Sprung a leak!

[Maddoggvup]

Sprung a leak. Have a 150 gallon saltwater tank. I came home today from work and seen a little bit of water on the bottom rim of the tank. Started to inspect the tank and see little drops coming out of the seam on the top back wall of the tank. What can I do?

 

[cmcoker]

Gonna need a new tank. Definitely would drop the water level as much as possible now. Get bins and such together to start emptying the tank. I just had this on a 54g tank, I can only imagine a 150g.
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/306446/

 

[jsker]

Drain the water down below the leak before the tank fails. Purchase a new tank, unless the tank is under warrantee. Option B tare down the DT and put everything in one of these link and reseal the tank

 

[Maddoggvup]

That really hurts. Just got it running about six months ago. Brand new to the Hobby. Might be retiring already.

 

[Mike N]

Sorry to hear that. Did you start with a used or new tank?

 

[Maddoggvup]

Used from a friend. But thousands of dollars of Equipment, coral, fish and what feels to be 1,000,000 hours in it.

 

[120reefkeeper]

I agree if you can lower the level enough below the leak will buy you a little time. Ultimately you'll need to either reseal or purchase a new tank.

Don't throw in the towel yet... you will have set backs. Someday you'll look back and have a story to tell others [emoji4]

You'll be ok [emoji1305]

 

[Maddoggvup]

The leak is where the overflow Weir is.

 

[N4sty T4te]

That really hurts. Just got it running about six months ago. Brand new to the Hobby. Might be retiring already.

Well I'm sure, that there is SOMETHING you wished you would have done differently. Maybe you wentwoth sand but feel you should have gone bare bottom. Who knows.

I'd view this as an opportunity and excuse to make the tank even better.

Once you get a new tank, any other setback you encounter will seem trivial. There's literally no where to go but up. Stay positive, put the work in, and just get it behind you and make the system a reef making machine!

 

[Rakie]

Moving everything to a new tank is a giant Pain -- But that's all it really is -- The tank itself is usually one of, if not the, cheapest part of the hobby.

Go find a good tank -- Stay away from Cadlights, and Marineland -- But there's a lot of fine stuff out there.

 

[Maddoggvup]

Thanks for all the help and the encouragement. One of my biggest fear is die off of coral, fish, all of the living things..

 

[mattstanks2016]

Hey, hope I can help you. As of now you need to remove everything from the tank and put it somewhere safe. If you don't already have another tank setup, take it to a LfS you trust and see If they will hold it. Now inspect the tank. Is the leak caused by a glass chip or crack? Or is it a silicon problem. If it's caused by the silicon you can fix it.
What you need:
Reef safe silicon (2)
Razor (2-3)
Nail polish remover
Tape
And time...
First off you need to take that razor and remove ALL of the silicon. Old silicon doesn't bond to new. With all the silicon gone, rub the nail polish remover along the parts where silicon was. The acetone should help remove it more. Now apply the silicon to the tank in a thumb thick amount. Let dry for 2-3 days and fill and check for leaks. Video can be found here
I am currently doing the same thing on a Craigslist tank (54 gallon) it's hard but worth not having to buy a new tank. I am by means not handy and I am able to do it, so don't worry.

 

[Rakie]

While you find (or rebuild) your tank -- You can get a large rubbermaid tub -- they make them upto 300 gallons. More than enough to fit all your livestock, corals, rocks, sand (you might have an easier time just replacing the sand and living through a short cycle though) and equipment. You can even fit your skimmer in there, you'll need to make a little egg crate platform for it but that's a couple zipties and 20 minutes work. Not much.

 

[HB AL]

Go find a good tank -- Stay away from Cadlights, and Marineland -- But there's a lot of fine stuff out there.

Are Cadlights notorious for springing leaks from the seams?

 

[N4sty T4te]

Are Cadlights notorious for springing leaks from the seams?

No, I have a Cadlights. They get a bad rap because they custom make all of their products, and some of the stuff they do is slightly unpolished. For example people complain about the cutout in the stand that leads down to the sump not being finished with the same quality as everything else, when honestly that part doesn't matter all that much.

They also get a hard way to go for the plumbing in their tank being garbage, and most people replace what it comes with with higher end stuff. Lastly when people complain about things that aren't really that big of a deal, they have a reputation for being difficult about it.

So... there are some issues. For the price and specifics of the tanks though they are pretty good. Every aquarium company will have tanks that burst at the seams. Most of the time it's from a larger tank being unlevel. At 125 gallons+ it needs to be less than an 1/8" level the entire way around to be sound from an engineering standpoint. Sometimes it's a manufacturing issue, but it's more often user error IMO. Floors drift and settle under 3,000 lbs of static pressure.

Anyways I'm no expert but I did my research on cadlights before I bought mine, and this has been my perception.

 

[Cyricdark]

Just buy some Rubbermaid tubs for your livestock and rock and reseal it , it's not hard you don't even have to take the tank apart like you see in some videos, just cut as much silicone out of the seams as you can with razor blade and recaulk them with a good bead of new silicone. Had to do my 125 three years ago and the resealing part took about twenty min of actual work then let it dry for a day. One thing you should do when you got your tank empty is make sure your stand is absolutely level, and shim it too it is if it's not. Most leaks in my experience are caused by an unlevel stand.

 

[HB AL]

No, I have a Cadlights. They get a bad rap because they custom make all of their products, and some of the stuff they do is slightly unpolished. For example people complain about the cutout in the stand that leads down to the sump not being finished with the same quality as everything else, when honestly that part doesn't matter all that much.

They also get a hard way to go for the plumbing in their tank being garbage, and most people replace what it comes with with higher end stuff. Lastly when people complain about things that aren't really that big of a deal, they have a reputation for being difficult about it.

So... there are some issues. For the price and specifics of the tanks though they are pretty good. Every aquarium company will have tanks that burst at the seams. Most of the time it's from a larger tank being unlevel. At 125 gallons+ it needs to be less than an 1/8" level the entire way around to be sound from an engineering standpoint. Sometimes it's a manufacturing issue, but it's more often user error IMO. Floors drift and settle under 3,000 lbs of static pressure.

Anyways I'm no expert but I did my research on cadlights before I bought mine, and this has been my perception.

Was wondering since I've had a 92 cadlights for a year and half and it's the nicest tank I've owned, I picked it up on a Black Friday sale, the tank, stand, and sump for 899$, seemed like a bargain back then, and the black seams look flawless. Figured since the op was asking about a leaking seam and the comment about staying away from cadlights and marine land that the quality of the seams was in question.

 

[Maddoggvup]

May be looking at a new tank. Talked with my lfs and they have a used acrylic 250 gallon tank with small sump and few year old AI LED lights for $750. Keep going back and forth might be too big for me. Thinking about doing a smaller frag tank. What do you think?

 

[Cyricdark]

Get the 250, put everything in it while you reseal the 150, then set the 150 up as your reef tank and the 250 as fish only then you can have all those cool not reef safe fish lol