# Killies Import > Non-Killie Segment >  My living room is flooded !

## Green Baron

This morning, I found my 3ft tank 1/2 empty ! The living is flooded ! :-( Upon checking I found the extenal CO2 reactor has cracked and the filter has been pumping water our of the tank ! Fortunatley my inlet pipe is at the mid height of the tank ;-) I quickly turn off everything and spent the whole morning cleaning up the place.

A quick question - I assume most of the BB in the filter are dead by now. Should I rinse the filter before connecting it bacK ?

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## Piscesgirl

Did the filter media stay damp? I wouldn't give up on it quite yet, I think the beneficial bacteria stay viable a little longer than we give it credit for.

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## whuntley

And they survive rinsing out, even in chloraminated tap water!

Wright

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## Green Baron

.. and luck would have it that my CO2 ran out today  :Evil:  or maybe last night Friday the 13th ?  :Shocked:  

Maybe I should consider myself lucky as I will be leaving for a week long business trip early tomorrow morning ! My wife is glad that this didn't happen tomorrow !

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## Green Baron

I fixed the leaking CO2 reactor, rinsed the filter and connected everything back. Let's hope everything works and I can have a good sleep tonight.

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## whuntley

> And they survive rinsing out, even in chloraminated tap water!


I forgot to mention that the filter usually has less than 30% of the nitrifying bacteria in a tank, anyway. The other 70% have been found on the glass, substrate, plants, mulm, ornaments and anything else that has reasonable water movement over it.

If you have any plants at all, and normal fish stocking, even replacing the entire filter is unlikely to cause a nitrite spike.

Wright

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## TyroneGenade

Count your blessings. Had the tank exloded you would be a lot more upset. Flying tiger barbs and gravel are difficult to dodge. I speak from experiance...

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## elmike

> This morning, I found my 3ft tank 1/2 empty ! The living is flooded ! Upon checking I found the extenal CO2 reactor has cracked and the filter has been pumping water our of the tank !


Ha Ha! Thats why Im a firm believer of Murphys Law. What goes out must stay out  that is, sooner or later. Which is the reason why I wont accept anything that pumps water out of the tank. Even if you offer to buy me a brand new "Eheim 3888," I wont have it in my house.

The closest I ever came to that experience was when my 4-footer overflowed while I was fussing over a piece of poop in another tank. I yelled like hell for someone to turn off the tap and saw mrs you-know-who scurry out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. It was a bloody mess! DAMN THE POOP!  :Evil:  Fortunately, Chief Maid came with a mop and did the first round of cleaning. I did the touch-ups. :wink: 

Thats why I had time to go pray, pray... later that fun day. :P  :Laughing:

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## FC

Gan,
Just like you, I had this experience too but for 3 times  :Opps:  . And they all happened when my family and I were not at home.
Lesson learnt for me are:
1) Whatever DIY I do , the solution(s) must be well thought through, robust and lasting.
2) The assembly materials used and work quality must not be compromised.
3) It's a hard work to clean up the mess  :Mad:  .

I DIY the CO2 reactor using the off-the-shelve tap water filter canister. I achieved 2 objctives:
1) It is an external reactor that is out of the tank and virtually maintenance free.
2) It provide higher CO2 dissolve rate than any commercially produced ones.

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## kc

Gan,

Sorry to hear about your misadventure! 

Score: 

1 point for internet co2 reactor, 0 for external reactor.

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## mrs budak

Hopefully that cleaning experience will help you appreciate your wife or maid more! *sideglance at budak*

My boss likes to tell us this anecdote. In his previous work, he had a boss who was paranoid over accidents. So one day, this boss told a worker to test this sensor by holding a lighted match close to it. When triggered, this sensor will cause water to spray, but the sensor is for one-time use only and will have to be replaced.

So my boss was watching this worker testing the sensor and rolling his eyes.

He walked over and told his boss "Boss, maybe this sensor will work, but after you test, you must replace the sensor. Can you guarantee that the new sensor will work? What are you going to do? Are you going to keep testing and replacing the sensors?"

His boss couldn't reply, glared at him and walked away mumbling to himself.

 :Laughing:

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## Green Baron

Freddy,
Like you I decided to try external CO2 reactor for the same reasons. 
I have learnt my leasson  :Opps:  and have reinforced the joints of the reactor.


KC,
External CO2 reactor has better CO2 dissolve rate and is less unsightly.
Another approach to increase CO2 dissolve rate is to feed CO2 directly into a dedicated small internal filter or pump.

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