Tip of the day! (Or, stupid mistake I learned from)

[mpderksen]

I was check in on the DOS unit just now. Happily chugging away on its AWC cycle. Last week I had calibrated it and reversed the OUT lines when I put them back. So the NSW was coming in, and right to drain, while the OSW was being removed from one end of the sump and returned to the other. No wonder my Ca test was a little low this morning! It's been that way for an entire week!
Lesson learned: double check stuff when you do maintenance.

[hogfanreefer]

Yep, good reminder. There is not piece of technology we use that can't be messed up by human error!

A few of my better exampes:

1. Hanging my acclimation drip line and leaving the room without realizing it could self start a siphon. Thankfully only about 5 gallons on the floor.

2.Forgetting to turn my ATO back on after a water change. The next afternoon my Apex texted me my pH was 7.0. Took a minute to realize that probably meant the probe was exposed to air!

3. Changing GFO and not realizing I had dropped the O-ring out of it while cleaning it up. Fortunately I was home and found the drip before too much had leaked. Salinity only dropped 0.001.

[danielmitchell]

number 2 made me laugh @hogfanreefer

[ca1ore]

Yep, I've done all of those, and more .....

My most recent winner was installing a backup ATO pump and failing to note that the output hose had slipped loose and was below the water level in the sump. Couldn't figure out why my primary ATO was running constantly and my salinity was slowly falling ..... Doh! Backup was siphoning slowly into the ATO reservoir. Realized my error quickly enough, but still what a dopey mistake. Zip ties are your friend when securing tubing!