Tank mystery leak (emergency)

[LiLinka]

I was agreeing with you
I think your leak is in the drain line. Do you see a water level difference inside the overflow (black) box in the display? That should be a sealed area from the rest of your display.

Water level in the overflow is about 90 % percent empty. Still about 4 inches of water in it though.

 

[Jamie814]

2 of them are sucking water form sump acting as the returns.

Huh? If its sucking water from the sump it's not a closed loop. A closed loop has to be intake from the display tank and output in the display tank.

A closed loop can have nothing to do with the sump.

 

[LiLinka]

Huh? If its sucking water from the sump it's not a closed loop. A closed loop has to be intake from the display tank and output in the display tank.

A closed loop can have nothing to do with the sump.

There is a total of 3 Vectra, 2 of them are open and sucking water from the sump, they are acting as returns. The third one is a closed loop in the middle image is sits on a shelf.

 

[Jamie814]

The only thing still submerged in water is the closed loop on a Vectra running in line. Would it be that that’s leaking?

Where is this vectra pulling its water from?

A bulkhead in the display or inside the overflow?

 

[Jamie814]

The third one is a closed loop in the middle image is sits on a shelf.

Is that a bulkhead midway down on the left side of the overflow I see? What is this for?

 

[Fishy888]

Where is this vectra pulling its water from?

A bulkhead in the display or inside the overflow?

For it to be a closed loop you’d need to be pulling water from the display, routing it directly to the vectra and right back into the display. The strainer is still in place so there’s no closed loop. Normally I wouldn’t argue semantics but since in theory it could have something to do with your issue (plumbing wise) it would be prudent to look a little closer at your plumbing.

 

[sc50964]

Nice looking plumbing tho!

 

[littlefoxx]

No this was just filled last night water is cloudy from sand. Lol

Ah okay just making sure cause I would have advised to move them! Do you have a warranty on this tank??

 

[jmichaelh7]

Nice tank , acrylic too!! Doubt it’s a leak but maybe plumbing somewhere needs retightened or Teflon

 

[Reefering1]

When it overflowed, while shut off, where was the water low? Was the overflow box low or normal? display low? And I assume that the sump was filled to the top?

 

[LiLinka]

Ok everybody I figured it out, the bulkhead was leaking that was sucking water from the DT to the closed loop. But it was dripping into the overflow box cussing the water to run into the reef mat. The bulkhead won’t sit flush with the overflow box so I might need to use a gasket to secure it or silicone it. Any thoughts?

 

[fishyjoes]

The bulkhead won’t sit flush with the overflow box so I might need to use a gasket to secure it or silicone it. Any thoughts?

I use both - gasket and silicone because I'm paranoid.
A tip I learned the hard way is that little strands of black silicone can look like a crack - so use the clear stuff!

 

[Asm481]

So, in the event of power failure or normal maintenance your tank will leak through your "closed" loop pump directly into the overflow which means it will overflow your sump until the output of your "closed" loop is dry. Back flow valves fail often, you need to move your closed loop out of the overflow.

 

[LiLinka]

So, in the event of power failure or normal maintenance your tank will leak through your "closed" loop pump directly into the overflow which means it will overflow your sump until the output of your "closed" loop is dry. Back flow valves fail often, you need to move your closed loop out of the overflow.

Where do you recommend moving it?

 

[Fishy888]

Where do you recommend moving it?

If you want a real closed loop then your drain has to feed straight into the pump and the return needs to be plumbed into the DT. As such, mounting the pump either on your stand or on a board that sits on the floor would be best but it needs to be run outside the sump.

You need to take the strainer cover off your vectra as if you were going to do maintenance on it. When you do you’ll notice a connector for either hard plumbing PVC pipe or for hose barbs.

As was recommended to me for my closed loop you’ll likely want to use small sections of vinyl hose both on the drain line and the return. That way excess vibrations would be dampened.

Just curious, how big is your tank?

 

[LiLinka]

Tank is 220g display, and it does suck water directly into the Vectra. It pulls water in a closed pipe through the overflow box down a bulkhead. In total there re 3 bulkheads at bottom of overflow box 2 are for the return and my 2 durso’s im running. The other one has a glued pipe running through the bulkhead down into the Vectra. The closed loop Vectra is not submerged. It is plumbed into the same pipe sucking water it’s only separated by a bulkhead. In the end it was just the bulkhead sucking water into the closed loop that was leaking.

 

[Jamie814]

just the bulkhead sucking water into the closed loop that was leaking.

I think some of the other contributors are confused on how you have the closed loop plumbed. It is fine the way you have it as long as there are no leaks. Just get that bulkhead to seal through the overflow wall, make sure there are no other leaks and you'll be fine!

 

[LiLinka]

I think some of the other contributors are confused on how you have the closed loop plumbed. It is fine the way you have it as long as there are no leaks. Just get that bulkhead to seal through the overflow wall, make sure there are no other leaks and you'll be fine!

Exactly, thank you very much for the reply.

 

[jmichaelh7]

So many pumps for closed loop. I wonder if it’s worth it overall. How do you prevent over flow if power shuts off ?

 

[sc50964]

So many pumps for closed loop. I wonder if it’s worth it overall. How do you prevent over flow if power shuts off ?

I would hope a simple calculation of water volume above the DT return to the sump capacity would do the trick…, but maybe I’m missing something here