Drip, drip, drip... I think I have a problem.

[danmarion]

I believe I have a leak... about 2 drops of water every minute are hitting the ground and I cannot see the leak. All equipment is internal, so it has to be the glass. It's dripping from the stand, so the leak could be anywhere on the tank. Most likely the bottom or the back, or else I would be able to see it.
I know I am going to have to tear down my tank. I have a qt for the fish, and lots of buckets for water, rocks, and sand.

My first question is... what should I do with my bubble tip anemone for a couple of days while I locate and fix the leak? My qt doesn't have a light. I am not thrilled with the idea of trying to get its foot detached from the rock it's on either.
What about the other inverts in the tank? Crabs, shrimp, snails... what should I do with them?

Finally, does the water I keep the rock and sand in need to be heated and aerated?

I am so frustrated right now. The project will have to wait for this weekend. I just want to get it right the first time, any advice from the community would be absolutely fantastic. Thanks everyone

 

[ebushrow]

Ok so here is my 2 cents to help.
From what I have seen and heard about, it is difficult to locate a leak where you think it is, it is also even more dodgey to try and "fix" a leak...they never seem to hold well IME. As far as the livestock, if you could put your live rock including nem in a large container, put a power head and heater in it and the light, that it should be ok for awhile. Fish in the qt. sand....that's tricky too since as you mix it up it's going to release gasses and detritus, I would suggest washing it lightly with fresh saltwater and put it all in a single container if you really want to save it, but when you add it back into the tank it will likely cause a cycle IME. It might be a good time to add new sand, you could use aragalive if you want, but your biofilter is in your live rock anyways.
Just some suggestions:nerd:

I believe I have a leak... about 2 drops of water every minute are hitting the ground and I cannot see the leak. All equipment is internal, so it has to be the glass. It's dripping from the stand, so the leak could be anywhere on the tank. Most likely the bottom or the back, or else I would be able to see it.
I know I am going to have to tear down my tank. I have a qt for the fish, and lots of buckets for water, rocks, and sand.

My first question is... what should I do with my bubble tip anemone for a couple of days while I locate and fix the leak? My qt doesn't have a light. I am not thrilled with the idea of trying to get its foot detached from the rock it's on either.
What about the other inverts in the tank? Crabs, shrimp, snails... what should I do with them?

Finally, does the water I keep the rock and sand in need to be heated and aerated?

I am so frustrated right now. The project will have to wait for this weekend. I just want to get it right the first time, any advice from the community would be absolutely fantastic. Thanks everyone

 

[redfishbluefish]

Good advice from ebushro.


You didn't mention the size of your tank, but it might be good reason to upgrade.


Also, stock tanks work out very well for temporarily holding tank contents.

 

[danmarion]

It is a 28 gallon cube. Unfortunately I don't have the space to upgrade at the moment.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Oh! Well first off you don't need a stock tank!




By chance is this a JBJ 28? If so, and you're running both pumps (and especially if you upgraded them to MJ1200's), and the saw-tooth overflow is slightly scutzed up, the tank will drip. Is the water touching the upper plastic trim? If so, that's your problem. I have a JBJ28 and it will drip if the water is as high as the plastic trim. Reduce your return flow and clean the saw-teeth.

 

[danmarion]

It is the JBJ. And both returns are on. I will check to see if the water level reaches the top trim this afternoon once I'm off of work. If that is all the problem is, I would be thrilled

 

[glb]

Oh! Well first off you don't need a stock tank!




By chance is this a JBJ 28? If so, and you're running both pumps (and especially if you upgraded them to MJ1200's), and the saw-tooth overflow is slightly scutzed up, the tank will drip. Is the water touching the upper plastic trim? If so, that's your problem. I have a JBJ28 and it will drip if the water is as high as the plastic trim. Reduce your return flow and clean the saw-teeth.

Agreed. I have a jbj 12g nano and if the water level gets too high, it will leak along the black trim. I guess it's not glued on in case people want to remove it. A good way to check is to look for salt creep under the trim. If that's the case, just lower the water and you're all set.

 

[redfishbluefish]

It is the JBJ. And both returns are on. I will check to see if the water level reaches the top trim this afternoon once I'm off of work. If that is all the problem is, I would be thrilled

Yep! I'll almost guarantee that's your problem. I only run one pump...and that's a Cobalt MJ1200 (don't buy a current MaxiJet....they are crap when they bailed on the Italian company that was originally making them. The Cobalt 1200 is the old Maxijet made by that Italian company.)

