*** New 400 gallon - Over Flow box leaking. Help

[AJsTank]

Just got my new Leemar 400 gallon tank tonight. Put it in my garage. Filled it up about half way and one of the over flow boxes was leaking at the bottom very slowly.

What should I do? Should I cut the over flow box off and reseal it or should I just use their silicone and go over it again. I spoke with someone awhile ago and they got Leemar to send them a tube of it. What happens in the long run if it starts leaking again?

Pic of the tank with my kids in it. 8 feet long



Pic of the leaking overflow box on the bottom.

 

[Scoly]

I guess that's all you can do without shipping it back. Sucks! Nice tank though!

 

[Clearwater]

What a pain. The money you spent on a top notch tank and you get that. I think if it was mine I would re seal it myself as long as all the other seams are ok. Good luck.

 

[AJsTank]

What a pain. The money you spent on a top notch tank and you get that. I think if it was mine I would re seal it myself as long as all the other seams are ok. Good luck.

Oh, don't worry. They will fix it. Just as long as I just drop it off to them. Keep in mind I'm in flipping Salt Lake and they are in LA. Just to crate it, it's $500, not including the shipping, which is even more.

 

[melev]

The internal overflow is mostly full of water when the tank is running. So while this little leak is annoying, it's not a deal breaker. I would get the proper silicone from them free of charge and patch the problem on the reef/display side of the overflow, rather than try to patch the inside of the overflow. You want to create a silicone barrier to stop water from getting into the overflow from the bottom. Fortunately, this area will be covered in sand and hidden by rockwork.

 

[AJsTank]

The internal overflow is mostly full of water when the tank is running. So while this little leak is annoying, it's not a deal breaker. I would get the proper silicone from them free of charge and patch the problem on the reef/display side of the overflow, rather than try to patch the inside of the overflow. You want to create a silicone barrier to stop water from getting into the overflow from the bottom. Fortunately, this area will be covered in sand and hidden by rockwork.

That's what I'm leaning towards, Mark. I really REALLY do not want to cut that box off and reseal it myself. I think I'll tape it off and put a good bead around it and just be careful with my bulk heads. In theory though, lets say it always leaks. IF I do a high durso drain and then do an emergency drain on top of that, won't I be okay? If the power goes out, I would think I would be okay. Ugh, this is really frustrating, especially what I have been through already on this thing.

 

[melev]

Agreed, that's super frustrating.

Do not remove the box to reglue it. Just clean it up, dry it off extra well, maybe wipe it with something prior to silicone. Ask Leemar what they'd suggest: Paint Thinner? Acetone? Then apply your bead over the area that was leaking - hopefully you can find the specific spot and focus on that, and not put a big bandaid over the entire area with the hope you'll stop the drips.

Once done, water test it again. Do your drains like you normally would, nice and tall so the water level in the box is only 2" lower than the display's water line.

 

[AZDesertRat]

NICE TANK!
It really does not matter since the water in the overflow box will only siphon as low as your standpipe height when the power is off. I wouldn't worry about it myself.

I wet tested my 100G Leemar when I got it 10 years ago and I don't remember if it leaked or not but I have been extremely happy with the tank.