saving the fish. I don't want to quite the hobby I have learned so much and have cared a lot about it but I am undecided since it appears to involve a handyman side of me that I just am not good at and could have started a fire. I will give it a week and see how I feel. My husband is actually in a great mood and probably has noticed how devestated I am.
I am very sorry for everything that happened while you were away. See what the company has to say about that skimmer. Try not to get too discouraged. Believe me, I am no "handy man" (actually woman) either. To protect your house from something like this happening again, install a GFI outlet. If there is a power surge, or it gets wet, it will shut off quickly. It reacts quicker than a surge protector.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Thanks for your advice. I am making my list of things to do to keep it safe. I plan on calling the company since I just noticed there is a 12 month warranty and I purchased it in november. I was using a coralife super skimmer.

 

[crimzy]

I have had the same thing happen several times with my protein skimmers over the years. This is why I will only use skimmers in the sump... because they all overflow at some point. I just think that the pumps used do not have consistent pressure and that the actual output will vary. So, if there is a minor clog in the pump that reduces the gph slightly, then the clog pulls through and the pump jumps back to the full output, you are going to get an overflow. It happens.... again, very important to only use skimmers in your sump for this very reason.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Well I called the company and they said that the propeller probably cracked and that it is common. They named a bunch of other things that were common and I couldn't believe it. They said these things only last about 8 months. I hope they reimburse me for a new skimmer. I don't want a replacement. I was headed toward the Berlin method. I guess i will go there sooner than later. The skimmer is done because the cord is melted where you plug it in.

 

[tizzo]

I have the coralife in my QT, and it works when it wants to.

I hate it.
Anyway, check out and try to join a local reef club. Usually when your a member, other hobbyists are more than happy to tend to your tank when your outa town.
Automatic feeders are nice too, lol.
Or even this board. You can ask who's in your area, and IMO a 16 year old in the hobby is way more reliable than an adult who's not.
One of my neighbors passed on my offer to tend to his tank while he was outa town because he had a "friend" who would do it for him.
He came home, and his tank was a mess. He said in a week the guy never topped off, he lost his whole fuge to drying up. All his rockwork had avalanched, not sure how THAT happens... Dead fish the whole 9 yards.
Anyway, glad to see your sticking to it. If you give it up under those circunmstances, the "itch" will never go away, and you'd sorta resent your hubby for not just staying out of it and letting you handle it.
And...Now you have a disaster story of your own to share.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

I got a tech person with the company to admit to parts breaking causing the tank to siphon. The warranty person was alarmed when I mentioned it. I have sent photos of damage and copy of receipt to the company hoping for some compensation for the damages. The skimmer was purchased 1/30/08 brand new. By the way, the skimmer is done too. It burnt at the cord. I am thinking it was a good thing despite the fire hazard because it shut down the skimmer. Things could have been worse. My husband has come a long way with his anger. He is now concerned about the wet carpets producing mold. They are still wet. I tried getting it up with the carpet cleaner but it is the pad. I am hoping to keep the fish from dying with no skimmer. I am doing light feeding and will do another water change tomorrow. I will take advice. I am thinking of moving the tank and going with the berlin set up.
I love the idea of the reef club. Should I just google it to find one?

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

The company has asked for an estimate for repairs to carpet and ceiling. I have asked for skimmer reimbursement and reimbursement for 1 yellow tang as well. I'll keep you posted.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Now the company has forwarded my file to their insurance company. Is that good or bad? I am to wait to be contacted by them.

 

[j-ville]

The company has an insurance agent to cover themselves in situations just like yours. The only problem is that the insurance companies have lawyers, and they always cause delays, lol. It is normal for the insurance company to get involved,but it will also be the insurance company that makes the decision on how much they will pay for the damage. Good luck!

 

[tizzo]

Oh lord, YOu may hafta sue for it.

"Sure we have the insurance for this type of thing, unfortunately you have to hire a lawyer to get any money out of them", was exactly what I was told when I asked a company to pay for something.
I was asking them to pay less than 600 bucks. After the lawyer got involved, I got ten grand. Well, not "me" but it's in a trust fund for my son.
Ah, don't get me started.
Anyway, what city/state are you in, I'll try to find your reef club.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

I have a feeling that since they didn't even fight me on this at all and the claim will be bigger than a couple hundred dollars they have sent it to the insurance company to settle. I think that is an admission of guilt. I may be wrong but I think the lawyer only comes into play when I request more than a reasonable amount. I think they will settle with a reasonable amount. I am not out to make money but just to make it right.
I live in Delaware, Ohio. I found a reef club in Columbus area. That is close. Unfortunately the first meeting is about 1/2 on the other side of the city so about an 1 1/2 for me. It would be great to find a Delaware aquarist buddy.

 

[midas]

Hey take it from a spill pro, use lots of fans to dry the carpet! I have an account that I do tank maintence for and he's always spilling water (not me hah) It may take a couple of days but works well.
I have seen over feeding and chemicals make skimmer's go bezerk too. Hang in there, you will miss it if you take it down, and will probably start it all over again later.

 

[ci11337]

Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
http:///forum/post/2652070
Was it a CPR bakpak skimmer? Mine did the same thing last year. To this day, I have no idea why it freaked out. But it has not done it since.
Great, now i won't enjoy my vacation.

 

[tizzo]

Good deal! I see you found CORA.
It looks busy. Busier than our reef society anyway, lol.
Even though the meetings are far, there's got to be somebody that lives nearby that would exchange tank watching favors.

Oh, and them going to the ins company is not an admission of guilt, but rather passing the buck. If you are asking money for damage that is their field. It's why we pay them.
You may get paid to keep quiet about it. If they know your posting on the boards that their skimmer sucks, they might wanna shut you up sooner. But if that's part of the deal, then you can get into trouble by talking about it after a settlement.
Make sure they know that you ARE talking about it to thousands of readers! That might make them act sooner.
Good luck!

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Thanks for all your help!

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Okay as you know in June I had a major flood from a skimmer siphoning my 125g tank while on vacation. It was only 5 months old. Anyhow...I wanted to let you know that I was awarded $4500 from the manufacterer of the skimmer for the damages to my home. My quote was for $4900 but they wouldn't replace live stock and took 10% off the carpet estimate for adjustment of the carpet wear. (which I don't totally get) However, I was shocked that they covered ANYTHING according to my research. They are replacing my carpets in two rooms, redrywalling my ceiling and refunding me for the skimmer. Just an FYI!
I am moving my tanks to the first floor after the carpet install and professionally installing a set up in my basement. If you don't know about iconic balance I highly recommend learning about it. A totally different post... but after starting this my fish are healthier and happier than ever. YOu won't have tank issues! TRust me! I started this with less than ideal conditions and my fish are so happy it ain't funny. I haven;t had a protein skimmer on my tank since June. They were so unhappy before. THey are so happy now and I don't have the proper equipment.