almost a flood

I am very glad I set up this new filter on my QT to test it. Unhooked it all to add the filter media and make sure I know how to clean and restart it, and found that one of the hoses wasn't snug enough on the fitting to get pinched tight by the piece that threads up over it- glad I discovered that early on, shoved it on more tightly. No fear now.

I took off the spraybar and the intake hose to coat them with plastidip- makes it black with a thin coating of rubber. I don't have a lot of practice using spraypaint (this applies the same way) so didn't get it on very evenly- some parts look nice and smooth, other areas it is beaded up or thin and the green of the pipe shows through (if you look close). However I don't think it will be too noticeable once the parts are back in the tank.

For the time being, the pieces are sitting out- they're supposed to cure 3-4 days before going back in the tank. I wanted to keep the filter running meanwhile, so I'm temporarily using a hose clip to keep the intake hose in position. I've only got one hose clip though. At first I held the output hose with the suction cup clip for the spraybar, but the hose is slightly wider than the spraybar and I don't want it to stretch that clip out too much. So I wrapped a rubber band around the neck of the suction cup and around the hose.

This morning the rubber band came loose. Luckily I was in the same room and at the sudden gurgle and rush of water, I ran over there, flipped the closest shutoff valve and unplugged the filter. So glad for those valves- stopping the flow was immediate. No damage done- I mopped up the puddle and the few items under the cabinet that got wet were easily dried. Made my heart jump for a minute though! It's two more days before I feel confident to put these fittings in the main tank (surfaces still a bit tacky)- so I'm going to get another hose clip at the store today (they're cheap enough).