[cwetherford]

I was just inspecting my tank after a long day at work and I come home to see that. Seal on the left side of my tank has a tiny leak in it it's very slowly dripping out but I need it fixed because there's no way I'm going to let this get bigger and leak and ruin my tank. I Ned to know what I can do to fix it? I need a temporary fix tonight and I need to know how to silicone the outside of the tank when I have a leak...please help all suggestions wanted

 

[Jessemac]

Unfortunately, there really isn't no temporary fix to this and if left unatended it will get worse. At this point, you could draing the water down low enough to where it is bellow the leak. Keep a powerhead and heater in the tank. But, long term. You are going to have to drain the tank and re seal that corner. In order to do this, you will have to strip the existing silicone off the inside and clean any excess off the glass. This isn't garaunteed to work. Being it is a relatively small tank, you may just want to buy another. Sorry to here this. best of luck to you.

 

[cwetherford]

Hajj that's terrible so how would I do it? Put everything in a tub then get the old tank down new tank up and then transfer everything over then let it all settle..gahh thisis so sad I was a few weeks from adding fish and my corals are growing so good.... I going to super glue the corner tonight and try and silicone the outside tomorrow and seeif that holds

 

[mf2055]

Silicone can be a major PITA to work with. Best of luck with this. I would definetly try to super glue it from the inside, a patch from the outside will not likely work. also keep an eye to make sure the seal is not seperating further.

 

[islandreef]

Leak

I cannot find the actual size of your tank but experience proves that it is better to do it right the first time than to rely on an experimental patch. This includes, as mentioned, replacement if possible. Even in the best of scenarios, removing the silicone after emptying the tank, cleaning off all of the silicone from the glass, removing traces with alcohol, resealing it properly (realizing that new silicone does not bond with old), allowing between 24/48 hour for new seal to cure ( preferably 48) and then testing with fingers crossed to see if everything went according to plan or perhaps not...:flood: will not exactly qualify as a " Quick " fix and you will need a place to keep your corals alive. Just some stuff to consider as you come to a decision.

 

[bluwc]

If you get a new tank, you will want to use new sand vs trying to transfer it because if you try to transfer it, it will obviously be disturbed...ie releasing ammonia in your new tank creating a new cycle. You don't have enough rock to be compensate for a little spike like you would in a larger system.

As far as the tank, its less hassle to just buy a new one vs trying to reseal your old one. Odds are it probably won't work long term and you don't want to set it back up only to find out it didn't

 

[runzwithscissor]

When I had a fish only tank I sprung a leak on the side near the bottom. I was able to buy some some time by cutting a square of plastic (i.e. heavy plastic bag), used super glue gel along the outside of the plastic and placed in at the site of the leak. The pressure from the water and the seal power of the glue held it for the two days it took me to replace the tank. Only drawback could be the leak may not necessarily start at the the point it comes out. Good luck.

 

[Wuton]

I recently removed the interior sump in the back of my Solana 34g cube. I must have damaged the silicone in the back corner because I sprung a leak a few days later. It was a small leak from where I put a new bead of silicone down, it didn’t adhere to the old very well. I ended up draining it again, putting all the livestock back in the tub and cutting out all the old silicone, not just around the leak, but the whole inner seal. I did not cut apart the glass panes though.

I used masking tape to mark my edges and then ran a bead around all the inner seams, ran my finger over the bead to smooth out all the edges, then removed the masking tape, leaving a nice neat line. I let it cure for about three days, refilled it, then put everything back in when I was sure it wasn’t leaking anymore.

It wasn’t really that difficult, but it was tedious getting all the old silicone out of the seams. Best of luck

 

[cmaxwell39]

I agree that any attempts to make a repair with water still in the tank is going to be very temporary at best, and most likely futile. If you don't mind some manual labor, and have a place to house your livestock for a few days, resealing the tank is an option, and if done carefully will be a permanant fix to the situation.

If you don't have the time to reseal the tank, a new tank is proabably your best option.

Either way you go, make sure that you correct any problems with the stand or setup that may have caused the problem. Make sure the stand is level and square with the tank sitting on a flat surface (no high spots in the surface that the tank sits on). Just hate to see you do all the work to fix the tank, and then have the same thing happen again.

 

[mf2055]

I keep thinking this sounds like the perfect time for an upgrade... just a thought.

 

[slapshot]

I keep thinking this sounds like the perfect time for an upgrade... just a thought.

Yep, I'm with you. If you have ever been woke up by a tank blowing out, you know you would not mess with repairs.

 

[Jessemac]

I keep thinking this sounds like the perfect time for an upgrade... just a thought.

If I'm correct in this. This is the upgrade from a nano tank that was over run with ich. I believe all the sand is new so using the same sand shouldn't be an issue. There may be a mini cycle since everything will be all stirred up but, should clear before you start to put fish in in a couple weeks. I still think going with a new tank is the best option. Then you can clean the old one, work on resealing it and then you will have another tank, maybe even a sump if you can fit it into your stand. Hope everything has gone okay since it has now been a couple days.

 

[cwetherford]

I super glued the seal and its holding for now u was going to upgrade to a 90 but i don't want to have to build s New stand and canopy so im picking up a new 55 from a nice guy on here very soon the superglue seems to be holding for now I think what caused it was leaning a large piece of lr on the side glass which was apparently a bad idea