leakage...

[r00onmac]

for a background story refer to my topic in the nano 20 gal and under section

Okay so after an hour or longer leak test in which there was no leakage with the tank full and a powerhead moving water around i have developed a slow drip now that the tank is full...

at first i thought it might be water that had spilled when filling the tank but after i wiped it up and left a towel there i came back to find it saturated yet again...

what options do i have now?/? its not coming out of the corner like i had suspected because i see no dripping, so the only guess is that it is coming out of the bottom... which is impossible to get to with the tank full... should i just leave a towel and deal with the drip or do you think it will get worse? if it wont get worse i can deal, because it looks like it cant be much more than a drop a second or less... but more than nothing...

 

[reefman23]

I wouldnt screw around with a leak... empty it and deal with it. You can end up with a BIG mess if you dont.

Just IMO,

Jesse

 

[Jennie]

I agree, if you suspect a leak drain the tank and fix or replace it. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[r00onmac]

ok... so here is my idea before i spend all day draining and stressing the fish and corals and then filling it again...

i get a tube of silicone... and i cover the WHOLE bottom... from rim to rim... that should fix it right?

once i have my gameplan i will empty the fish and water into buckets... whatever water i cant empty will go in the drain and ill just buy more... ill do the repair with the sand in the tank... (maybe even rocks if i can...) and then let it dry a few hours before filling it up again... fish should be okay in a bucket for a day or two right? ill put a bubble stone in there with them...

i really refuse to move all the sand out again though... that was much too difficult... lol

 

[cbianco]

...i get a tube of silicone... and i cover the WHOLE bottom... from rim to rim... then let it dry a few hours before filling it up again...

Silicone takes more than a few hours to cure. Usually a minimum of 24 hours with 72 hours being ideal.

Christopher

 

[r00onmac]

yes... but figuring that the bottom wont be receiving any direct water.. it will be pretty dry in like 5 or 6 hours... and it can continue to dry from there on out...

 

[TimSchmidt]

I really think you should empty it and then real resilicon the inside of the tank and then add styrofoam support under your bottom pane. It's annoying but at least this way you don't risk a total blow out. It may only be a matter of time before the stress gets to be too much and breaks the glass. Sorry to hear about the leak.

 

[Jennie]

I agree with Tim, a leak isn't anything to mess around with. There is alot of confined pressure inside a tank, and at any point it can give if there is a weak spot.

 

[mikeguerrero]

r00onmac,

In reefing their are two cardinal sins you just don't take lightly. One is over stuffing your tank with critters and fish. And the number two sin is overlooking your tank when something severe is happening...

The leak is not going to go away no matter what, it's there and it will get worse; trust me I know, I'm the king of leak tanks...

I have had two leak on me in the past and oh how I wished it would go away on it's own. I tried silicon, I tried paper towels, I even tried refilling it thinking maybe it's a airbubble and needs to be reset; wrong!!!

I was forced to dismantle the entire tank rocks and sand and purchase a brand new tank; I know your frustration...

Don't take this lightly, correct it today before it becomes a disaster.....

Mg

 

[r00onmac]

well purchasing isnt an option, this is a custom built tank... so hopefully silicone will work... on my to do list for tonight is to get another 5 gallon bucket for all of the sand... i will put my fish and some rock back in the 5.5 barebottom for a day or two... i have saved all the tank water so far so there will be no transition when they get put back in... the cube will be emptied, dried, and a layer of silicone will go across the whole inside bottom and whole outside bottom (i expect it to take 2 tubes...) then i will allow 48 hours to cure and then i will leak test again... hopefully all will be well because i really dont have the option of buying another tank, thats why i did DIY with spare tanks i had laying around... tank should be siliconed and drying by tonight...

 

[TimSchmidt]

get some foam or a towel or something to support the bottom of your tank this time too. Might help distribute the weight.

 

[r00onmac]

its on my list... figure i can look for 3/4" styro or something... the weight of the tank should press it down and not create any high points right?

 

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that silicone sealant does not bond well with already cured silicone sealant. While you might plug up the leak temporarily, it is very possible that it will reoccur - most likely when you are not home.

If it is a custom made than that cannot be replaced with an off the shelf 20 gallon tank, then what about an upgrade to a 30 - 40 gallon tank? This is definitely a good time to do it. The quickest, cleanest solution, IMHO.

