# Whoops



## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Don't change water when your head is not screwed on straight. The end result will be overflowing of the water change bucket allll over the floor. Good one Obs. 

Lost a Cherry barb- no idea why. Lost one of my new blue tetra's- probably acclimation/stress/whatever. Now one of the other Blue's is likely on it's way out. Skimming the top gasping for air, was doing back over side flips during water change. Poor fishy. Maybe I will get lucky and he will bounce back. They have been here a week and had settled in so it was time for the WC. Sigh. 

Remaining Cherry Barbs are acting oddly but I think they are playing in the flow from the filter. And getting a bit slutty. Fry would be fun  Cories probably wouldn't let that happen too successfully though.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2012)

I have done that before, left the hose in the bucket and let it fill up without paying attention and water went all over the floor. Didn't lose any fish thank goodness. But yeah always pay attention when you do water changes. 

Sorry you lost some fish.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Lol I did that at the store yesterday. Was talking to a customer and totally forgot I was doing a water change.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

LOL that's great Grogan... in the store, looking professional.. puddle forming quietly behind you :chair:


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Lol it was actually the customer who caught it.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

See I might have just stood there with a half smile on my face and waited to see if you noticed. But probably not, I probably would have rescued you. It would cross my mind though


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

I would have tried to play it off like, "Oh yeah, we professionals always do it like that because then we squeegee up the water and reuse it and it has all kinds of great trace minerals in it now."


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

phlyergirl said:


> I would have tried to play it off like, "Oh yeah, we professionals always do it like that because then we squeegee up the water and reuse it and it has all kinds of great trace minerals in it now."


Lol! I love it.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

Sorry to hear about the fish obsidian. 

I almost overfilled my tank one time. Got caught in a conversation outside on my back porch having a smoke while the tank was filling. My tank has never been that full. Had to turn the aerator off because the bubbles pushed water out of the tank haha.



phlyergirl said:


> I would have tried to play it off like, "Oh yeah, we professionals always do it like that because then we squeegee up the water and reuse it and it has all kinds of great trace minerals in it now."


That goes one of two ways and I would never say that. Because if the person see's that and has no clue, then does it themselves and loses fish, and wonders why. Repeats this over and over and gets out of the hobby due to fish loss.

Side two of it, is they look at you like a 'tard and you lose a client because they know better and if they believe you then they won't buy fish from you anymore. Or they don't and you just laugh of course.


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

Obviously I wouldn't REALLY do that. Just kidding.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I used to use my trash can (plastic rubbermaid int he kitchen, always cleaned it first) but then I got this little 3 gallon water bottle thing. It's great because it has a handle and everything. And I don't need to take more than 3 out of a 20 gallon tank unless I am seeking some major changes. So essentially it's perfect. Until you forget it's only 3 gallons and loose track while pulling out leaves. Soaked my pant leg too. I'm pretty sure the other blue died, but I can't find it.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2012)

Obsidian: I hope that you don't lose anymore fish.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Thanks Angel  I will get some new ones to replace them so it will be all good. I think I am just going to wait until I find good Cardinals. They have been hard to come by!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Sorry to hear about the losses. Did you QT the new ones? Did they come by air? I always wonder what happens to fish in unpressurized holds. 

My worst flood lately came when I turned off the valve on the end of the hose, but didn't turn off the faucet. Sometime after I went to bed (I was water changing too late), the end blew off the hose and poured water on the basement floor all night. New procedure is:Always release the pressure in the hose by opening the valve at the hose end IN THE SINK, leaving it there IN THE SINK. If the water doesn't stop, turn off the faucet, dummy.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

DANG! That sucks but, you gotta learn from your mistakes huh emc7?


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

phlyergirl said:


> I would have tried to play it off like, "Oh yeah, we professionals always do it like that because then we squeegee up the water and reuse it and it has all kinds of great trace minerals in it now."


