The Worst Thing That Could Happen To A Fish Keeper, Happened To Me

Hi! I believe the worst thing that could happen to a fish keeper (Besides all their fish dying) is a tank leaking. Well that has somewhat happened to me, let me explain.
So a few days ago I noticed some water on my floor next to my big aquarium (not to out of the ordinary, my fish sometime splash) so I cleaned it up. I check the sump and saw some what near the sump and figured some of the water that splashed went into the sump area but the location of the water was a bit weird. The same thing happened that night and I started to get suspicious about something happening in terms of leaking. I decided to give it another and when the same thing happened the next day that is when I really started to get concerned. There wasn´t a massive amount of water so I figured if there was a leak it was probably small. I decided to put a towel where I kept finding the water in the sump and figure if the towel was wet in the morning and the floor wasn´t, the sump must be leaking. Low and behold the next morning the towel was soaked and the floor was dry. For the last couple days I have been putting towels to stop the leak until I could take it apart and fix it. Today I plan to take out the sump from the tank and find the leak. when I find it I plan to seal it up with aquarium safe silicone and let it cure. Then I have to test it again and if it all goes well I can put it back on the tank. I would bet my fish in my 130 gallon aren´t going to have filtration for several days which will be interesting to say the least. I actually hope my sump is leaking and it isn´t the main tank leaking and the water just happens to be going down to the sump. However I don't think this is the case as the towel was wet on the bottom where it was touching the ground. If it was the main tank it would be wet on the top. I think finding the leak is going to be hard. I am betting it is the silicone barrier that just got worn down somewhere. Let me know what you think.

 

Sorry to hear about this and I hope your fish cope ok while your dealing with the ceiling up...Good luck

 

Oh ugh. You may want to invest in a cheap canister filter to put your media in to keep your bacteria alive and your tank cycled. Maybe you can find a used one somewhere.

The problem with leaks is that new silicone does not stick to old silicone. A leak usually means having to strip all of the old silicone off, ensuring no residue is left, and then applying a new seal of silicone. It's a lot of work. I feel your pain.

 

If it goes on for more than a week I plan to slap on a old 55 gallon filter that is in storage. I plan to just put the filter media in the main tank for now.

 

Depending upon how bad the leak is, you might consider setting up that old canister filter right now, and letting it run for a couple weeks to establish some BB before attacking this problem.

If the repair goes smoothly, your sump will be out of commission for a few days; if that's the case, I wouldn't even worry about filtration. Definitely store your live media in the tank. Just do a water change before the operation, do another afterwards, and don't do any feeding at all during that few days. BUT...things never go smoothly, do they?

Heed toosie regarding the silicone. Trying to "patch" a leak with silicone is likely doomed to failure. You will definitely need to strip all the silicone beads all the way around the inside of the sump, getting the glass surface in the corners 100% clean, and then reapply a new bead all the way around the inside corners. The new bead has to be applied all at the same time, so that you aren't trying to stick new silicone to cured silicone. If this sounds like a major pain, well...it is. Good luck, take your time and do it right.

By the way, finding a bit of water on the floor is not the worst thing than can happen. Finding all of it on the floor is; BTDT.

 

Just get a cheap plastic tub to keep things running.
How big is sump you are trying to fix ?
I might just replace it .$per gallon ?

 

I have a 40 gallon sump. It was specially made for the tank though.... At this point I am hoping it is a crack so I don't have to strip all the silicone off. Also what is a good strat for finding the leak, I haven't really figured out how I am going to do that.

 

I have a 40 gallon sump. It was specially made for the tank though.... At this point I am hoping it is a crack so I don't have to strip all the silicone off. Also what is a good strat for finding the leak, I haven't really figured out how I am going to do that.

Just curious, you say the 40 gallon sump is specially made for your tank. Did you make it yourself or did you buy it already setup that way?

 

it came with the tank. It was specially designed for the aquarium

 

maybe some food coloring to find the leak.

 

it came with the tank. It was specially designed for the aquarium

Sumps I believe are the best way to go for filtration, but I don't have that setup. The reason I asked, is that I have watched some youtube videos on how others have custom built sumps.

 

Sorry to hear that, that really is the nightmare of any fish keeper.

 

I will post pics when I get home


Here is a pic

Hey everyone, so I took apart the sump and when I was taking off the pipes to make it so I could get the sump out, I found something out. One of the pipes was very lose and I think it was slowly dripping out which was why it looked like it was leaking! Has this ever happened to you

 

I have seen bulkheads leak and hose clamps break from corrosion on marine set ups .
The creep from salt makes finding leaks in those set ups easier .
It certainly could have been one of you lines .

 

Worst thing not even close. I was thinking electrocution. I had my tank destroy living room hard woods small pin **** in caulking. Learned don't have a kids trampoline near a tank figure vibrations what did it.

 

Ask Thunder_o_b what's the worst thing that can happen. Thankfully mine was only a 75 gallon that exploded.

 

I'm glad it turned out to be something simple. Gotta like that.

 

I know there are worse things that can happen in the hobby. This is just up there

 

Hi! So I tightened that pipe last night and when I went down to my fishroom this morning and guess what, THERE WAS WATER ON THE FLOOR! Yep, there was still water so I started to feel around the pipes to see if a different one was leaking and low and behold another pipe was wet and dripping. Different pipe than before. I plan to tighten that pipe and see if it helps, if it doesn´t I am just going to have to accept that the tank is leaking

 

Personally, I think that I would accept that whenever all those connections were made...probably all at the same time, and by the same person...the fastenings and/or clamps simply weren't done up properly. Or perhaps that, over time, all of them have loosened and are now leaking or about to begin. Considering the alternative, I would suggest that you go over all the connections carefully and thoroughly before making the leap to stripping down the sump.

 

Ya I don't plan to strip the sump. I plan to just tighten the pipes.

 

My tank just leaked all over the carpet last night too. See my latest post... : ( (and pics)

Happened to me last night:

A waterfall on the upper floor of my house; 30 gallons. Luckily I was indeed home, and stopped it right as it started! Captured about 90% of the water. Turns out I was scraping algae in the back right and also front corners of the tank, and accidentally agitated the sealant! Lesson very, VERY much learned! Saved ALL my fish except 2. And rescued all of my plants as well...

 

Captain man this is rough. It's always terrible when this happenes. Maybe get a sealent.

 

HI everyone! I know I haven’t been on this thread since last month but I would like to give an update
So after tightening the pipes and securing everything, it stopped leaking. Now the tank in running smooth and I will occasionally have to tighten a pipe every now and again but other than that everything is going well

 

Great! : )

 

I'm really pleased with the result CaptainAquatics .

Sorry to hear about yours SFGiantsGuy

This is my nightmare too!


I loved the advice from Jack B Nimble -

"dont have a kids trampoline near a tank"

Classic quote there - gotta love the wisdom on Fishlore LOL!