Mystery Water

[Aquanoobie]

I set up my first 60 liter tank about three weeks ago. I have a brand new tank that I leaked checked for 24 hours with no visible leaks. Four days ago I decided to break the tank all the way down and replace the gravel with sand and paint the back black. I refilled the tank and put the fish back in.

Yesterday morning I noticed about 5 ml of water around the back bottom of my tank. I had the top off and added two fish the night before so i wrote it off as a spill and wiped it up. Yesterday there was no water at all. This morning also no water, when I came home after being gone for 8 hours there was another 5 ml of water behind the left, rear corner of the tank.

The mystery is, if this is a leak why is it not consistent? Is it possible that this is somehow coming from my lid? Does anyone have any idea what could be happening?

 

[Coyne]

Maybe a little bit of filter overflow?

 

[DavidAl]

Do you see water condensation on the underside of the lid? Make sure the lid is well seated. Look for streaks on the glass to see where it might be leaking from.

David

 

[Aquanoobie]

Inspection

Thanks for the suggestions. I went to bed at 11:30PM last night and just woke up at 7:11AM and no water. There is always a lot of condensation on my lid and yesterday I checked the seating of the lid and it is good to go. There are no visible streaks on the rear of my tank. The water is about 1 inch below the top of the tank. I have an internal filter and the power lines for the heater and pump are dry. I will keep inspecting and updating.

 

[Aquanoobie]

The Source ... I Think

I was at my computer right next to the tank and out of the corner of my eye I saw a bead of water run down the front of my tank, followed by another, then another. It seems that my lid does not have anywhere for moisture to escape, so it builds up inside the lid until it begins to drip.

As a solution I drilled about 20 1/8" inconspicuous holes along the back edge to "vent" the tank a little. The rear of the tank is where the Venturi Outlet for the filter is, and I think this will relieve the evaporation/condensation problem. Only time will tell.

I am actually relieved to have this "minor" problem instead of a "major" one, like a leaky tank. I will continue to monitor it closely and see if my fix helps.