Even with running one pump, if my saw teeth get cruddy, I will get a drip from one corner of the tank. I use an old toothbrush to regularly clean the sawteeth.

 

[danmarion]

And the moment if realization sets in. I placed a sponge over the overflow sawteeth when my 'nem was on the move. Could it really be that simple?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

And the moment if realization sets in. I placed a sponge over the overflow sawteeth when my 'nem was on the move. Could it really be that simple?

Yes. Be glad it is.

 

[danmarion]

So with only one return pump on, what happens with the other side of your little sump area? Not alot of water movement, I would imagine?

Yep! I'll almost guarantee that's your problem. I only run one pump...and that's a Cobalt MJ1200 (don't buy a current MaxiJet....they are crap when they bailed on the Italian company that was originally making them. The Cobalt 1200 is the old Maxijet made by that Italian company.)

Even with running one pump, if my saw teeth get cruddy, I will get a drip from one corner of the tank. I use an old toothbrush to regularly clean the sawteeth.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I guess I never thought about it being a dead spot. It's been that way for a couple years without incident. I actually have a skimmer sitting directly in front of were the outlet would be on that side.





Anyway, let us know what you find when you get home from work today about the level of water in the tank, and that sponge over the sawteeth. I'm betting that's the problem.

 

[danmarion]

So I removed the sponge from the overflow and discovered that there was actually almost a gallon too much water in the tank. The water was in fact touching the trim. I am glad I checked here before I tore down my tank.

My stand seems to have become a little damaged though, the top board seems to have softened and absorbed a bit of water. I should probably replace it, I have never thought that it was well designed anyhow

 

[glb]

So I removed the sponge from the overflow and discovered that there was actually almost a gallon too much water in the tank. The water was in fact touching the trim. I am glad I checked here before I tore down my tank.

My stand seems to have become a little damaged though, the top board seems to have softened and absorbed a bit of water. I should probably replace it, I have never thought that it was well designed anyhow

What a relief!

 

[joshbbert]

for future reference home depot or lowes sells a black tote with a yellow top its 14$ holds 27 gallons of water and up to 500 lbs without breaking i use them for ebb and flow hydro setups they're fantastic, if you find you ever need to break down your cube for any reason =)

 

[redfishbluefish]

So I removed the sponge from the overflow and discovered that there was actually almost a gallon too much water in the tank. The water was in fact touching the trim. I am glad I checked here before I tore down my tank.

My stand seems to have become a little damaged though, the top board seems to have softened and absorbed a bit of water. I should probably replace it, I have never thought that it was well designed anyhow

Glad to see you found a simple solution to your problem.


As far as the stand is concerned, they stink. It's not only made of particle board that readily swells when wet, but also poorly designed so that when you run your Mag cleaner back and forth, the stand sways. If you lived closer I'd give you my old JBJ stand. I've actually made a new stand for mine with the DIY found HERE. As a minimum you might want to pick up a piece of 5/8 to 3/4 plywood and redo the top piece.

 

[danmarion]

Glad to see you found a simple solution to your problem.


As far as the stand is concerned, they stink. It's not only made of particle board that readily swells when wet, but also poorly designed so that when you run your Mag cleaner back and forth, the stand sways. If you lived closer I'd give you my old JBJ stand. I've actually made a new stand for mine with the DIY found HERE. As a minimum you might want to pick up a piece of 5/8 to 3/4 plywood and redo the top piece.

That's exactly the flaws I noted with the stand. As well as the fact that the four little columns just don't seem like enough for a 300 pound tank. I am an ornamental iron fabricator and was considering fabricating a wrought iron stand. Maybe. If I decide to take the time to do that instead of modding this one, I will post a diy thread.

 

[jsker]

If you make the stand, powder coat it.

 

[danmarion]

I was thinking marine paint. Any thoughts on that?

 

[jsker]

Where I live, powder coating is relatively in expensive and the end product of a smooth finish with no brush marks, drips, or missed spots that could rust later on due to the salt moisture around the tank. If you have the equipment the other option would be automotive finish over marine finish. There are fast drying marine finishes out there but there are still soft for some time. Automotive finish is pretty pricey when you get down to purchasing finish, hardener, and cleaning solvent if you do not have some of the product just sitting around from previous jobs.