If you just can't live without that particular 20 gallon and want to keep it for a long time, then I suggest you drain it, take a razor blade to it and strip the entire tank down (removing all old silicone) and rebuilding the tank with fresh sealant. I doubt you will want to do that, but I have done it several times and it isn't that big of a deal - especially on a small tank like that. Just be certain that you get ALL of the silicone off of the glass before you put it back together.

Just my $0.02......

 

[r00onmac]

okay... well if the leak is obviously coming from the bottom of the tank... and it was suggested i re-silicone the inside rather than the outside... would it make sense to clean the strip down the center that i have (it supposedly covers the seem in the two pieces of glass, but apparently not because it is leaking) and then silicone like an 8" wide strip over that center line?

about upgrading pirates: i am technically not allowed to have anything over 10 gallons here in the residence halls... but i make exceptions for myself because i am in charge of enforcing those rules... BUT i do move every year between may and august and i dont want to have to tear down anything larger than the 20 i have here... in fact i am moving again in august so i really dont even want to tear this one down now to fix it, but i have very few options at this point... plus i like the low height cube design i have created and having built it myself is sort of an accomplishment...

a side note is that when i lowered the water level to half it really stopped leaking, so its only the pressure of 20 gallons of water that is forcing it to leak and i suspect it didnt leak during the leak test because it didnt have 20 gallons of water PLUS 30lb of LS and 20lb of LR... so in theory the leak is VERY small created by the pressure... but i will be re-siliconing the inside seam and probably the outside seam as well...

 

[TimSchmidt]

Piratesreef suggestions seems to be the best bet, (the one about cutting out the silicon and redoing). Just remember more is not always better with the silicon, heck use masking tape (put it about 1/4 - 1/2 and inch from seam on both planes of glass) and run a continuous bead of silicon around the bottom from the inside of the tank. If you do that and then put the styrofoam on the bottom (one large piece, the styrofoam should "conform" to the shape of the tank and support it better.) you should be leak free. Maybe you could set aside a couple of bucks and get yourself a new tank when you graduate? Good luck with the repair!

 

[r00onmac]

well thats most definately going to happen... i know that a pair of clowns will not last as grown up fish in a 20 gallon... i really like the look of long and deep tanks with only like 16-24 inches of height... so im thinking ultimately my house tank (when i get a house) will be like that... maybe 10 feet long...(my fiance is very understanding as long as i explain it as "its better for them this way, they need room to swim" she loves these fish..)

 

[TimSchmidt]

Good luck on the tank and school (oh yeah, and the fiance!)! Let us know what you do and pics are always cool!

 

[r00onmac]

not looking so hot... i stripped the silicone and resiliconed it yesterday around 9 am... and because the tank didnt leak on my first leak test (probably because the sand adds pressure that a regular leak test cant detect)

anyway after it was completely dry this morning i put the sand back in.... note that the sand has had nassarius obsoleta snails wiggling through it for a couple days... apparently some died.. it smelled horrible.. but i poured the sand in the tank with the snails and added as much liverock from the fish's tank as possible to start breaking down the amonia...

hard to tell if it has a new leak yet, the fish are in the 5.5 with about 10 lbs of rock, no sand and the corals... the torch looks horrible with tissue recession and open mouths, i found my cleaner shrimp dead and i havent seen my peppermint eat yet since the move,, although i know he is alive because i just saw him a minute ago scuttering around the back...

at this point im willing to charge a new tank if this one doesnt look like itll work out...ill be testing in a bit when all the sand settles.... if there is a leak ill be grabbing the cheapest 15+ gallon tank i can get my hands on. the design i have made looks amazing and i would still like a tank just like it,,, except one that isnt leaking lol...

on the upside the clowns look very healthy, are playful and still eating off of my hand... corals on the other hand are struggling, im assuming because the light is closer than normal (i have its stand on the floor, slightly angled towards the 5.5, but apparently still too much light is getting to the corals...

 

[jay]

All of the above suggestions sound like really good ones!

How goes the leak issue?


J

 

[r00onmac]

crappy... i re-sealed the whole bottom... and it leaked worse than before.... not to mention my sand smells like it is rotting so im assuming the 1000000 pods in there died while they were in the bucket and its nasty, so i wouldnt put my fish in there if you paid me... honestly at this point im waiting for my loan money to come back from summer classes next week or so and ill probably just go pick up a 20l or 30 gallon breeder or something... neither of those is as deep (front to back wise) as i want, but they are good on height ( i hate tall tanks)