Tiny leak.....Part 2

[Billsgate]

Hi,

This morning when i left the house (i had to get up early to go filming), all was well with my 30 gal. I didn't notice anything in peculiar. Then 1 hour later i get a phonecall from my sister that my tank was severely leaking....
I told her to take all the water out by hose and unplug everything......
When i got home, i checked what exactly was the problem. The whole frickin bottom of the tank is loose.

I'm NEVER buying anymore used tanks. I don't trust it anymore. I have put all my allowance of the last 3 months into the this tank and i am so dissapointed. I bought it quite cheap, but with all the work i put into it (painting, putting new lightfixtures in, .....) I probably paid as much in total as for a new tank.

And all my plants i had in there! what do i do with them??? I got all of them for 4 Euros, i had a super good deal on them (see dec-jan bargains thread). I put the prettiest in my 18.5 gal tank i have........although they are all lovely, and now that's a jungle.....don't even know if my fish like it.

Just to say.....i'm not happy today, not happy at all.

 

[Melody]

Sometimes those great deals just dont pay off. I did the same cost wise on the 10 gal that was given to me. after getting the hood, and bulb, It would have just been cheeper to buy the kit and upgrade from there... Live and learn.... Im so sorry that you got burned. I know what it feels like

 

[BrianNY]

Regrets Billsgate. It does major suck.

There's a thread in the DIY section about resealing your tank. A tube of silicon, a razor blade and some elbow grease will get your 30g up and running again.

 

[Billsgate]

Thanks Melody and BrianNY

I'm not sure if i will try again with the same tank or just go straight for an all glass tank without hood and put all the equipment i bought for my used one in the new one. I'll see how bad the damage is.

Such a waste...

 

[Meredith]

wow, that really stinks! At least you caught the leak before you had 30 gallons of water on the floor.

 

[TankGirl]

I would put your plants in a bucket in a sunny window for now. I did that when I moved and they got on just fine for a while.

I also strongly urge you to try to re-seal it yourself - costs you only the razor blades and some aquarium silicon. Fill it in the tub after all the curing is done and let it sit there (or in a large plastic basin, outside, somewhere that it won't matter if it leaks) for as long as you can to test it. Then if it still is not sealed you are not out that much, and if it is sealed, it will likely last you years and years.

 

[Billsgate]

Well.....i did reseal the tank myself. I removed two seams from one sode panel. The ones which were between the side panel and the front and back. These looked very worn and i decided to remove them completely, also between the glass, not only in the interior (corner) of the tank. I then filled it back up with silicone. I broke of 2 pieces from a Stanley-cutter and used this as a razor to remove the old silicone. Then i used pure alcohol to clean the seams. Then i just put the new silicone in between the glass panels and in the corners of the tank.

What did i do wrong? Is it possible that i didn't use a correct type of silicone? I thought any silicone would do. It stated that it contained no toxics or anti-bacterial stuff. It didn't exactly say: Suited for aquariums either, but still.......

I tested the tank after it had cured and i let it sit for about 2 days.

Plz help me on this one, i'd really rather reseal my tank then coughing up more money for a new tank......And i'll test it for a longer period.

I'm not sure, but i think it is also possible that my tank wasn't a 100% flat on the table i bought for it. Will putting styrofoam underneath my tank help solve that problem completely?

Thanks,

Thomas

 

[BrianNY]

Silicon is silicon (although it should be aquarium safe). One of several things may have gone wrong.

1. You didn't remove enough of the old silicon and the bond in areas was wea.

2. You didn't apply enough silicon throughout the joints.

3. You didn't allow enough cure time before filling the tank. Approx 48 hours.

 

[TankGirl]

Right - the cure time is important for all of the solvents to evaporate. My guess is that the surfaces were not entirely smooth and clean, that's the most common error, which is hard to be absolutely certain about.

Here is an excerpt from a thread on Aquaria Central, posted by Kuhli:
I did this recently here is what i did.
1) slice out all the silicone with a box knife.

2) next clean all the glass seams with steel wool and rubbing alcohol

3)vacumn out all the bits of steel and silicone.

4)wipe out the interior with alcohol
5) run masking tape 3/8 from the joint around all seams. This so you can lay in the silicone with nice seams. After you caulk it wait a minute and remove the tape it will leave a nice clean line.

6)Make sure you use a caulking gun to seal it. Also make sure you use 100% pure silicone.NOT bath and tub silicone as it contains mold inhibitors which are toxic to fish. I use home hardware brand slicone it was marked safe for aquariums. Alsi it was 9.99 for 3 large tubes enough to do a bunch of tanks.

7) When you run the seams wear rubber gloves so you can use your finger to smooth the seams or you can use a special silicone spreader for about 5$
Good Luck
KUHLI

 

[Billsgate]

Right.....i'm not resealing the tank.
I just had time to check what the problem was.
I've been such an idiot.....I put my tank on the back of a small table (which seemed sturdy enough to me), and since the support under the tabletop was not entirely in the four corners, but somewhat more to the center, there was to much pressure on the back side of the table.....It was an oak tabletop, not massive, but boards sticked together i believe.
So what happened? The backside of the tabletop started bending downwards slowly by the pressure of the tank. The tank then didn't have enough support on it's bottomside, and pressure made a crack running down the whole length of my bottom panel.......

I know.....it was stupid to set my tank up this way.....wish i thought of that before i set it up.
Anyway, i'll start saving for a decent brand new tank with aquarium furniture. I think i'll be better off in the long run then getting a used tank and trying furniture for the tank to stand on. Except if i see a great deal and it's something i can trust completely (brand aquarium+stand), maybe i'll buy used tank again.

Thanks for your tips on resealing the tank anyway Tankgirl and BrianNY

Thomas