Flood tonight......
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incase a hose pops off and floods your house.....
- Thread starter Dogtemple
- Start date
LondonDragon
Member
had that happen to me the other day, was watching TV and the filter outlet started making a noise, looked at the tank and the water level was getting low, opened the cabinet and a connection on the eheim hose taps was leaking, must have knocked it out a little during filter maintenance and it gradually slipped out! 🙁 lucky I was there at the time.
I have now purchased flood alarms that will beep and will send me an alert to the phone if that happens! If you use some home automation you can even set it to turn off aquarium equipment too!
Purchased these:
Amazon product ASIN B07XX9LWKW
When I ordered it, it was £18
Not too complicated to setup and work just great from my testing! They connect via Wifi.
Planning on getting a couple more for putting under dishwasher and washing machines!
I have now purchased flood alarms that will beep and will send me an alert to the phone if that happens! If you use some home automation you can even set it to turn off aquarium equipment too!
Purchased these:
Amazon product ASIN B07XX9LWKW
When I ordered it, it was £18
Not too complicated to setup and work just great from my testing! They connect via Wifi.
Planning on getting a couple more for putting under dishwasher and washing machines!
zozo
Member
It once happened to me, an old washing machine and the door switch was obviously broken. The switch that should close the water valve with an open door... One day I started the washing machine but didn't notice the door wasn't fully closed.
Why would you check this? If it starts it should be ok... Thus I went on doing my thing till I saw water on the kitchen floor, coming from under the wooden plank floor in the room next to it... Went to the bathroom where the washing machine is and it had the door fully open water gushing out. It must have been an hour or so after I started it...
Luckily it was summertime to leave the doors and windows open day and night... But I still had to lift the plank floor to prevent mushrooms from growing under it.
Something stupid like that can always happen in a lifetime... I remember 40 years ago my very first 80-liter aquarium, spontaneously cracking open from top to bottom... I did hear it "Zip" and splash! I saw it and it was empty in about 30 seconds...
Last week I was rather lucky, had a plant ripping a tank apart at the silicon sealant... I saw it after only 5 liters was spilled and fixed it again... But for what it's worth the same thing could have happened "Zip - Splash and empty"... 🙂 That was my second-time tank leakage personally ever... I hope the last time... But playing with water is actually always exciting even to we take it for granted to not think too much about it...
Why would you check this? If it starts it should be ok... Thus I went on doing my thing till I saw water on the kitchen floor, coming from under the wooden plank floor in the room next to it... Went to the bathroom where the washing machine is and it had the door fully open water gushing out. It must have been an hour or so after I started it...
Luckily it was summertime to leave the doors and windows open day and night... But I still had to lift the plank floor to prevent mushrooms from growing under it.
Something stupid like that can always happen in a lifetime... I remember 40 years ago my very first 80-liter aquarium, spontaneously cracking open from top to bottom... I did hear it "Zip" and splash! I saw it and it was empty in about 30 seconds...
Last week I was rather lucky, had a plant ripping a tank apart at the silicon sealant... I saw it after only 5 liters was spilled and fixed it again... But for what it's worth the same thing could have happened "Zip - Splash and empty"... 🙂 That was my second-time tank leakage personally ever... I hope the last time... But playing with water is actually always exciting even to we take it for granted to not think too much about it...
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not called Bob
Member
one of the sump pipes, fell off a few weeks back, fortunately sat on sofa since not all the water was managing to fall into the sump.
had a base crack and come home when a school aged person to water coming from the attic bedroom through the parents bed below and into the living room, so two disasters in over 30 years is good odds
had a base crack and come home when a school aged person to water coming from the attic bedroom through the parents bed below and into the living room, so two disasters in over 30 years is good odds
lurcher
Member
Thanks bud,no sleep tonight now! 😵
I cracked the inline diffuser by mistaking CO2 regulation valve (it's fully open when tightened). Since then I have not big trust in that component and as I moved into flat, I'm switching to intank diffuser. Also, I dont consider those hose nuts on that diffuser tight enough and it's another source of potential leakage...
I have stainless jubillee clips on my diffuser rather than the lock nuts, as I had a "pop off" incident whilst fiddling adjusting hoses once.
Yes, me too. I consider jubilee clips now too, as a backup on my Eheim canister connections. I would generally recommend longer hoses between the double-valve and the canister taps, because the short hose piece tend to be stiff and once it popped off the filter tap. The tension in longer hose is absorbed by hose but with short hose, it gets absorbed by the connection.
If you want to safeguard against hose leak that can potentially drain the tank, avoid filters with external hoses, meaning no canister filters or sump system with overflow hoses. HOBs are 100% leak proof because there is no external plumbing. Sump system with hard plumbing is also very safe as chance of breaking rigid PVC plumbing is remote.
If you must use canister filter or sump system with external hoses, you can minimize flooding hazard by fixing or drilling an anti siphon hole in the hoses near the top of the tank, so even if it leaks, it can drain down only a few inches of water.
