I have debated whether or not to share this for a week now but I think I should. I know there are some of you that will immediately judge me, but try to remember everyone makes mistakes. And I made a big one. If talking about it can help someone else not make the same mistake, then it is worth any kickback I get from this group.
Last weekend I was doing a top off of the sump on my 1100 gallon tank. I had run a hose into the sump, and because my sump has a built-in overflow that goes to the floor drain, are usually don’t have to worry about it overflowing. I turned the water on at the spigot, and Wayne about working on other things in the fish room. Typically I would let the water run for five or 10 minutes, filling the sump and doing a very small percentage (2% or less) water change with chlorinated water, instead of using the chlorinated water like I do for large water changes.
Perhaps you already see where this is going. As the sump was filling, my best girl came downstairs to the basement upset because one of her Bettas had gone missing. I ran upstairs with her and proceeded to try to figure out what happened to the fish. As it turns out, it somehow gotten out of the tank and ended up on the floor. It had been there for a while, it was mostly dried up, and so I said about trying to console her on the loss of her fish.
There is an old saying: “Sometimes Fish Die.” It’s not a great saying but I think it fits the situation. Long story short, I completely forgot about the hose running into the sump of my 1100 gallon plywood aquarium. It was four or five hours later before I suddenly remembered that I had left it on. I panicked. I ran down the stairs, hoping the whole time that I was mistaken. By the time I realized my mistake, I had killed my entire school of 20 beautiful red finned tinfoil barbs that I had grown from lfs size to eight or ten inches each......
Before you comment, just know that I already realize this was a very stupid mistake on my part. The kind of mistake that I thought I was way past making at this point in the hobby. I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to dip them out one by one and throw them in a bucket for disposal. I try to remain calm and kept reminding myself it’s just fish. But I was proud of that school, and it meant a lot to me.
Last weekend I was doing a top off of the sump on my 1100 gallon tank. I had run a hose into the sump, and because my sump has a built-in overflow that goes to the floor drain, are usually don’t have to worry about it overflowing. I turned the water on at the spigot, and Wayne about working on other things in the fish room. Typically I would let the water run for five or 10 minutes, filling the sump and doing a very small percentage (2% or less) water change with chlorinated water, instead of using the chlorinated water like I do for large water changes.
Perhaps you already see where this is going. As the sump was filling, my best girl came downstairs to the basement upset because one of her Bettas had gone missing. I ran upstairs with her and proceeded to try to figure out what happened to the fish. As it turns out, it somehow gotten out of the tank and ended up on the floor. It had been there for a while, it was mostly dried up, and so I said about trying to console her on the loss of her fish.
There is an old saying: “Sometimes Fish Die.” It’s not a great saying but I think it fits the situation. Long story short, I completely forgot about the hose running into the sump of my 1100 gallon plywood aquarium. It was four or five hours later before I suddenly remembered that I had left it on. I panicked. I ran down the stairs, hoping the whole time that I was mistaken. By the time I realized my mistake, I had killed my entire school of 20 beautiful red finned tinfoil barbs that I had grown from lfs size to eight or ten inches each......
Before you comment, just know that I already realize this was a very stupid mistake on my part. The kind of mistake that I thought I was way past making at this point in the hobby. I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to dip them out one by one and throw them in a bucket for disposal. I try to remain calm and kept reminding myself it’s just fish. But I was proud of that school, and it meant a lot to me.
