Tank leak probabilities...

[Nedly]

I had my tank spring a leak a while ago, and it was a water fall of a leak. Given the tank was a good 15 years old. I had made it home just in time, it had only leaked about 10 gallons (55 gallon) once I found it. Lucky I had used drip bends with my electricals and had the power strip in a water proof location.

So after dealing with the chaos of getting the fish into a small temp tank, I went out and found a used but like new 55 gallon replacement on Craigslist. The guy only used it one winter to winter over his pond fish so it is like brand new.

Well, even so I have this brand new tank now and have little chance of a leak, I still have PTSD every single day over the situation. I understand if I had not made it home my fish would have died, room would have flooded, and heaters would have blown.

So what are the overall chances that a tank in super good / new condition will spring a leak? How often does this happen to people?

I do understand my other tank was getting kinda old, and that is why I went ahead and replaced it versus re-seal it. But I am still in panic all the time, it is quite often I lunge out of bed in the night to the echo of my filters.....

 

[MeCasa]

22.8756%

 

[Nedly]

LOL....I don't like that number..

 

[trennamw]

It may help if you to through the process of making sure everything is incredibly level.

A GCFI outlet adapter covers the fear of electrical issues ...

And what the heck ... Maybe get one of those mattress pads used for bed wetting that sounds an alarm over small amounts of wetness?


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Nedly]

And what the heck ... Maybe get one of those mattress pads used for bed wetting that sounds an alarm over small amounts of wetness?

I was wondering why they had no gadgets out to send notifications in various ways to aquarium owners on the go regarding temps and water levels. I mean a small usb gadget hooked to a home computer could at the very least dispatch an email to the owners phone through the internet if the water levels reached an alarming low right!?!?!?!

I am a CIS major and am seriously thinking about making this..Maybe use the Raspberry PI with a PC saver, digi thermometer, some others..? LOL



.

 

[Nedly]

I probably could use a sensor like what is used in cars to detect gas levels.... Would anyone buy this gadget / app combo if it existed?? I'll totally make it..

 

[Ricky 1]

It's every tank owners biggest fear Nedly, you come down stairs and the carpets squelch under your feet, the water in the tank is lower than the heater and now the powers gone off.........The chances your new one will leak is very remote.......

 

[onimusha]

imagine leaking upstairs, I have a 30gallon tank in my bedroom, this topic worries me now lol the 30g is the oldest tank I have.

 

[MeCasa]

It's every tank owners biggest fear Nedly, you come down stairs and the carpets squelch under your feet, the water in the tank is lower than the heater and now the powers gone off.........The chances your new one will leak is very remote.......

I agree, when I buy used tanks I set them up outdoors for a few days and see if I see any leaks.

Even if it eventually does leak, very few tanks ever start off leaking fast, generally it's just a small wet area that enlarges with time.

If it does leak, remove the water, cut out the silicone in the inside with a razor scraper, clean good, re-silicone and you're back in business.

 

[nataliedd]

22.8756%

Wow. Is that made up number or serious no????? That's like nearly 1 in 4!!!

Sent from my SM-G800F using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Ricky 1]

+1 MeCasa

 

[Ricky 1]

imagine leaking upstairs, I have a 30gallon tank in my bedroom, this topic worries me now lol the 30g is the oldest tank I have.

Unless there's constant movement around the tank onimusha I wouldn't worry too much, if it did leak the first port of call is through the light socket down stairs, you will be plunged in to darkness, so make sure you have a torch at all times upstairs...........only joking, don't worry

 

[Nedly]

I wish mine had just sprung a 'little' leak. Every week I do a water change and check the bottom of my tank for wetness and never had a trace of it.

Then on this day I went out to do some firewood, about 1-1/2 hour in I come home (actually just made it cause I got stuck in the mud), and walked in for a drink and on my way out I heard the noise.

So I glance and sure enough I could tell at least 10 gallons were missing. So I opened up the cabinet and there it was, a massive waterfall. Basically it just opened up the flood gates....

 

[Ricky 1]

Wow, must have been dreadful Nedly......

 

[Nedly]

Dreadful is almost an understatement lol, I literally had PTSD bad for a few days. I had plants all over, moss all over, and tons of fish, had to remove everything just to get the fish all the while water was just poring out. Luckily I did have a 4-gallon and a couple tens off hand so we filled those with the fish water and fish.

So my room looked like a fish store, had to move half the furniture to clean up the water mess. Luckily I was able to find the new tank the next day and everything went together smoothly, only casualties were some of the plants. Took an entire week from leak to finished. But everything has been pretty peachy since! LOL

 

[Ricky 1]

I would have probably had Post-traumatic stress disorder, or a heart attack.....lol

 

[Brookster123]

I had 3 tanks fail in a month. Started with a hand me down 29 , 30b and a brand new 40b. Turns out if the tanks are not properly supported they will leak. Shame on me. I was tattle paranoid for weeks after setting up my new replacement 30l. I realized that the stands integrity is of utmost importance, i built a beast and it still stands triumphant. I had nightmares, woke up a few times a night to run out and check because I could have sworn I heard water hitting the floor.
All that said.. re evaluate your stand situation and scour the silicone in the newish tank

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[jennandjuicetm]

I probably could use a sensor like what is used in cars to detect gas levels.... Would anyone buy this gadget / app combo if it existed?? I'll totally make it..

YES! I would love to test it out for you!

 

[candymancan]

Why not just replace the seals in your 55g.... A razor blade and like $15 for fish safe caulking and your done.... Im surprised it leaked after 15 years... I have a 30 gallon that's going on 23 years old now and its still just fine... Although the seals are all rotting away im waiting for it to leak on me.. My Hexagon is 14 years old the seals are all eroding away now too... I should replace them all soon I guess.. but im too lazy...

 

[Fishfur]

Redoing seals is not a bad idea, but also not a simple thing to do properly. If you don't get ALL the old sealant off, you're not going to get a water tight seal. But I think most of us ought to know how to do it, just in case.

I worry more about filters overflowing. Since I was forced to move my tanks [ landlord troubles] and there wasn't room for the 29s, I had to downsize in April. Now my bedroom has a 5G [ breeder with a pair of Rice fish] , a 10G community with tiny rasboras, dwarf chain loaches, golden Otos and a ton of shrimp. Then there's the frog and snail tank that's around 8G and 3 x 2.5G for the 3 Bettas. And another 5G I use to raise live food. The 10G is overstocked, and I am darn careful with the water in there, but it is also very densely planted and that helps immensely.

But the filter is an AC mini that has an AC 50 impeller in it. Works well enough, but the flow being so much greater means it has to be cleaned much more often and I have wakened twice now to the sound of water dripping, from the AC mini, which sucked two gallons out of the 10G tank before I woke up. No major harm done, and I did have a big towel on the floor that soaked up most of it, but still, scary. Now if the tanks are not full enough that the filters are quiet, any trickling watery noise wakes me up. I once also had a flood in my former basement bedroom, long ago. The flood water was swirling UNDER my 29G tank, which sat on a low stand. Surreal, water swirling under a tank of water full of fish, and the lights were still on. I woke to the sound of trickling water that time too. The sound makes me right nervous now, I can tell you.

Be nice to get back to the living room and my larger tanks, if the landlord EVER gets off his butt and does the promised repairs ! The stand I built for those tanks is solid as a rock, totally water proof and will hold at least a few gallons of water before it would flow over the trim edges of the shelf top. Custom built to hold water like a shallow pool, unless it gets higher than the edge trim. But it is more reassuring than my dresser tops and book shelves .