EMERGENCY: 525XL leaking

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FortyFour44

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I woke up this morning to a very wet living room. My 525XL failed at the seams. I am working on draining my tank and need help figuring out what to do. I’ve emailed and left a message for customer support. Please follow up with me ASAP.
 
Sorry to hear.

First thing is if there is water in the floor still, make sure there isn't any electricity that will be touching it etc.

You can put stuff in bins/buckets.

I had a 75g tank years ago that started leaking at a seam. It was towards the middle/top of the tank. I came home to a stream of water shooting about 5 feet into the living room.

I used duct tape to strengthen the corner enough for it to continue to hold water for a few months until I was able to find a better solution(selling my stuff in this case). I got it as tight as I could so that it would apply pressure. It was very ugly, I had duct tape all the way up and down the corner and about a ft more on the glass. Not sure if it was needed, but I wanted to put as much into it as I possible could.

It does need to be dry, so I had to wait until the water level was low enough. If your leak is at the bottom, this might not be a great idea for you.

I even filled it back up with water, and ran the tank normally for a few months. It was ugly on that corner, but it worked. I eventually sold the live stock/equipment and dumped the tank due to moving cross country.

No idea if I just got lucky with the fix or not, but I would for sure try it again if one of my tanks started leaking at the seam. If there was something you could put on the inside that might help, as the water would apply the pressure to it.
 
Thank you. I have to get a hold of them to understand what my options are and how long of temporary solution I am looking at.
 
I woke up this morning to a very wet living room. My 525XL failed at the seams. I am working on draining my tank and need help figuring out what to do. I’ve emailed and left a message for customer support. Please follow up with me ASAP.

You can buy a big stock tank around the size of your tank to hold everything. It will be much cheaper in a pinch until you can find/get a tank. Hell... clean it up good and you can just return it after.

Be sure to add your powerheads so your rock can continue to act as your biological filtration.

I would not transfer the sand bed as it may have organics in it. If you have a sand sleeping wrasse, then a pile in a corner can work for them to find a bed.
 
I was advised by Red Sea to submit an online ticket and wait to hear back. I understand I am out of warranty. Fingers crossed that I will know my options by end of day.

Thanks for the support!
 
How old is the tank
Tank is 3.5-4 years old. Thankfully the seam failed towards the top (front right). Can see it pretty clearly. In a holding pattern until I get word from Red Sea. They asked for some clarifying pictures/details.

7CB25F94-5C6C-40F1-9164-7225B03E0245.jpeg 9EAAEB1E-412A-4095-9562-53447EF191CB.jpeg E24BEB57-1319-4D44-84BF-19F26B9DF05C.jpeg BC05B1F6-14B6-4B5A-88B5-A92CD1367F61.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Tank is 3.5-4 years old. Thankfully the seam failed towards the top (front right). Can see it pretty clearly. In a holding pattern until I get word from Red Sea. They asked for some clarifying pictures/details.

7CB25F94-5C6C-40F1-9164-7225B03E0245.jpeg 9EAAEB1E-412A-4095-9562-53447EF191CB.jpeg E24BEB57-1319-4D44-84BF-19F26B9DF05C.jpeg
I think you can probably duct tape that up for a temporary fix after they have seen enough. That looks very similiar to where my leak was, but your volume is larger. Beats buckets and tubs until you get a replacement.

Sucks that it happened, seems like I see this types of threads too often with red sea tanks, and it shouldn't be that way considering the price.
 
I’m waiting to confirm Red Sea has all the pictures they need before I start with a short term solution. I’ll take the water level low and find means to support the seam (silicone, adhesives) before I decide to move everything to buckets.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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