If you must use canister filter or sump system with external hoses, you can minimize flooding hazard by fixing or drilling an anti siphon hole in the hoses near the top of the tank, so even if it leaks, it can drain down only a few inches of water.
Just googled it and definitely thankful for that idea. Intank filter would be even safer than HOBs, but anything else than canister/sump for 50+ gallon tanks?
I am thinking about various scenarios. But the drill would need to be on mainly inlet lower hose. No?
What about those skimmer inlet pipes? Wouldnl't it work as safety antisyphon hole too?
What about back flow valves?
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Back flow valves work but impose high flow resistance, not worth it if you can do it simpler with anti siphon device. There are many skimmer design and if it can break siphon when leak develops somewhere in the hosing system, it should work. In tank filters cannot leak out of the tank, so they are the safest but also the ugliest. Aquascapers pay high priority to aesthetic and internal filters, along with HOBs to a lesser degree, are out in front and cannot be hidden. I have huge show tanks in my living room on hardwood floor, and my priority is safety first. I run multiple HOBs, 2 in my my 75 gal and 3 in my 125 gal to achieve adequate filtration so as to avoid external plumbing and the potential of leak.
I used to worry about leaks. I don't now.
I have something like 27 possible failure points in my cabinet, with just standard barbed fittings. The only precautions I've taken are to heat the hoses in boiling water when fitting them, put 2mm cable ties around them. No jubilee clips or anything fancy.
I've had lights, pumps and heaters all die, but I've never had a significant leak in 10yrs.
I have something like 27 possible failure points in my cabinet, with just standard barbed fittings. The only precautions I've taken are to heat the hoses in boiling water when fitting them, put 2mm cable ties around them. No jubilee clips or anything fancy.
I've had lights, pumps and heaters all die, but I've never had a significant leak in 10yrs.
No significant leak implies that there could be insignificant leak. An insignificant leak can turn into significant leak if it is not discovered early and allowed to continue for a long time. There have been reports of insignificant drip from an insignificant air hose that drained half a tank over several days when someone was away from home. I have experienced an air hose slipped off a gang valve creating a venturi suction that started back siphoning from air hoses still attached. This is why manufacturers recommend air pump be placed above tank to prevent back siphoning but not many comply. I have no choice but have a CO2 hose go into my high tech tank but I avoid external reactor and use an in tank reactor instead. Importantly, I installed a check valve to prevent back siphoning and placed it inside the tank under water so I can spot valve failure (bubbling) it it happens.
As long as there are external hoses, there are connectors (clamps, O ring, adapter, hose holders, etc) and each one of them is a potential leak source, specially if you have to unhook them from time to time to do maintenance.
27 possible failure points sound excessive but possible if you have multiple canisters and external reactors. and being inside and hidden in the cabinet make undetected leak more likely.
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27 possible failure points because I have two canister filters that each have their own intakes and spray bars. Then there's a system of (4) taps and (2) T-pieces that means I can use one of the filters to pump water out of, and back into the tank through barbed & threaded hose tails. (The top of the tank is 5ft above the floor and it's a 250L tank, so this takes a lot of lifting out of a 20% water change. Throw in an inline heater, a pair of hose diameter reducers, and a couple of elbows (because one of the canisters is taller than I had the cabinet built for), and it all adds up to 27.
The ONLY leak I've ever had was because one of the taps (after several years of service) doesn't seal 100% and the threaded end cap on the drain hose that's connected to it doesn't seal 100%. When I found it, it had lost no more than 20 or 30ml of water in well over a week. The cap was sorted with PTFE tape, and no more leak. I could replace the tap for about £3, but it would be a PITA to do. So the failure was down to a tap and a screw fitting; nothing to do with hoses coming off and nothing that would have been prevented by 100 fancy hose clips.
The most water I've lost from the tank has been by evaporation when I forgot to close the cover glass. And that did more damage to the woodwork (the PVA glue holding the canopy together failed) than the hose leak.
I'm not saying leaks can't happen - I'm just presenting a case for not loosing sleep, even when there are more hose unions than under many tanks.
The ONLY leak I've ever had was because one of the taps (after several years of service) doesn't seal 100% and the threaded end cap on the drain hose that's connected to it doesn't seal 100%. When I found it, it had lost no more than 20 or 30ml of water in well over a week. The cap was sorted with PTFE tape, and no more leak. I could replace the tap for about £3, but it would be a PITA to do. So the failure was down to a tap and a screw fitting; nothing to do with hoses coming off and nothing that would have been prevented by 100 fancy hose clips.
The most water I've lost from the tank has been by evaporation when I forgot to close the cover glass. And that did more damage to the woodwork (the PVA glue holding the canopy together failed) than the hose leak.
I'm not saying leaks can't happen - I'm just presenting a case for not loosing sleep, even when there are more hose unions than under many tanks.