Hahahaha. The customer and I had a good laugh about it because we have all done it. When your doing water changes on 40 plus tanks its easy to get side tracked. Im just glad we have concrete floors and not carpet. Heck one time he was filling our 210g RO containers and forgot about it...forgot about 100 gallons. 3/4 of the store was covered in water lol.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

lol! How did 100g of water spill before anyone noticed it?


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

bmlbytes said:


> lol! How did 100g of water spill before anyone noticed it?


Apparently pretty easily haha


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

At least u didn't do what I did......


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Well the ro tank is in the back of the store..we noticed it when it was at our feet near the front.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Yep, it was a mess. Totally my fault. I had replaced the device (the part for draining) that came with the hose with a Y so I could fill tanks faster. 

Fortunately an unfinished basement, but ended throwing out some old carpet we had in the next "room". Now wondering best way to make a fish room "moat" to keep water from escaping if I do it again. Don't change water when sleepy.

Did you hear about the flood at the Atl boat show? 70,000 gallons out of a pool onto the floor. But water doesn't hurt boats. lol. I didn't ruin any fish stuff, just had to toss some cardboard boxes. 

Its so easy to lose track or get distracted. I'm also considering water alarms and float shut-offs.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

In this instance I did not QT the fish. I don't really know how to explain why but I do believe if I had things would be worse. I need to deal with my QT tank. 

I have a horrible time getting new fish. Some of them always die in the first 1-2 weeks. I think I have only gotten fish in maybe once without that happening. And it didn't happen with my Curvicepts. I do a kind of modified drip technique. I don't have the best set up to be able to drip, so I add tank water slowly to the bag, and remove some water, then add tank water. It will take me around an hour to an hour and a half to acclimate this way. This has significantly reduced the numbers for loss, but unfortunately it does still happen. In this instance it is possible they came out of RO water but I don't know that for sure. 

I do not know if they came via ground or not and I don't have the box anymore to check. Their bellies were weird on the 2 that I lost, but after a day or two the bellies had gone back to normal. I had asked int he disease section about that but no one answered so I assumed no one knew either. Aside from the belly issue they appeared healthy. The big one that died yesterday was somewhat of a bully so he seemed pretty strong. 

I honestly have no idea what happened to the cherry barb. I had one in there who was about 5 years old and it is entirely possible that it was her that died. If so that makes sense. She was in my original tank, then my 100ga, and then now back into the 20 which has been set up for community fish since about May. She survived "the great ich outbreak" of June. 

Oh well.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2012)

You're welcome Obsidian. I hope that you can find the fish you want. I see you are located in Arizona. Have you tried any of the pet stores in California? Assuming you are close enough to California to get there. They might have the fish that you are looking for. Or New Mexico? Just some ideas.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I am pretty much in the middle of Arizona so none of those places are terribly close. Vegas would be closer than most other out of state areas. 

I am loosing a third blue. I have decided I won't buy from that vendor again. I will have to find some online breeders from Aquabid. Though maybe if I go to Vegas I will get "Lucky" har har har. I did a check of my parameters after loosing the cherry barb so I know it's not those. NO strange chemicals near the tank etc etc etc. Ph is 7.2 so it's not too high for the fish, unless they were kept in RO water. Sigh.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Phoenix probably still has more selection than Vegas in terms of fish, I suspect. Much bigger city.


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## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

Is your ph 7.4 coming out of tap? o.o Mine is above 8.0 I know that much. But I don't have a 'high ph' test kit. *shrug* I lost a fish in shipping as well, but mine was probably due to the fact that the bags were all leaking. 
I know Lotsoffish is a good breeder on Aquabid, but I'm not sure they breed tetras.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

No my tap Ph is 8.0, or it was the last time I tested. This tank is set up with peat moss in the filter and 3 pieces of wood to naturally lower the Ph. Water is hard but I don't have the parameters for that. With the wood it had lowered to 7.6 (for years) and with the peat moss down to 7.2. The Ph has been stable since I lowered it a year ago, even if I do a larger water change.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

PuterChickFL said:


> At least u didn't do what I did......


What is it you did??


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

snyderguy said:


> What is it you did??


You don't remember my recent fish kill?


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