Leak in the 55g :(

by **Shell** Sun Oct 11, 2015 3:27 pm

We dicovered a leak in the tetra tank today - all shops are closed until Tuesday, so no way to get them a new tank. Huuby did use Orca to seal all corner/edges and the bottom, but we are still unsure of where the leak is 'coming from'. We are moving the tetras into a 20g long for now, at least until we get a new 55g for them. Wow - I am stressed. Just filled up the 20g. Getting ready to transfer them over now - wish me luck.

by FishHobby Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:50 pm

Hope the transfer went well and tetras doing fine.

by **Biulu** Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:08 am

Good luck! I am sure they will be doing well.

by GaryE Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:19 am

Sudden leaks often come from the filter - examine it closely. Also be sure nothing is wicking - a friend was going to shut down a tank and didn't realize he had a plant leaking, not a tank.

Stripping the tank down and resiliconing takes a little time, but costs 10 bucks as opposed to the cost of a new tank.

by ksimdjembe Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:31 am

A plant leaking?

by GaryE Mon Oct 12, 2015 9:04 am

A plant leaking - java moss hooked over the rim of the tank and wicking water straight down the back....

by alexmtl Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:06 am

Best of luck Shell. I can empathize with the stress.

Recently I had a HOB filter failure which caused a leakage. The impeller appeared to be heat jammed in the magnet block. The motor block was hot, and I guess because of the heat, the o-ring deformed, unsealing the motor unit from the body case and causing a leak.

Hope things work out and that you can patch up the 55 g ...

by Fores41 Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:23 am

I am Like Gary $10 for silicone and reseal tank. Good luck either way.

by **CAAIndie** Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:47 am

I too had a filter make it look like a leak. The filter wasn't level and gunked up. Emptied all the water out the back of filter down to the intake. Ruined the baseboards too.

Any updates Shell?

by **Shell** Tue Oct 13, 2015 1:50 pm

Thanks all - the transfer went well, though I feel bad for my babies as they are crammed into that 20g! But, I am so glad this didn't happen while we were away....how awful would it have been to come home to a drained tank and...gasp...dead water-children.

A secondary problem relates to the floor...yup - the newly renovated floor was DRENCHED! We will likely have to replace some floor boards, and we will definitely be laying new LVP in this area!

We have confirmed that this was a leak in the tank - sucks, but hey - at least it was caught relaively early! In this case, it really could have been much worse! Gotta look at the bright side of things!!!

by Starfish Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:10 am

Tough luck on the leak, Shell. I am definitely with you on the silver lining outlook. Things are never quite as bad that way. Good thing you were home and good luck with the repairs.

by **Shell** Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:11 pm

Thank you Starfish! I am just so thankful we caught it in time, and that everyone made it through the transfer! I must say, as much as I feel bad for these guys going from a 55g to a 20g...I dread moving them back into the 55g when the time comes! I believe they are tougher than I realize...but I still worry about transferring them yet again!