Outflow pipe leak nightmare

[pauldadams1984]

Hi guys. This past 10 days I have had an absolute nightmare. I am after any advice you can give.

A few months ago I bought a 288ltr fish tank from ebay... Mistake no 1....

10 days ago I come home from work to find my flat carpet is soaked and about 30ltr missing from the tank. It is coming from the external filter.

That night I wrapped the filter up in plastic shrink wrap/cling film... Put it in a plastic bag and place in a bucket.

Whilst sleeping I lost about 10ltr.... I re done it in the morning and went to work.... Another 30 lost....

This time though the filter wouldn't turn back on.... I tried cleaning the impeller etc but no luck.

Whilst messing about with one thing or another. I notice the outflow pipe is sticking out of the water but is letting water out with a steady trickle ... I also realised that in the panic i removed the water out the filter and didn't replace... For 1 hour.

Leak mystery solved....

Over night and during work I turned everything off apart from the heater and air pump.

So after work I rush to nearest aquatic shop and bought a filter and pure bio ball things.

I decided to buy an internal filter due to the outflow pipe leaking.... The biggest they had in stock was for 200ltrs which is 100 too low.... So had to get it....

I have installed it and reused part of the filter media from the external.... I had lost 40% of water.... Not all on floor,. So I topped it back up... This was done on the Friday.

The problem I now have is that the water flow is too powerful and I am presuming the bacteria died. Cos my tank is cycling

By Sunday I did a 50% water change.

I have ordered an Extra filter including a sprinkler thing and new porous ceramic media and will add that when I get it. I plan to do another 50% change tomorrow.

I will probably use up more of the old media but not sure if there's much point.....

So far I have had 1 fatality and I have one fish looking stressed.

Have you got any advice?

[colinquilliam1]

What part of the world are you from?
What external filter & when you say the pipework leaking, can you show me a pic of where exactly its leaking pls?

[pauldadams1984]

Originally Posted by colinquilliam1

What part of the world are you from?
What external filter & when you say the pipework leaking, can you show me a pic of where exactly its leaking pls?

Jebao 406

[pauldadams1984]

UK. I have velve switched off so no longer leaking

[pauldadams1984]

Pics for you

[colinquilliam1]

So is it leaking from the hoses? I usually soak the ends of the pipes in boiling water for about 30secs before pushing them on to the valves, then i screw them down. It gives a better seal as the pipe is softer.
If its just leaking from the outflow pile znd not the actual filter head then its more likely the hose not on fully. Check for splits at the end of the hoses too. If you find one just cut the hose back an inch or so then reattach it.
They are good filters. Keep me posted

[colinquilliam1]

Hi paul. Just noticed the jubilee clip. You dont need that but that could be a cause. Those valves are plastic and if you have tightened it down too much you could have cracked the valve fitting where the pipe attaches.
Like i said check the pipe end for damage, trim back if you need to, soak the pipe end in boiling water to make it easier to reattach to valve, fasten back on with the plastic nut. If you do both ends you know you have covered all bases.

[pauldadams1984]

It is not leaking from the hose but through the hose... The outflow pipe won't come off... It just twists. As the outflow pipe was out the water. And water was still trickling. My thinking it the bottom of the outflow pipe inside the tank is damaged. When I get home from work I will check what you mentioned and keep you informed

[pauldadams1984]

I managed to get the pipe out and spotted the rubber tubing had snapped... I have put a temporary band around it which has made the trickle into a drip.

I'm sure if I had a proper rubber band then it would be good as new.

The filter itself has not been working and probably needs replacing... Right now I'm gonna keep to the internal filters... Let them do the business and buy an external filter when I get paid. Then run it all until only the external is required.

[King Fisher]

You could try to slide some heat shrink tubing over it to seal up the leak.