Top Ten Absolute GROSSEST Reef-Related Moments...

10) I was getting ready to siphon the detritus out of my tank, and I just couldn't get the siphon going. I decided that I was going to get that siphon going no matter what, so I sucked on it as hard as I could. Of course, I got a mouthful of water and... some extra treats. At first I thought it was just sand, until I noticed where the other end of the siphon was--right at the rear end of an atlantic cucumber that had just, uh, processed the sand.
finneganswake of Los Angeles, CA

9) Just the other evening, I was going to feed my reef tank and discovered that my bag of Mysis shrimp was missing from the freezer shelf that holds all of my frozen fish foods. I looked and looked around the house, freezer, etc. And then, when I had finally given up, I heard a shreak from the dining room. My wife had just taken a tasty bite of Mysis enhanced spaghetti sauce. Apparently, she had reached into the fridge and grabbed the bag of shrimp, thinking it was a bag of cooked ground beef that she had left in there another day. Upon closer examination of the spaghetti sauce, hundreds of Mysis shrimp could be found, all pink with their black eyes. Oh boy...!!! Needless to say, we went out for pizza that night, and spaghetti will not be on the menu for our house for quite some time - at least so says my wife.
Paul Thompson of Ardmore, OK

8) I walked into the living room only to find my one year old twins, dipping hands into the skimmer cup and eating it, saying "Mmmmmmmmm..."
Birdy of Missouri

7) I came home to find my cat licking up some skimmate that had come out of my hose from my skimmer. Lets just say no one wanted to go near the cat for a few days. Who knew that skimmate gives cats terrible gas and bad breath?
Condiman of Wisconsin

6) It was the first time a very nice lady spent the weekend with me, and I was looking forward to spending more time with her. She found my Snowflake eel in her tennis shoes. Yes, she was putting them on. I can still hear the scream! The eel survived. Our budding relation did not.
cracker of Jax, FL

5) I was siphoning-out water for a water change and picked the wrong tube in the sump room. I ended up with a shot of skimmer juice. I don't reccommend this!
Scorch268 of unknown whereabouts

4) Not knowing what to feed baby brine shrimp, I made a mix of yeast, egg yokes, spirulina powder and frozen Mysis shrimp. I put it all in a blender, then poured it into a bottle. A week later the yeast had fermented. So, when I finally tried to open it, it exploded all over me and throughout the kitchen. I can't even describe the smell!
sihaya of Ohio

3) I was trying to scrape an Aptasia off of a piece of live rock with an exacto knife, and it shot me right in the eye. Bullocks, did that burn!
craby of Washington, DC

2) My grossest moment? While feeding the tank, I broke off a chunk of frozen brine shrimp, and instead of putting it into the cup with salt water to thaw, I put it into my iced tea glass which was right next to it, and didn't realize until I began to drink. GAG ! COUGH ! CHOKE ! PTHPTHPHTPHTPHT...
DownTown of Absecon, NJ

1) I was fiddling around my open-top tank with my Sun Conure (small parrot) on my shoulder. My parrot leaned over and stuck his butt in the air and did his business right into the tank. Panicked, I scrambled for a brine net to fish out the toxic bomb my parrot just dropped. I found one, and made my way back to the tank. Just then, my clownfish raced to the scene, thinking maybe I had just given him a treat. He took a bite of it and them promptly spit it out.
BrookR1 of Temecula

Reefkeeping's next Top Ten for November: Top Ten Things Your Fish Would Say About You To 60 Minutes... Our thanks go out to 64Ivy for suggesting the next topic!

Honorable mention goes out to the following members for submitting 10 Top Ten reasons: Tahoe Ocean. Thanks, Tahoe Ocean!

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