Leak!!!!

[kevin]

Biggest nightmare was realized!!!! My 125 is leaking somewhere!!! Every few days i have been noticing a line of dried up salt down the right side pane of the tank. Yesterday I just noticed salt creep behind the bottom right side trim! When I push the trim water seeps out. I have no way of seeing where this leak is comming from!! I wiped everything down and this morning there is no wet salty water running down the side bet there is some behind the bottom trim again!!!! It is not alot but I need to deal with this.

Figures, 5 weeks of cycling finished this week, added CUC and some fish, all doing very well and now this!!

[bitterman]

How full are your filling your tank... if water hits the bottom of the black trim sometimes it is not perfectly sealed and water with wick up the glass using capillary action and then leak down the outside at the rim.

Good luck,
    Bruce

[ben_jamin]

is there any way that water has splashed up into the rim if so it could have made its way up through the trim to the outside  also salt creep lives up to its name it will creep into so weird places that youd never think was possible  i would suggest continuing to clean it and try and reduce any splashing in that area  if it continues your only real option for a fix with the tank running is to get some aquarium sealant and patch it up  

[exv152]

I know it doesn't sound like something you want to do, but setting up another temporary holding tank for now, at least until you find the leak, is not a bad idea. You may want to reseal the tank to make sure it doesn't come back to haunt you later.

[kevin]

Thanks for the replies guys; Bruce, it is just a touch above the black trim so as not to see the water line looking at it from the outside. I really think it is comming from the top corner running down slowly and building up at the base of the trim. No splashing in that corner, I have good flow, water dropplets under the lip of the inside of the trim along the back. I topped off this morning (evap) and a dribble ran down the side until everything leveled out in the sump. I pulled off the backdrop and it has water stains. There is no water at all along the seams where the glass meets. Is there such a thing as aquarium sealant that is safe and cures in the water? I'm thinking a 30% water change to get the level down and run a beed along the top and half way down the sides.

[kevin]

Here are some pictures; i'm really at a loss figuring out where it's comming from.
Picture one is from inside along the top back
Other two are from the left side; painted black.
 

[xenon]

I personally wouldint take any chances and replace the tank with something new.

[kevin]

If I had huge amounts of disposable income, sure! An 8ft long tank would be awsome; but this is the real world and I have a budget. So repairing it is the only option.

[Greatwhite]

Repairing will involve emptying, drying, cutting all the corners to separate the glass, taking the entire tank apart, cleaning all the edges, rebuilding with aquarium safe silicone, and then lots of tests to make sure that the fixes hold.

Your safest bet is to get a new tank so you can transfer fish over to it immediately... (and yes, I read the bit about no disposable income)...

[Wooki]

If I had huge amounts of disposable income, sure! An 8ft long tank would be awsome; but this is the real world and I have a budget. So repairing it is the only option.

I have a tank I was going to use as a sump,  that is perhaps 50 gal that you can have for free to use as a temporary tank if you pick it up.  I'm not at home, right now so I don't know the exact dimensions and volume.

[Roland]

For what it's worth I had endured a pin hole leak that had me mystified. I did actually manage to repair it without draining, drying and scraping. Scroll down to the last few posts on the link. Sometimes it ain't a perfect world.

http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=37785.msg228389#msg228389

[kevin]

Repairing will involve emptying, drying, cutting all the corners to separate the glass, taking the entire tank apart, cleaning all the edges, rebuilding with aquarium safe silicone, and then lots of tests to make sure that the fixes hold.

Your safest bet is to get a new tank so you can transfer fish over to it immediately... (and yes, I read the bit about no disposable income)...

Not no disposable income, just not tons of it. 60$ worth of silicone, a day labour and taking the tank apart beats 500+ dollars for a new one. Water and rock can be saved it's just the sand bed i'm worried about disturbing, although it has only been running for 5 weeks. Copepods are all over the place, thousands of them i really do not want mass die off by tearing it down.

[Greatwhite]

For what it's worth I had endured a pin hole leak that had me mystified. I did actually manage to repair it without draining, drying and scraping. Scroll down to the last few posts on the link. Sometimes it ain't a perfect world.

http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=37785.msg228389#msg228389

If you can find the leak, sometimes you can be lucky and patch that spot.  It usually ends up messy that way, in my experience - but sometimes you may get lucky.

[kevin]

Thanks, il find the leak. I will redo the whole thing if I have to.

[Dakotamay]

What's your total water volume of your system? 
I wouldn't play around with a leak. Just replace the tank. We had a 110g that started to leak on us at the top back corner seam. I drained it just below it and went and got a new tank. Praying the whole time I was gone that I wouldn't come home and find everything on my floor.
Whenever you have a leak, there's a real possibility to consider that it might just let go and the whole tank give way. With that much water. You don't want to take that chance.
Even if all you can get for now is something smaller. Like we did. Went from a 110g to a 75g. Then upgrade again when you can. We waited 3 months and got a good deal on a 180g.
You're going to do what works best for you. But speaking from experience. I wouldn't play around with it. Just replace the tank. Or at least move everything to a temporary tank while you get that one completely resealed.

[exv152]

A 125 gallon tank new is $269 plus tax if I remember correctly from the last one I bought, that's at BAs, with 72x22x18 dimensions. I would just invest in a new one, take down the old one and transfer everything over, and repair the old one on your own time. Then you have two 125g's. Think of the possibilities.

[kevin]

2 125 gallons = divorce. A 150 gallon DT with a 125 gallon sump  . I found the problem yesterday; i lowered my levels and found the exact source of the leak; it's a pinhole in the back corner. I will be patching it up and working towards a 150. 270$ will go towards a new skimmer and 10$ towards a tube of silicone.

The 180 Gallon with stand is 700$+. If I was to replace the tank there is no way I would go smaller.

The tank will not spontaneously explode due to a pin hole leak; it will be patched and used, if it leaks more rubbermaids and shop vac is on stand by.

[exv152]

2 125 gallons = divorce.

I hear yah! Lol. A pinhole in the top corner of the tank is probably the best place you could hope to get a leak. All's well that ends well.