2 aquariums exchanged water while I was asleep..

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Camphilophus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 11, 2008
5,202
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Howell, Michigan
Am I crazy or has this ever happened to anyone else.

I have a 55gallon that was filled up when I went to bed, next to it is a 20gallon high that I quarintine my feeders in. I wake this morning and my 55gallon is 2" lower, and the 20gallon is filled as high as it could be without overflowing. The only thing out of the norm is that the power chord from the 55gallons filter was dangling in the 20gallons water. No water anywhere else in my basement, everything looks normal accept for this. Any ideas, or am I just crazy?

note: I checked to see if the powerchord for my filter was wet, and it wasn't aside from where it was submerged.
 
I would first perform a calculation to determine if the volume lost from the 55 is approximately the same volume gained by the 20. However, I'd say it dripped down the cord until the water level in the 55 dropped sufficiently so that it would no longer support this passive transfer...then the cord dried overnight. At any rate, there is a physical bridge between the two tanks (the cord) and I'd remember Ockham's Razor.
 
brianp;2132598; said:
I would first perform a calculation to determine if the volume lost from the 55 is approximately the same volume gained by the 20. However, I'd say it dripped down the cord until the water level in the 55 dropped sufficiently so that it would no longer support this passive transfer...then the cord dried overnight. At any rate, there is a physical bridge between the two tanks (the cord) and I'd remember Ockham's Razor.
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thats what I thought it did but I don't think so. The filter is a HOB so the chord was never in the water on the 55 and the bottom of the filter wasn't leaking.
 
Camphilophus;2132709; said:
Can you explain this?
Click to expand...


Do you remember in middle/high school chemistry class when your teacher put 2 glasses of water - 1 fresh, 1 salted - under a bell jar, and allowed them to sit overnight? The next morning the freshwater glass had less water and the saltwater glass had more. The property is osmosis, even though the liquids aren't in direct contact (separated by an osmotic membrane). In this case the osmotic membrane is the atmosphere, which holds the humidity. Nature wants the two cups to have the same concentration of salt, so using the available freshwater, it dilutes the salted solution.

I don't know if I've explained it well enough - you can look at wikipedia to get a better understanding.

Even though (I'm assuming) both of your tanks are freshwater, if the general hardness of one is different than the other - keeping in mind the volumes of the tanks are different - some of the water in your 55 could have evaporated and ended up in your smaller tank. This would especially be true if they are in close proximity to one another.
 
Someone else in the house messing with you?

Sounds like something I would have done to one of my old roommates, just to mess with him. :-)
 
one to many shots of liquor and you dont remeber last night?
 
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