i have a 90 gallon reef tank. I woke up this morning and found a bunch of water around the base of my stand. After drying out the bottom around the sump, I see that it is slowly getting wet. I think I must have a crack in the bottom of my sump. What do I do? Where should I start? Is it something that can be repaired or should I rush out to my LFS for a replacement?
Help! Sump is leaking
- Thread starter Angelgirl
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Daddy-o
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2017
- Messages
- 2,685
- Reaction score
- 3,911
Water travels down so any leak from above would most likely show up near the bottom of the sump. I would double check everything before buying a new sump. Hoses, connections, see if you see any drips from above. Good Luck!
Thanks for your reply. I checked everything above and nothing is wet. Unfortunately it appears to be the sump and I'm on my way to find a replacement. How do I go about changing it out? I am not even sure where to start.
I have experienced the same problem. First I moved everything in my sump that's living, into the main tank. Then I removed the sump and found the leak. I was able to repair it and put it back in place, in about 3 days. If you have the money, take some time to find the sump design you really want.
What did you use for repair? My LFS is an hour away so I'm going to go buy a replacement to have on standby before I start tearing it down. Will remove water and inspect. If it looks repairable I could always return the new unused sump. What a pain.
I bought some acrylic glue online and had some scraps for patches to cover some old bulkhead holes. Glass or plastic, you want to make your patch the entire width or length of the tank in both directions that the crack is running. With glass, you need a piece of glass cut to fit and use reef silicone. I would stay with the new sump. Patches are always a bit iffy, and could cause problems again later on, especially over a crack.
On our way home from my LFS. The only sump they had was an eshopps 100. I hope it's good quality. The rest of my day will be spent on this unexpected project (and $$$). Husband keeps reminding me that it could have been worse. Thanks for suggestions.
Big G
captain dunsel
I have an Eshopps RS-200 and its of good quality. What I did do though was to put a sheet of neoprene rubber underneath the sump and wrapped it up about an inch or so all the way around the bottom up the sides a bit. I used that glue that scuba divers use to glue the seams of the neoprene together and temporarily clamped the glued corners with clothes pins and very small plastic clamps. It's ok for it not to fit like a glove; it's ok if the neoprene hangs out away from the sump sides a bit. Hope this helps. Cheers! And glad it wasn't worse.
