Rethink your plumbing and plan for failures...

Murphy's Law

Sorry to hear your plumbing went out on you. Murphy's Law called for it to happen when you were gone. When setting up my plumbing i was going to try something more complex than what i have ended up with. I wanted some plumbing set up that would make water changes easier, but once I had it hooked up i decided the chances of springing a leak were too great and i decided i would just simplify the plumbing as much as possible. I tested it for a couple days running it through a big jug of water. I have yet to get the tank going....sitting on it for over a month now waiting for lighting. I'm crossing my fingers I won't run into a problem like yours.

Good luck with the clean up and sorry I don't have any clue what could be done to prevent it in the future

 

S,

So sorry to hear about your issues.....Hope the floor comes out okay...Murphy's law for sure

I don't think you can plan for parts, fittings, etc to fail up to a point anyway.

I have twin bulkheads for in and out and are over 7 yrs old. Should I drain the tank and replace them? That is somewhat rhetorical

What about the 30' of plumbing and stuff I have? How could I plan redundancy if any of a hundred connection points fail?

Esp if you are away from home....

I put throttle valves all over so at least I can isolate an issue...

BUT if at the bulkhead....not sure what you can do....it's like a leaky tank but more fixable..

With my closed loop, I would lose whatever water is in the wiers assuming the pump was still running, not much (10 gals), but still. If the bulkhead goes, I guess that is why I have insurance....Not sure how to work that balance out.

That is our biggest fear I guess after fish loss or electrocution, is a water dump..

I examine my plumbing weekly for leaks or moisture just for this reason. You can always lay newspaper under the plumbing so any seeps will show quickly........

Sorry again to hear of your issues.

 

I had a very similar experience. I have a 110gal plumbed to a DIY canister filter in the basement almost entirely with solvent welded PVC. About a year ago one of the few threaded connections split on me in the middle of the night and 100 of that 110gal leaked all over my basement. Luckily it's a concrete floor and nothing to get damaged down there. Even more surprising is that every one of my fish, including a 10" goldfish & 7" ghost knife, lived to tell the tail of spending 8 hrs in 1" of water.

I learned a) DO NOT over-torque threaded plastic fittings. They'll be fine for a few weeks and then BAM! split when you least expect it. b) Solvent welded PVC is a lot more trustworthy if it's convenient for the connection location.

 

What you have mentioned above is all correct. Rethink your plumbing and plan first to avoid failures. Or maybe it is important to have a trustworthy plumber to take care of your plumbing needs.