What does a flooded tank look like?

[YYWW]

Has anybody used a straw to collect a core sample? I'm not even sure i'd know what i'm looking for if i did that, but i read that suggestion in a diff thread and it seemed like a smart idea.

Am i supposed to dump the sample out and just judge the ejected sub?


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[aussieJJDude]

It doesn't just happen from adding too much water directly to the substrate - most floods happen from pumping in too much moisture with humidifiers, which is why a lot of people don't realize their tank is flooded because it's happened slowly and without any direct action leading up to it.

A completely sealed tank would be a closed system, and would never need water added. However, that would suffocate your hermits! So, a small amount of air flow is needed, and this air flow starts to steal moisture from your tank and put it out into the room. To replace that lost moisture, you spray, or add a humidifier, or do whatever you need to in order to keep the substrate moist and the humidity at 80%. If you start to add in more moisture that what is being lost, that extra water has to go somewhere - high humidity will cause the moisture in the air to condense on surfaces including the substrate or humidifier hose, and gravity dictates that the water droplets will eventually go as far down as they can to where they puddle up on the bottom.

It's a very fine line between too much moisture and not enough. Not enough and the hermits suffer, too much and you end up with a flood. There's a happy medium in the middle that takes some experimentation to find, but it's where everything will work smoothly.

^^^ This. is. golden.
Wod, I would have not said it any better. Good job! *pat on back*