Waterbox Reef Leaking

[benwilsonx]

Strange, almost looks like something burrowed that hole

I know, I had the same thought but it seemed a little crazy. Bizarre that it's almost symmetrical between the L/R sides, too!

 

[benwilsonx]

Somewhat unrelated (and probably silly) question... I've had water in the sump unmoving and unheated while the display has been drained over the past few days. When I start things up again, is there any need to drain and replace the sump water, or can I keep it? I can't decide if there's any risk (say, an ammonia spike) from any tiny organisms that have been sitting/decaying in there since the weekend?

 

[Lothar]

Where’s Brandon?

 

[benwilsonx]

Everyone's back in the tank! It was a lot of work, but so far so good. There's been a nice side benefit of reducing some algae and green cyano that had been stubborn for a bit.

I appreciate all the help and advice!

 

[code4]

I am so glad it all turned out well. Was looking up Waterbox tanks when I found your thread. I hope all is still well.

Shelley

 

[benwilsonx]

I am so glad it all turned out well. Was looking up Waterbox tanks when I found your thread. I hope all is still well.

Shelley

Thanks! I somehow managed to avoid any losses.

As far as the Waterbox goes, it looks like something chewed a small hole in the seal - I didn't see any signs of a manufacturing defect.

 

[code4]

That is fantastic!

 

[jmarina]

Everyone's back in the tank! It was a lot of work, but so far so good. There's been a nice side benefit of reducing some algae and green cyano that had been stubborn for a bit.

I appreciate all the help and advice!

Looking good!

 

[code4]

Stunning!

 

[BigMikeFlipz]

@benwilsonx
Curious how this Tank is doing now, any updates?

 

[PharmrJohn]

I'm happy. J was in the same boat with a seam failure in my 75g about 15 years ago. Nothing I tried worked. So I uograded to a 90g. Oh darn!!!! But that tank transfer took 3 days, a stand modification and LOTS of stress.

 

[benwilsonx]

@benwilsonx
Curious how this Tank is doing now, any updates?

Resealing the tank worked great. However – a few months later (November), I had another leak, this time in the front corner. Emptied everything again, and found another small hole bored into the seam. Apparently I have some sort of silicone-chewing worm that came with my live rock.

Re-sealed everything once more, and put everyone back after a few days… but, since I’d like to sleep at night I ended up swapping it out for an acrylic tank. I figure this worm shouldn’t be able to bore through the fused acrylic.

I had to re-home my urchins (that also came with the live rock), but otherwise everything’s back to normal.

 

[benwilsonx]

Here’s a photo of the second leak site – crummy photo, but you can see the track that was bored. From other threads, certain Eunicid worms have been suspected in similar incidents.

I’m pretty sure I found some Eunice-type worms in the bottom of the shipping bags of my live rock. I got rid of the ones I found (didn’t want to risk raising a baby Bobbit!), but I’m sure there were/are others still in the rock. This is one of the creepy guys I found in 2021... maybe his bros were responsible.

 

[Devisissy]

Ok so I stumbled upon this thread. Surprised to see it was current. So this photo is EXACTLY what the back of my tank looks like. Except mine spreads about six inches now. I am working on getting SCA to make good on it. I brought it up when I first bought it and was blown off, and I am trying again now that it's worse. It didn't leak but it will. You are the first person I have found that has a similar tank issue. My tank weighs a ton so I am unsure how successful I will be at resealing it if I need to. Mine was less a worm or urchin with a taste for silicone, more an error in building where the outer silicone did not get applied over the seam allowing the glass panel edges and inner silicone to be exposed.