tank emergency

Jenn1985 · Mar 5, 2014

Good morning my fellow fish swimmers,
I woke up this morning to my tank making a loud sound as if I was missing water from the tank. Low and behold I was correct, my tank has sprung a leak and i have about my tank half full of water due to the leak. It is the glass in the back of the tank where the seal has gone bad... I need to know what is the best sealant to use that is fish safe ASAP!! I need to get this fixed so that nothing happens to my fish, they have the filter that is still running giving them water but I am worried about the levels in the water with it being so low. Any quick responses are greatly appreciated. Also when i put water back into the tank would i do fresh all the way or some salt. Kinda freaking out! :frusty:

benihana · Mar 5, 2014

I would reccomend transferring out everything into buckets/other tanks first. Making sure there are heaters and pumps to circulate the water.

As far as silicone to use, if you haven't done this before, I would reccomend either buying another tank or having someone experienced do it. Plus, if one seam was bad, who knows when the next one will go

As far as what water to use, you lost saltwater, so that is what will need to be replaced

Good news is that you found it early enough

slojmn · Mar 5, 2014

benihana said:
I would reccomend transferring out everything into buckets/other tanks first. Making sure there are heaters and pumps to circulate the water.

As far as silicone to use, if you haven't done this before, I would reccomend either buying another tank or having someone experienced do it. Plus, if one seam was bad, who knows when the next one will go

As far as what water to use, you lost saltwater, so that is what will need to be replaced

Good news is that you found it early enough

Agreed, unless you are proficient at repairing tanks or know someone who is I would call it a loss and get a new tank. There are lots of used tanks to be had for very decent prices...look at it as an opportunity for an upgrade

.

boehm742 · Mar 5, 2014

I agree with what was mentioned above by Behiana.What's this size of the tank that spring a leak?

bearjohnson · Mar 5, 2014

Without knowing the size of the tank I'd say get a new tank.

You can transfer everything to cheap Rubbermaid containers and use them as holding tanks until you get this resolved.

Jenn1985 · Mar 5, 2014

Benihana- thank you so very much for the information. Me and my boyfriend have a small aquarium that we can use for the time being to house the fish and live rock and i will see about getting a new tank or seeing if my local fish store would be willing to help out on the reseal. It did however soak my carpet through to my basement :/

Thank you again for the information!

Jenn1985 · Mar 5, 2014

Bearjohnson- its a 50 gallon tank....I am not sure if i can afford a new tank at this moment

Jenn1985 · Mar 5, 2014

Thank you slojmn.. i may have someone that has a tank they are willing to part with... lol! My biggest thing at the moment is getting the fish and live rock out of there before it hurts the fish, they already dont seem right from when we moved the tank before.