Leak? Could it? Please HELP!!

jhj

jhj

William Fontaine DeLaTeur Dauterive
Oct 30, 2005
182
0
0
Columbus, OH
As you all know I recently bought a 75G. It was filled and left for two days with no signs of a leak. Yesterday, I laid a thick layer of eco-complete and covered it with gravel, planted it and filled it up. No leaks this morning. Today I drained it 1/2 to add a few more plants that I picked up on a whim, filled it up.

After filling I heard a 'drip-drip' noise, I saw some water on the back edge of the stand, then I realized that an air tube (w/o the check valve) was actually siphoning water on the wood stand. I quickly corrected the problem, at 8pm EST.

At 12:45AM EST, water is still leaking from the back edge of the stand (more like seeping) and I am now beginning to think that there maybe a leak in the tank. Any water that was a result of the airline siphoning should have totally drained 5 hours later. Plus, there is water in the gap between the glass and the black frame on the lower left side of the tank. Could the water their have been a result of the siphoning or is it a real leak?

I have decided to drain 3/4 of the water out and for the rest I seek your help!

What do you guys think? What would you advise me to do? I am totally confused

I am attaching two pics to illustrate the scenario, could the water from the siphon have leaked on between the tank and the stand and is seeping out slowly?

Pic of lower left side (water between glass and black frame)

Pic of back side w/ water seeping

I would not want to dismantle the entire tank, it is all aquascaped and the eco-complete and gravel are mixed. :help:
 
Update: 1:12am

1/3 of the water has been drained from the tank and the water seeping from the back of the tank has stopped, the back side is totally dry (check ou the pic, it shows water dripping)...what is going on here? :huh:
 
well if it is indeed leaking i know of no way to fix a leak while the tank is full. would be nice though. all i can say is perhaps mark the water level and see if its a significant leak. even if its not chances are left un fixed it will get worse. there are ways to cheat when fixing a leak and they do work 7 out of ten times. i usually try the cheat b4 i would reseal the entire tank. and if u have ever fixed a leak u may know about over lapping the new silicon with the old so u basically have half of your silicon bead on the old seal and half on the clean glass it works. i have done this 3 times and the most recent was about 4 months ago i aquired a 30 gallon tank and decided not to take the gravel out to move it and it started to leak. its been holdin water for about 4 months now(knock on wood).well those are my ideas i hope it helps ya out.
 
Update: 1:26PM

As I mentioned, when I drained 3/4 of the water early in the morning, the water seeping stopped. I added a little more water in to it today and water starting seeping again.

Now, if there was a leak, water would leak no matter what. LEts assume that the leak was somewhere up on the silicone seam and once the water level was hit, it would leak. Well I checked all the seams and they are dry.

So what do you guys think? anything? I think there maybe stagnant water on the stand stuck between the metal frame and the stand and only leaks when enough pressure is placed.

:help:
 
Fill the tank as you normally would and put something in the back to collect any water that leaks out.

If its a leak the water level in the tank will drop.

If its stagnant water stuck between the tank and frame the water level won't drop in the tank.
 
IceH2O said:
Fill the tank as you normally would and put something in the back to collect any water that leaks out.

If its a leak the water level in the tank will drop.

If its stagnant water stuck between the tank and frame the water level won't drop in the tank.
Click to expand...


Thank you...that is such an obvious solution, yet it eluded me. By the way, (if it is water stuck and no leak) would you recommend draining the aquarium and moving it to wipe the water collected on the stand OR would you recommend letting gravity take it course with the water?
 
level?

Do you notice any uneveness of the water level when the tank is full? Any drop from one side or corner to the rest? Is it possible that the center of the tank is not well supported and the tank sags when full?

Is this a homemade stand?

I think you need to see if the stand or the floor is contributing to the ptoblem. Get a level and check the tank, front to back at each side, and side to side, front and back. It may be that the floor or the stand is twisting the tank when it is full. Check all directions when the tank is empty and when full.

Generally it is a good idea to put a tank on top of a styrofoam sheet, I use an old yoga pad that is rubberized, to even out stresses between the tank and stand.
 
I actually have a tank that does this. My tank has a bad seal up at the top where the glass meets the black plastic. When I fill the tank, sometimes I go over the glass, then it seaps out unitl it's under the glass line. And yes, the water goes under the tank like yours is doing, and it takes a couple days (depending on how much water leeked) to finally dry out under the tank.
 
anonapersona said:
Do you notice any uneveness of the water level when the tank is full? Any drop from one side or corner to the rest? Is it possible that the center of the tank is not well supported and the tank sags when full?

Is this a homemade stand?

I think you need to see if the stand or the floor is contributing to the ptoblem. Get a level and check the tank, front to back at each side, and side to side, front and back. It may be that the floor or the stand is twisting the tank when it is full. Check all directions when the tank is empty and when full.

Generally it is a good idea to put a tank on top of a styrofoam sheet, I use an old yoga pad that is rubberized, to even out stresses between the tank and stand.
Click to expand...

The tank may have a light < 1/8th tilt to the back. I shimmed it the best I could.

The stand was bought at petsmart, it is a wood stand.

The tank was not seeping or leaking the past two time when it was filled. I let it stand for a day or two with water.
 
rainstorm said:
I actually have a tank that does this. My tank has a bad seal up at the top where the glass meets the black plastic. When I fill the tank, sometimes I go over the glass, then it seaps out unitl it's under the glass line. And yes, the water goes under the tank like yours is doing, and it takes a couple days (depending on how much water leeked) to finally dry out under the tank.
Click to expand...

That is interesting...the only differnce in my situation is that the water is not seeping out now that the tank is about 40 full. I did try to add water and at approx. 55-60%, the water starts seeping again.
 
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