Help, leak in silicone

[smokin'reefer]

Little more info to hopefully let you know what to expect.
I think because I did the tech support deal on Red Sea's website, Amanda K sent me a message first thing Monday asking for pictures. So have those ready to shoot back to her.
I was able to call the next day and she said that the warranty was approved and they would be shipping out a new tank. Hadn't heard anything by Wednesday and called back and she said it's waiting to see if I should get the tracking number soon. If I remember correctly I had that by Wednesday afternoon.
Unfortunately I had to ship from Texas all the way to South Carolina and the trucking company was not really on the ball. The day it was supposed to be delivered it was still in Charlotte and then for me to be a few more days. So I just took the Hundred Mile Drive and went got it. Being that you are in Texas hopefully that we will not hurt you.
after all was said and done I had to house my fish and corals for approximately two and a half weeks before I could transfer back. I can add that I lost no fish at all and only a few corals, but that was more ones that broke off transferring back and forth..
As bad as it seemed at first, this turned out to be a great opportunity to go back and redo things differently. I have been looking at redoing my Aquascape and also gave me the opportunity to use a different sand. Not to mention it was a great learning experience and I am maybe slightly more knowledgeable about this Hobby now. Thanks to the help of the people here on reef 2 Reef it wasn't too bad.

 

[cmcoker]

I agree that your livestock is much safer keeping it in the tank for now, just draining below the leak.
Hopefully RS can get you a new tank in a week or so.
Start working on a plan to transfer. Buckets, tubs, heaters, airstones, etc.
You also might want to add an airstone to the display to increase oxygen levels.

Thanks for the input.
Luckily, I have been going slow and only have a few fish, and like 3 easy corals in the tank so far, toadstool, plate, and some Davis.
Put a help request on my local forum, hoping I can borrow some water containers and not have to buy a bunch of stuff to do the transfer. I only have a 20g brute

 

[alanbetiger]

Lame, lame, lame.
I only two 5 gallon containers and three empty salt buckets so not really worth the drive to Aubrey. You're welcome to them though.

 

[alanbetiger]

Oh yeah I have my seahorse Biocube 29 gallon free if you need to house anything. It only has the live rock, zoas, mushrooms and a single hermit crab in it. We kept having stuff happen so didn't get around to replacing the seahorses. Hasn't had a fish in it since June 2016.

 

[cmcoker]

Oh yeah I have my seahorse Biocube 29 gallon free if you need to house anything. It only has the live rock, zoas, mushrooms and a single hermit crab in it. We kept having stuff happen so didn't get around to replacing the seahorses. Hasn't had a fish in it since June 2016.

Thanks! I just have 2 clowns and the watchman goby in there. And the few corals. So I've thought about moving stuff down to the sump, haven't decided yet..
If no one chimes in on dfwmas, I'll probably just go get a 40g brute from home Depot to hold water while I transfer.
Not fun!

 

[Cory]

What id do is drain the tank to where the leak is. Get a tube of aquarium silicone and inject it into the small hole. Wait 24 hoirs and fill it back up.

 

[smokin'reefer]

If you have any storage totes on hand they worked great for me.

Of course I had more corals mounted on rocks so I needed to spread out.
Cory has a good point about patching. My tank that was leaking I found a couple of pin holes and just pushed sealant in and then put another bead over the top. I think they call for a 2 day cure time but that might be for thicker applications.
Mines been water testing for 3 weeks and doesn't seem to be leaking yet.

 

[Cory]

Watch this and see how to fix it:

 

[ourcoralreef]

It looks like Self-Fusing Silicone Tape i have if anyone needs

What ended up happening

 

[cmcoker]

Still waiting to hear back from Red Sea tech support. I did get a response from them through Facebook, suggested I video it, drop water level until I hear back from local tech support and to follow up on Tuesday if I had not heard anything...

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

I would drain at least past leak had a 300 gallon deep demension leak .Had a couple of drops on floor when I went to work at 6 am when I got home at 6 pm there was 1 inch of water left in tank

 

[Hpolascik]

I would try this too!!!

 

[mkutsch]

So, uh, what type of pinprick we talking about here, eh? Cause my immediate response is always cyanoacrylate for matters so small..

 

[mkutsch]

Best of luck all the same, though.

 

[stevieduk]

Set up a Red Sea Reefer 250 end of December. Today I have a pinhole leak in the silicone, I am not sure what to do for the weekend... I have contacted Red sea but obviously it Friday night..

It's about 3 inches from the top on the front glass seam.

Debating whether to drain tank below this level and just run powerheads.. or go to home depot get a brute can and move everything into that..

#reefsquad

easy fix. just drain the tank to about 2 inches below the leak. dry the leak area inside and rub gently with some fine sand paper around the leak to clean the glass, then get some epoxy putty,(that you would stick frags onto rock with and make a patch around the leak about 2 inches in each direction. give it a few hours to cure and the put water back.
This always works for me

 

[ourcoralreef]

I would drain all the way and do a transfer
Any holes in the silicone can and will expand i would personally not take that chance i would try and get a loner tank from someone on the forum or a store until the replacement has arrived
Its been close to 3 days i would be flipping out

 

[cmcoker]

I would drain all the way and do a transfer
Any holes in the silicone can and will expand i would personally not take that chance i would try and get a loner tank from someone on the forum or a store until the replacement has arrived
Its been close to 3 days i would be flipping out

I am flipping out, on the inside. I called red sea this morning, they requested a pictures which I just sent. They did seem amenable to replacing the tank, just waiting now

 

[cmcoker]

I appreciate all the input on how to repair it, but I don't feel it's safe. This is a rimless tank, the front panel is held on with the silicone, I would forever be worried that the seam would rupture and I'd come home to glass shattered on the concrete floors, an empty tank, and I can just see my cat running around and depositing dead fish throughout the house. Assuming he and my dog are safe, id also be worried about it failing while one of them was in proximity to be injured or killed. My dog is a 5lb Chihuahua, so that pane of glass could easily kill her.
I am very risk averse, so I don't see repairing the tank myself as a viable option.
But thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond!

 

[ourcoralreef]

Not to mention Water and electric shocking (if anyone ever sees water on the floor be very careful it can be live with an electric current)
I know people are supposed to stay calm etc etc but u got to be realistic water in our tanks puts allot of pressure on the glass especially by the seams
one way or another you need to drain the tank
If your repairing it with silicone (the only way i would) it takes about 7 days to fully cure and you need to replace the whole strip otherwise it can come loose and fall out of place
If your getting a new tank from them its going to take time until they approve and shipping time
I know people are going to say they repaired it some half butt way but personally i wouldn't risk it i have too much to loose
Furniture, floors, beams etc etc
make a post saying you need a loner tank whatever size in your local area set it up with some tubing to your sump until you get your new or repaired tank

 

[Kyl]

I appreciate all the input on how to repair it, but I don't feel it's safe. This is a rimless tank, the front panel is held on with the silicone, I would forever be worried that the seam would rupture and I'd come home to glass shattered on the concrete floors, an empty tank, and I can just see my cat running around and depositing dead fish throughout the house. Assuming he and my dog are safe, id also be worried about it failing while one of them was in proximity to be injured or killed. My dog is a 5lb Chihuahua, so that pane of glass could easily kill her.
I am very risk averse, so I don't see repairing the tank myself as a viable option.
But thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond!

Attempts to repair it would probably void the warranty. Given this is a somewhat expensive RS tank with a warranty, I would just let them handle it completely and work on pre-emptively re-housing your tank inhabitants. Any local reefers would probably be glad to help another person out in this situation.