Reason Number 23 For Hating Fish keeping: Water Changes
So I really do not have 23 reasons why I hate fish keeping, but I figured it would be a catchy title. All of that said I do hate water changes. Honestly, the only thing I hate more than water changes are fish deaths but I will leave those tales of woe for another day.
Yesterday I started my weekly water change two-weeks behind schedule with the understanding that I would have a lot of pruning, vacuuming, and general maintenance to do before I was done. I have four tanks (125, 55, 55, and a 15) and an awesome pump-powered water changer that will allow me to do a 20-30% water change on all my tanks, drain to fill, in about an hour. Building this thing has saved me so much time, but still I loathe the Friday or Saturday when I have to do this. Why, do you ask? Because something inevitably gets wet. Whether it is splashes or spills, I always seem to be running to the linen closet to grab towels, and yesterday was not an exception.
The fun started when I was nearing the end of my final fill (always my 125) and I noticed that there was water underneath my sump. This happens from condensation (I cover my sumps to keep evaporation down and it drips down the side) so I took a closer look and could not find any of the normal signs. I checked the back and noticed that there was a drip from the hose connecting my overflow to my sump. Turns out that the piece of junk tubing split, and it was not the first time. The other hose also split about a month ago and I had to replace it. With a sigh, I went out to the garage to look through my stash of aquarium parts and grab another hose. After removing the hose, spilling all the water all over my lap and the carpet, and getting everything situated I turned the pump back on to check for leaks. Nothing. This was a good day, until I adjusted the hose and the pipe connecting my overflow came off. This pipe connects the overflow box on my tank to the hose that connects to the sump. When that came off there was probably 4-500 Gallons per Hour of water streaming onto my stand and the carpet. It was off for 10 seconds at the most and successfully drenched the floor, stand, and the wall behind the tank.I cursed in my head, jammed the PVC back into the fitting, and made sure it was tight. I ended up using a bit of super glue to get things a little tighter as well. I trudged beaten and sore up to the linen closet for more towels.
What is the moral of our little story? Friction fittings on PVC don’t last forever, Eshopps’s flex tubing sucks, and when your pets live in water you are bound to get a little everywhere at one time or another. Stay dry my friends, or try to 
Comments
Water changes
My water change horror story happened when I was in undergrad school in the mid-90s. I had a dorm room with two beds and had removed one to install a whole line of aquariums for breeding. I was out of town for a weekend, and a friend noticed the water level was a bit low (this was a very dry climate). They helpfully topped the tanks off. When I got home I discovered well over 100 dead juvenile fish in various stages of development. Turns out that the water was added with no dechlorinator.
I was a sad panda.
Water Changes. Yuck!
It like you say, just about every time something goes wrong. This summer I had just finished filling my last tank and I went outside to turn the water off, instead I had turned it on all the way. I stoped to have a cigarette, when I went back in the house the livingroom was flooded. It took me about 3 hours to suck the water up with a shop vac and my wife got the fans going to help dry it thru the night. The next day we rented a carpet shampooer and sucked up more water. That was not fun but it was funny.
DGS