30g tank water exploded onto carpet!

2am this morning I'm woken by a horrendous 'knocking' sound coming from downstairs. It was coming from the aquarium cabinet in the lounge (next to the Tv and stereo system) so I knew it was the Fluval. Looked into tank and saw no water coming in via the filter. I was tired and grumpy, half asleep and ticked off. Didnt think what I was doing! Switched off from the mains and instead of just unclipping the the hose connector plate, idiot here untightened the hoses and pulled them out!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!! Immediately the hoses began to explode with a huge torrent of water and drain the tank all over me and the lounge! In my panic I couldnt work out what to do and ended up grabbing all my buckets (which were in the shed!) By the time I got back the whole room was flooded . It took me a minute or two to have the sense to pull both hoses out of the tank Meantime half of the 30 gallon had swamped the lounge, TV and stereo!
I'm so annoyed at myself. Spent best part of 5 hours trying to get the water up with towels, blankets and even jumpers lol. The carpet is ruined and I'm not getting much response from the TV and stero either. What a fool! Gonna have to go and stay with parents until I can get the carpet replaced Poor fish didnt know what the heck was going on...lol....
I'm such a wally sometimes
What I don't get it is why did the water start gushing out like that when the power was turned off and the pump wasn't running? Wouldnt it have just come to a complete stop? The motor wasn't running?

To add insult to injury, I couldnt get the filter to start for nearly an hour. The prime lever refused to start and cannister wouldnt fill. I got it going after a lot of elbow grease with the prime lever but it was touch and go.

House looks like tsunami

 

Haha I had half of my 55 gallon drain out onto my floor one time while I wasn't home. The cat pulled the tube off my air pump for my bubbler and the water slowly drained out of it during the day. Except it was an upstairs tank, and the water dripped through my floor into the downstairs. Then through that floor into the basement. LOL It was terrible!

 

lucylocket: that is terrible! well I don't have a fluval canister, but I have an eheim classic, and with that you have to close off the valves on the quick disconnect first...even if it is unplugged. so maybe that's why the water was coming out.

so what happened to the canister that it was making noise and waking you up? was it malfunctioning? so sorry about your carpet. it seems like a little water is a disaster....and A LOT of water is horrific! hope you get it cleaned up soon

 

Oh! So sorry that happened.
A steam cleaner should help suck up most of the water out of the carpet.

 

After having something similar happen to me awhile back.....all I can say, is I feel for you !

 

I am very sorry. Those tubes, being filled with water, create suction and out comes the water. I think everyone has made that mistake at one time or another.

I had my 125G tank spring a leak while at work. Came home to a horrible mess. Luckily that tank sat on a hardwood floor.

 

Well on the bright side, you did a good water change lol, all you need to do is pour in the new water

 

thanks all Ive read about people having huge water escapes and aways dreaded it would happen to me. So much so, that I'm paranoid about anything to do with the filter. Few weeks ago my 2yr old managed to get her fingers inside the cabinet when I had the doors open and switched all the equipment off. I didnt notice until the next morning (shes moves around so quickly-crafty monkey) . Temp had dropped to below 62 degrees, my fish were almost gray in colour, barely moving and the water was eerily static. Thankfully tank and fish recovered but it was a shock! So now Ive run all the electrical wires and plugs out of the cabinet, to a shelf above the tank. Thank god I did after the tidal wave this morning lol.
I managed to get a Vax carpet cleaner on hire today and it sucked out the worst of the water from the carpets but already I can smell that terrible swampy odour as soon as I walked in the front door and the cabinet veneer has started to peel away. Sky box, Dvd Player, and stereo are Kaputt
jerI - the hoses on this Fluval can be disconnected at anytime. You would think the quick disconnect plate wouldnt allow it wouldnt you? I don't know what was wrong with the filter. It sounded like it was running with a dry cannister, but it wasn't that. As for not being able to prime it, that's another mystery. Seems ok now, but Its really dented my opinion of Fluvals (even though I was the muppet who did it) They are a royal PITB to clean and maintain too ...:/

 

I'm paranoid about water leaking from my tanks as well. I got them on a bottom level far away from any electronics.

As people say, you don't think 30-50 gallons of water is very much in a tank but if its on you floor, you'll learn... oh boy you'll learn.

 

owned! lol
seemed more like 300gallons! Water causes so much damage. carpet absolutely stinks even after a professional clean. Going on the skip me thinks :/

 

WOW! That must of been a DISASTER! Hope you get everything cleaned up! Good luck

 

Good afternoon,

I hate that you had to have this experience. Flooding was a major issue when I was having my fish room built. My tanks are on a cement slab (the entire house is), I have tile floors and drain holes in the floor too. My fear was a TsumanI while I was sleeping due to a crack or leak or blowout for my 265g tank. Now I can sleep a little easier.

Hopefully things will get back to normal for you before long. I hope the fish are ok too.

We all learn from our mistakes and we all make them.

Chin up Missy!

Ken

 

The reason why the water keeps on running is that canister filters are gravity fed filters, the motor just push the water up and into the aquarium.

 

I'm very sorry to hear about your disaster lucylocket.

I have a Fluval canister filter too (403 actually). Mine is 22 years old and has performed continuously and flawlessly with 6-monthly media rinsing, no impeller cleaning and no new parts. It is fitted with the Eheim quick-release taps mentioned above by jerrilovesfrogs. The reason yours was making a noise is probably because it was sucking in air from a leaking hose connection. Make sure the connections are sealed tight and checked periodically. I am planning to stop using mine in case of flooding.

Alternatively, I recommend eliminating the risk of leaking canister filters by using internal filters or undergravel filtration. If growing plants or using a sand bed I use an internal filter, perhaps two as these are not very efficient according to my water test measurements.

If not growing plants or not using sand but using gravel instead I would recommend using a powerhead-driven undergravel filter with vacuuming of half the area during water changes. This is an efficient way to achieve great water quality. I achieve 5ppm nitrate this way despite a high bioload of Clown Loaches and a huge Electric Blue Jack Dempsey Cichlid (see my album for pics).

 

Toss the rug, it will mold and stink. What a mess huh! II recently draied a 5 gallon on the carpet if it makes you feel better.

 

lol that sucks!

 

Unforuntely I can't have an internal filter on this tank. Its a corner tank (first and last! what a mistake) and is also tall and narrow ( make that double mistake) Theres so little room to put equipment inside. As you said they aren't anywhwere near as efficient as cannisters and I id def need to have more than one. I managed to swap a normal heater for one that sits inline on the filter hose and that saved me a lot of space. Really wouldnt use an undergravel filter. Just don't like them or find them effective. But thankyou for your kind suggestions Redshark1
Psalm18.2 if only it were a rug. Destroyed 2/3 of the lounge carpet When I pulled it up, there was a substantial amount of water soaked into the underlay too Way beyond salvaging. It cost me £25 to get flaming thing taken away as well ! Couldnt move the darn thing! Never appreciated just how HEAVY waterloggged carpets are til I tried to shift it And yr right...even after a couple of days there was mould spots and it reeked!

Sounds silly but I'm dreading the next filter cleanup. The thought of going near those hoses again...
I'm staying with my dear old mother until I can afford to replace the carpets and my lovely TV. Sky and the stereo will have to wait til after xmas
Whats worse is I only just reduced my home contents insurance - by taking off the accidental damage coverfigured why pay all that extra money when Ive never had a major accident...errrrrrrr....im

 

You have just learned one of Murphy's Laws.

 

You have just learned one of Murphy's Laws.

lol....aint I just?