Leaking seam

[bobble28]

Long story short I think my dt is leaking but can't pinpoint exactly where. There's water in the plastic trim between the glass and the plastic trim. I ordered a new tank Monday that is hopefully on its way and will be here tomorrow in one piece lol going to try for a nice easy tank swap so I bought the exact same tank. My question after the swap I'd like to try to find exactly where it's leaking, since the leak isn't obvious would food coloring be ok to put in the water in order trace where it could be coming from? Or do you guys have any other suggestions? Thanks

 

[DLHDesign]

Just checking, but are you sure that there is a leak and it's not just that water is dripping down the side of the tank when you put your hands in/out of it? I know that I wipe my tank (and cabinet, and floor...) all the time due to drips...

Likely safer to assume it's a leak than not, of course.

 

[bobble28]

I'm pretty sure it's leaking. I soak up the water from between the glass and trim then within a min or so it has water back there again. Wierd thing though is water never actually comes out if the trim and runs down anywhere just kinda sits there. Drips from cleaning was my first thought but now 4 days later and it's still doing it has me thinking it's leaking.

 

[DLHDesign]

Sounds like a leak; yeah. Sorry for the trouble you're going through.
Do you notice the tank volume continues to drop once it stabilizes in the trim (e.g.; draw a line with a sharpie on the glass and see if it falls below that)? It may just be that the water is leaking somewhere you can't see (not sure where/how your tank is situated and whether you can see all the way around/under it).

 

[bobble28]

It's a 33 long I drilled as a peninsula and I have full access to 4 out of 5 panes if it is a leak I think it's coming from the bottom seal. I appreciate that, a seal leaking or giving out is my biggest fear and this is a first dealing with it, but it could be alot worse it's not a squirter yet at least.

 

[bobble28]

 

[DLHDesign]

Glad you've got another tank on the way!

 

[bobble28]

Yea I hope the tank shows up in one piece. Idk how long I'm willing to play this game of is it going to blow or no. Wouldn't happen to know if using food coloring to trace the leak after the swap would be ok would you?

 

[DLHDesign]

Wouldn't happen to know if using food coloring to trace the leak after the swap would be ok would you?

I would assume that once you have the new tank, you would remove all the critters from the old one, right? Doesn't really matter, if so, whether the food coloring is "safe" or not - you can always clean it out after the leak is fixed (which you will likely want to do anyways).
But the answer the question; I wouldn't think that food coloring would be harmful to any tank occupants. If you left it in there for long, it might stain any acyclic in the tank, but I can't recall if acrylic will absorb food coloring as it does water over time (and/or whether it would stay once absorbed or not)...

 

[bobble28]

Yes it would be after all livestock is removed and into the new tank. Just want to make sure it is leaking and where before I decide to reseal it. I'd really like to fix it and turn it into a sump lol

 

[bobble28]

Well I did the tank swap today, livestock all seems to be ok. Couldn't get the overflow box cut off while the old tank was running so I'm going to have to drop the water line on the new tank and try glueing it tomorrow