Reef loosing water need advice

nport19 · May 27, 2015

I woke up this morning to a puddle of water next to my tank so I cleaned it up and put down a dry towel where I found the water. I came home from work and found the towel wet. I then inspected the tank and found water slowly coming out from all around the bottom part of my tank. Not sure we're the leak is so any advice on how to fix this would be helpful.

SeahorseKeeper · May 27, 2015

I would replace the tank. It looks like the seam is going. The only way to correct it is to take the trim and glass panel off. Then, you would reseal the tank. It would have to cure and be leak tested before being used.

nport19 · May 27, 2015

I am definetly thinking about replacing it. I have way to many corals and fish to posable loss. I would however like to at least try to find the bad seem and patch it.

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

There should be no thinking. I can tell you from experience- this problem won't fix itself. Ditch the tank yesterday. A slow leak today can be a tank burst tomorrow with far more losses. Buy Rubbermaid tubs and keep your stuff alive with heaters and wave makers and get a new tank ASAP.

I never buy used glass because of my issues in this arena.

Here's how this will play out:
1) you drain tank and do all of the cleaning and necessary work to try to patch it (clean, empty, clean again, and again, seal it, wait)
2) you fill it up
3) it leaks again, perhaps it bursts this time
4) you wasted copious time and money
5) you did more damage
6) the cost of a new tank is marginal now in retrospect

Unless you reseal the entire tank, you'll have troubles. Even if you re seal the whole tank, you're likely to have problems. This isn't an easy DIY project. Too much is at risk. Professionals do this for a reason, IMO.

Time is money. Time wasted screwing with this tank and the high likelihood of it being wasted time because it still leaks in short order, costs you. You could have been working or doing anything that generates revenue/income.

Tanks are NOT the place to be cheap..

redfishbluefish · May 27, 2015

You didn't mention the tank, but if it's an AIO, make sure the saw-tooth overflow is clear and the water level isn't too high in the main part of the tank. A common problem with JBJ's is water level at the level of the plastic trim in the main part of the tank will cause it to drip. Either the saw-teeth are clogged or you've "upgraded" the pumps to MJ1200's, and it's too much flow for the saw-teeth, causing high water level in the main part of the tank.......drip, drip, drip.

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

For the record a friend of mine and I spent hours re sealing a 150 "properly" that held water for a week until he sold it. I cannot claim success as a result but I can tell you it was not worth the time weighed against the risk (he sold it because he was worried and the risk of it destroying his house)

You have to clean it out flawlessly. Any residue, sand, etc can cause a leak. It's not easy to remove sand and small particles from the inside of a tank.

You also have to be sure you sealed it properly. The corners are sketchy. You have to have the right silicon, too.

nport19 · May 27, 2015

Sounds like fixing this myself is out of the question. Now my next step is to figure how I'm going to get a hold of a new tank and keep all my corals and fish happy while I'm doing this. My tank is one of those you can buy off petco.com I checked my water level for we're is says full to here and it was a bit past that so I lowered the water and I'm going to see if that was the problem. I haven't upgraded anything it my flow box recently eatheir.

nport19 · May 27, 2015

Also I live on an island so it's not easy for me to get a quick replacement tank.

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

Crossing my fingers for you...

nport19 · May 27, 2015

Thanks.

eric3316 · May 28, 2015

3fordfamily said:
For the record a friend of mine and I spent hours re sealing a 150 "properly" that held water for a week until he sold it. I cannot claim success as a result but I can tell you it was not worth the time weighed against the risk (he sold it because he was worried and the risk of it destroying his house)

You have to clean it out flawlessly. Any residue, sand, etc can cause a leak. It's not easy to remove sand and small particles from the inside of a tank.

You also have to be sure you sealed it properly. The corners are sketchy. You have to have the right silicon, too.

Wow, so he wasn't worried about destroying someone else's house. Good guy.

OP, order a new tank now instead of waiting till it is to late if it takes a while for you to get. If you don't use it, it is even better to have one on standby for future problems.

jshaw1980 · May 28, 2015

Get a water-proof epoxy and line the edges until you're able to get the new tank. My Biocube14 had a leak, I was able to locate the leak and fixed it up w/ epoxy putty that I bought from Home Depot.

4FordFamily · May 28, 2015

eric3316 said:
Wow, so he wasn't worried about destroying someone else's house. Good guy.

OP, order a new tank now instead of waiting till it is to late if it takes a while for you to get. If you don't use it, it is even better to have one on standby for future problems.

He told them he re sealed it. He sold it for cheap. I think the guy was using it for reptiles.

nport19 · May 28, 2015

When I do get a new tank what do you guys think about putting a all the stuff from my 20 gallon into a bio cube around 20 gallons or do you think it would be better to just get a new 20 gallon tank.

jshaw1980 · May 28, 2015

@nport19 - Either way would be fine but I do really like my Biocubes. They come in 14 or 29 gallon. I recently upgraded from a Biocube 14 to the Biocube 29, absolutely luv it!

Bskone · May 30, 2015

I recently went through this, came home to a leaking tank, I too live in a area where it took 10 days to get a replacement tank delivered. I rushed out and got Rubbermaid Tupperware. I placed all my coral in rubber wares with lights heaters and pumps to move the water around. Luckily I have the cell number of the manager at the LFS. He met me at the store at 10pm and fostered all my fish until my new tank arrived and was set up. All in all I only lost a couple of fish, I consider myself lucky with amount of coral I had. Oh I also replaced about a gallon of water a day in the Tupperware. Good luck. This is a stressful situation.

moulton712 · May 30, 2015

Where in Maine do you live? I live in Brunswick, info dont know how far you are. I have a lot of tanks for sale. 10,20 long, sca 24 aio, drilled 40, drilled 75, 90. Also have a 29 sump. Come over get something. Pm me if interested. I can help you.

Humblefish · May 30, 2015

Have you found the source of the leak? Is it a seam? Or could it possibly be a leaky drain pipe or something... The latter would be much easier to fix.