Emergency: Major Leak in my Fish Tank!

HI Guys! Terrible week for me. Not only am I battling fleas in my apartment! Now at 2 in the morning I wake up to discover my fish tank tank has sprung a leak and is now dripping water all over the floor. I moved the electronic equipment and covered the floor with towels. Hopefully that will be enough until morning. I'm dead tired and hopefully the leak isn't big enough to empty my entire tank before morning. Until then I'll read everyone's suggestion in the morning.

You know what? I'm going to move everyone to my cleaning bucket and setup the tank with the working filter there. Better safe then sorry.

 

Ooh, not a good week! I'm battling fleas at the moment, so I do feel your pain.
Firstly, in the morning when the water stops leaking it won't matter so much whether it's 1/4 the way down or right down at the base. No matter where the leak is or how big the leak is, all leaks need the same treatment. The treatment is a fun little exercise in resealing. You'll need about a week in total from start to finish as curing alone should ideally be 7 days. I made a thread on a reseal I did a few months back, and the tank is going well. It might give you a good idea of how to go about yours.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/75g-reseal-project-with-pics.108119/

Good luck mate. Hope the damage from the water is minimal!

 

I feel for you amigo!
I fear that my tank has a leak somewhere as well. I'm constantly adding water just to keep the return pump quiet..

 

You said you discovered the leak in the middle of the night and were very tired but did you see where it was leaking from before going back to bed? I have tanks seem to start leaking suddenly just to find out that the tank was ok and it was the filter causing the water problem or an air pump that had quit and was running water out everywhere.

Pumps and filters can be a source of water leaking out of the tank so check them over closely before you jump into resealing your tank. Filters can clog up or even get cracked and cause small leaks that run down the tank side and around the tank giving the impression that the tank is leaking. Pumps can siphon the water out of the tank if they are not equipped with a check valve if they stop running also. I am only saying this because it is very uncommon for a tank to suddenly spring a leak but it does happen.

In my experiences, the only time I have ever had a tank just suddenly start leaking was after I had gave it a very aggressive cleaning using a razor blade. I don’t think I have ever had one just develop a leak for no reason. Good luck finding the leak and getting it fixed. One last I would like to point out is the sale going on at some of the if not all of the Petco stores, $1 per gallon sale going on this month on tanks from 10 gallon to 55 gallon. Might be time for an up grade or a quick fix cheaply.

 

I have had filter leaking problems in the past from the filter not being level so be sure to check that. I'm not sure if resealing works if the source is a crack in a pane.

Sorry to hear you've had such bad luck, hopefully it turns around soon!

 

You said you discovered the leak in the middle of the night and were very tired but did you see where it was leaking from before going back to bed? I have tanks seem to start leaking suddenly just to find out that the tank was ok and it was the filter causing the water problem or an air pump that had quit and was running water out everywhere.

You may have a point there Bowcrazy. As a matter of fact that was the very first thing that came to mind once I woke from my sleeping stupor to the sound of dripping water. It had to be the pump or the filter. But after I examined the situation both seemed to be working properly, and the water was rapidly leaking from the very bottom of the tank. Not the top as I'd imagine it would if it was from any of those other sources. The tank is a a cheapie starter kit I originally got at Walmart. So yeah ...unlike most tanks it has that breakdown potiential.

At any rate I did move all the fish to a clean ten gallon bucket and set the filter in there. The fish are acting nervous (darting everywhere) but otherwise okay. Thanks for the advice about sealing leaky tanks Everythingzen but I'm terrible at stuff like that. I'll proabably buy a new tank on Sunday.

P.S. Should I continue with the heater? I can't remember if it is compatible with ten gallon tanks or not and I don't want to 'fry' my fish (he-ha). Right now I have it shut off for safety's sake. Any advice about a new tank? I'm doing all I can to keep the filter media alive.

 

Heater should be alright in the bucket as long as it is covered and the heating element isn't touching the sides. You can just put the filter media in a tupperware container with tank water and occasionally add fish food for an ammonia source. Unless of course you have the filter running on the bucket in which case you're good to go.

Adding some of your decorations to the bucket may help calm the fish. If they are too large though, they might take away valuable room.

 

I don't think you will fry your fish unless the thermometer quits on the heater. I'm using a 250 watt heater in my 10 gallon that originally came with my 55 gallon and my temperature doesn't fluctuate at all.

 

The heater should be ok in the smaller tank because it should only heat the water to what ever it is set to then turn off. Due to the larger heating area it will heat quicker so it shouldn’t cycle on and off as much as it was in the larger tank. If you were going in the reverse direction by putting a small heater into a larger container would not be OK because it might not be able to keep up.

Good luck with getting your new tank. I don’t know if you have a Petco in your area or not but they are running a month long special in my area. It is their $1 per gallon sale on tanks ranging from 10 gallons to 55 gallons. I think the sale is on Aqueon brand but I am not sure. The sale ends on Jan. 21st.

Resealing is quite easy to do. All you need is a good single edged razor blade, aquarium safe silicon and some time. There are a few posts in the forum that tell you how to go about it.