What’s the most boneheaded thing you’ve done?

[jabberwock]

Could the first have been so bad it's above a pair of clowns!?

They are equal.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

They are equal.

Wow! I'm so sorry, she was that bad?

 

[jabberwock]

Wow! I'm so sorry, she was that bad?

Yes. I was pigheaded enough to stick around for 7 years. No worries, that was 20 years ago. I have been happily remarried to a wonderful woman for 16 years.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Yes. I was pigheaded enough to stick around for 7 years. No worries, that was 20 years ago. I have been happily remarried to a wonderful woman for 16 years.

I did the same thing. Now 20 years with the most awesome woman.

 

[Daenion]

Getting into the hobby after seeing all the red flags.

 

[OscarHaglund]

My wife got a rabbit and on the second day it escaped its preliminary cage during the night.
I woke up to the floor in the living room being wet, but with a strange skin on the water. Turns out the rabbit had chewed through the RO tubing that goes to my kalkwasser container which had then siphoned out 20 liters of calcium hydroxide out onto the floor.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

How far back to I have to go. I was married prior to my current marriage. Or are you talking about reefing? If so, how much time do you have?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Biggest reefing mistake: let’s see… too many… notable? Hmm, it’s a toss between starting a saltwater tank and using tap water for the first two months of my first saltwater tank.

Life mistakes: poor life decision? First husband. Stupid mistake? At 3 AM as an undergrad ran out of paraformaldehyde after spending the whole day and most of the night dissecting embryos. Decided that it would be a good idea to microwave the solution instead of making it slowly in the fume hood. Opened the microwave to essentially fix my lungs. Moral of the story? I don’t think 16 year old undergrad students should be allowed in labs after 6 pm unsupervised… or at least not 16 year old me.

 

[Formulator]

This:
Thread 'Swallowed Trident Reagents!'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/swallowed-trident-reagents.1058197/

 

[Formulator]

using tap water for the first two months of my first saltwater tank

I did the same. It actually sustained my few softies and LPS…. I wonder how many of us started this way.

 

[Stevorino]

I've had so many water changes where I left the room and came back to a mess. Worst one was 100g+ on the basement/garage floor.

I tested Nitrates with bad kits and thought my Nitrate was bottoming out, so I started dosing Nitrates. When I couldn't raise them I got a new test kit and my Nitrates were 50+

 

[crazyfishmom]

I did the same. It actually sustained my few softies and LPS…. I wonder how many of us started this way.

For me it was a giant disaster. The amount of GHA was just insane. I still have several pieces that survived the system but I had to shut down that tank and eventually started it all over again. I know many people have had really great experiences with tap but mine was not amazing.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I did the same. It actually sustained my few softies and LPS…. I wonder how many of us started this way.

I did. In the 1991 tank fiasco. Forgot about that added error.

 

[Budman93]

Flooding the downstair neighbors ceiling a year ago after not checking my rodi unit

 

[PharmrJohn]

Biggest reefing mistake: let’s see… too many… notable? Hmm, it’s a toss between starting a saltwater tank and using tap water for the first two months of my first saltwater tank.

Life mistakes: poor life decision? First husband. Stupid mistake? At 3 AM as an undergrad ran out of paraformaldehyde after spending the whole day and most of the night dissecting embryos. Decided that it would be a good idea to microwave the solution instead of making it slowly in the fume hood. Opened the microwave to essentially fix my lungs. Moral of the story? I don’t think 16 year old undergrad students should be allowed in labs after 6 pm unsupervised… or at least not 16 year old me.

Or dudes in their 20s. We got a hold of some Na metal and filled up a sink in the chem lab. Then tossed some in from a distance. BIG boom!

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I let an aiptasia live because i thought they were cool when I first started reefing

The first aiptasia I saw I ordered a peppermint shrimp. I am a huge advocate of what you see is what you can't see x100 in my tanks!

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

My wife got a rabbit and on the second day it escaped its preliminary cage during the night.
I woke up to the floor in the living room being wet, but with a strange skin on the water. Turns out the rabbit had chewed through the RO tubing that goes to my kalkwasser container which had then siphoned out 20 liters of calcium hydroxide out onto the floor.

holy... geez LOL. I'm surprised you are still around!

 

[ronsonb]

Flooding the downstair neighbors ceiling a year ago after not checking my rodi unit

Flooded my basement twice now leaving RO running into a Brute forgetting about it until following morning. Would like to think it won’t happen again, but I thought that after the first time

 

[NanoNana]

This wasn’t catastrophic, just bone headed.
Did a routine WC. Siphoned water out , had to stop between draining and filling to grab something I forgot, came back and refilled the tank with the water I had just siphoned out.

 

[vcnt]

I’ve got a freshwater tank that pearls like crazy and the gas ends up in my FX4. The FX4 purges itself when the flow is cut off so I thought about having it stop and start throughout the day but I know it will start up when I’m cleaning the hose out or something like that. Still trying to think of a safe solution.

As for boneheaded stuff, I’ve done the whole “gee there’s a lot of water in this hose. The bucket’s almost full” before realizing that I’ve got a siphon going and frantically trying to find a valve that will save me. Yeah I’ve done that many a time. Science has shown that siphons are twice as easy to start when you don’t want to.

, what do you mean pearls like crazy?