with everyone.I was looking at my tank and something just did not seem right... I could not quite place it but decided to open the stand and do the usuall check of the vitals. It was immediately evident that there was a problem....a BIG problem. My sump was totally full of water, and the skimmer was foaming bubbles like a pit bull at a mailman's convention.
An immediated diagnosis...after conferming my top off water reservior was empty concluded that the float valve had failed and locked in the "open" position, thus allowing an extra 12 gallons of fresh water in to the system. I thanked God for my decision a few days earlier to let the reservoir go dry (not allowing it to refill) so I could clean it out. This resulted in the 30 gallon drum only having 12 or so gallons in it which filled my 55 gallon sump to the rim. The additional 18 gallons would have been on the floor.
Anyways, First concern was the salinity....grabbed the trusty, dusty hydrometer and checked the water and ...nada. The swing valve sat at the bottom
no need for panic...this has happened before. A fast and furious shake of the thing dislodged the swing arm and gave a more accurate reading of .016 or so 
. Immediate measures had to be taken. I made a b-line for the dedicated 45 gallon rubbermaid and my pump/drain hose assembly. Tossed the pump in the sump and pulled out the extra water from the sump. I have been slowely increasing the salinity and have it back up to .021 now . The new hippo tang I added the day before has already asked to be taken to the Bay Way where she feels she will stand a better chance.
I guess I will be changing float vavles and adding an extra one for fail safe. Off to get some diagrams. Then gotta go shopping for christmas stuff to forget about all this
