Cecil
27th December 2010, 08:06 AM
This morning I came down to the basement with water on the floor and an empty fish tank, mostly empty clarifier, and a partially empty RBC tank. Fortunately there were no fish in this particular tank yet, and it appears electrically powered equipment survived the drain fine; including a still plugged in agitator, heater, and mag drive pump that were left high and dry. Total volume drained was close to 500 gallons but most of it went down a nearby basement drain. Nothing on the floor that could be damaged either.
What happened? I use plastic water lines for drains (very primitive but effective) on my clarifiers that are mounted on the wall in an upright position when not in use, and the ends are placed into a floor drain when I want to drain my clarifiers. It seems I didn't mount this one well enough on the wall and it came down to the floor at some point -- hence draining things. I have since mounted it more securely so it can never come down if I don't want it to. Thank God there were no fish in the tank! I would have really been bummed.
Moral of the story when it comes to raising fish in an artificial environment:
Not only do you need back ups you need to adhere to Murphy's Law (If anything can go wrong it will), and have every possibility covered. In this case I ASSumed the way I had the water line secured was sufficient. Not so! Lesson learned!
Here's the drain line that slipped it's way off the wall -- now well secured -- that did the dirty deed.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a169/CecilBaird1/RAS2.jpg
What happened? I use plastic water lines for drains (very primitive but effective) on my clarifiers that are mounted on the wall in an upright position when not in use, and the ends are placed into a floor drain when I want to drain my clarifiers. It seems I didn't mount this one well enough on the wall and it came down to the floor at some point -- hence draining things. I have since mounted it more securely so it can never come down if I don't want it to. Thank God there were no fish in the tank! I would have really been bummed.
Moral of the story when it comes to raising fish in an artificial environment:
Not only do you need back ups you need to adhere to Murphy's Law (If anything can go wrong it will), and have every possibility covered. In this case I ASSumed the way I had the water line secured was sufficient. Not so! Lesson learned!
Here's the drain line that slipped it's way off the wall -- now well secured -- that did the dirty deed.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a169/CecilBaird1/RAS2.jpg