Helppp!!!! Its urgent!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lane1223]

ok. so i have a biocube 29g and i bought it used a few weeks ago. its been set up and going all this time. i looked today and saw the there is water in between the tank and stand. Do i have a leak? I set the tan up once and that was when i brought it home. Could water just have gotten there by something else??
please help.
TIA!!!!!!!

 

[Retired_AF]

Maybe, maybe not. The discovery of water anywhere it isnt supposed to be can cause panic, even in those that have been aquarists a long time.

First, stay calm. Check the area around the stand. Are there wet places on the floor? Water marks down the stand? Water marks down the outside of the tank? Make sure you havent overfilled the tank (I know, that sounds crazy but sometimes it happens). Is your water level dropping significantly more then normal?

Check all of your items on the tank. Check any cords, tubes, the canopy, seams, anything that hangs. Look for places where water can seep or splash. If you added an air pump for bubbles make sure it isnt splashing water out. Those tiny droplets can add up quickly. Check the filters and make sure they arent overflowing (I had a filter built into the canopy and the filter clogged and overflow started leaking out the back). Check the seams around the tank for accumulated water.

Then, if you haven't found a cause, take something and soak up as much water as possible. Watch the area closely and see if more appears. If it does and you have eliminated everything else, then I would think about it being a slow leak and take appropriate action.

Good luck!

 

[808felicity]

The exact thing happened to me today when I woke up and looked at my tank! I was in a PANIC! I still am! I soaked up all i could by using paper towel along the bottom and dried it best I could. There was a bead of water right along the bottom of the tank and the stand again a bit later, so I actually took peper towel, and folded it over and over long ways to 1" across shoved it against the bottom of the tank where it seemed to be (crossed my fingers it was not) leaking. I led the edge of the paper towel off the stand over top a bucket. Sure as **** about 5 minutes later the p.towel was completly soaked and water was dripping from it into the bucket.This was no oops, i made a puddle from playing with the filter yesterday...I drained it and am now zooming the net in fear of finding I should REDO THE ENTIRE butt joint ( I think Its called) because the seal top to bottom from front glass to side is weak. You can push on it and literally see water squish around between the silicone joint. Im terrified I cannot just reseal it from the inside. If its that bad next time I fill it up I wonder if the pressure will just blow out the entire seal. I'd say better safe than sorry. This is a 200 gallon tank. I just got perfect. Im bummed and questioning my ability to fix this. I can not move this thing when its empty! I wish you the best! Let us know how it goes!

 

[Retired_AF]

...I drained it and am now zooming the net in fear of finding I should REDO THE ENTIRE butt joint ( I think Its called) because the seal top to bottom from front glass to side is weak. You can push on it and literally see water squish around between the silicone joint. Im terrified I cannot just reseal it from the inside. If its that bad next time I fill it up I wonder if the pressure will just blow out the entire seal. I'd say better safe than sorry.

Resealing a tank is quite a job. It really needs 2 people to do it. One thing I have heard but cant verify is that if you have to reseal the tank you have to redo all the seals because silicone doesnt stick well to old silicone. I do know that you need to use pure silicone like GE Type 1 without and mildew preventive or anything like that. Remove all the old silicone and tape off the edges. Put in the new silicone and make sure to pull the tape off before it starts to set (and it starts in about 20 minutes).

The biocube is a bit different than the glass tanks though. That's why I wrote the way I did. Good job on finding your problem as quickly as you did!