EMERGENGY!!! tank is leaking!!!

[tyrancooper]

Somebeody please help!!! :scared:

Just as I was turning out the lights on my tanks for the evening, I noticed that my 35 gallon flatback hex has a leak in one of the front corners!!!!!

This is the only used tank that I have. I've had it for a year and a half but I do not know its true age.

I have lowered the water level. Hopefully the water level is below the leak...

As I filled my buckets I could hear the tank creak!!!

I am frantic!!! :scared: :scared: :scared:

Is there enyone in the Chicago area with some silicone sealant? All of the LFS's that I know of do not open until noon tomorrow.

I live in an apartment and I do not have insurance for this kind of thing!!!!

Somebody PLEASE help me!!!!

Tyra

[midnight1]

you can get sealant from a local hardware store as well - an ace, true value, home depot, ect. just get 100% sylicone (sp)

good luck - normally it is ahrd to seal a leak from just coating old sylicone.

midnight1

[Ryan]

Tyra, do you store your water in a big container or trash can? If you had to, you could move your fish and filters there and empty the tank to prevent the leak from getting worse. It may help you sleep a little easier.

Just make sure if you move your fish that your new container has a cover. You wouldn't want them to get spooked and jump out.

I once read somewhere that patching up a leak like that with silicone is a bad idea, and that it was recommended to re-do the whole tank, but I am not sure where that thread went so I cannot say for sure what the recommendations were.

Can you check out the classifieds for a second-hand back-up tank? Or maybe get a bare tank with no accessories at Walmart or the LFS? They are usually $1 - 2 bucks per gallon up to 55 gallons or so. $40 for a spare 30 gallon tank may be worth the peace of mind it brings.

Ryan

[brewmaster15]

Hi tyra,
best bet is to do as ryan said, and move them to another container like garbage can. If thats not an option...


duck tape around the tank, and drain the tank real low... Double up some garbage bags and place in the tank, refill the water ...in the bags, and add the fish. It should get you buy until you have another tank.


To repair this one, you need to literally strip the the silicon between the the glass, not just the visible bead...otherwise it will still leak.... or can. From my attempst at sealing hex tanks in the past...its not worth the trouble!!! Ironically i have that same style tank still in my garage now after 2 years when it leaked from the seam. Its a great terrarium!

good luck, al

[tyrancooper]

Ryan,

I called the owner of a LFS at home. He insisted that the tank should be okay for the night since the water level is now below the leak. He also says that the top and bottom rims are what really holds an aquarium together.

However, I will be purchasing a new tank tomorrow. This has frightened me so badly that I feel physically ill. :'(

This is my "West African tank" It has congo tetras that I've had for a very long time and a family of kribensis.

Thanks for the speedy reply. (and thanks to you, too, midnight1) I'll keep you posted.

Tyra

[tyrancooper]

Al,

We must have been posting simultaneously last night. I did not see your message until just a minute ago.

The tank has made it through the night with the lowered water level.

Now I just have to wait until I get off from work to buy another tank.

It's a shame about this one, though. It and it's stand are really very pretty. But I'm not taking any chances!

How many years does a tank last, generally, before its time to purchase a new one (to prevent leaks in the silicone)? This was a used tank, but once I filled it with water the first time and saw that it had no leaks I thought that I was "home free" :-\

Also, a couple of LFS's in my area have aquarium maintenance services. Once I empty this tank would it be worth the effort to take it in and have the entire thing "re-sealed"?

Tyra

[Richman]

Your LFS guy is absolutely WRONG!!!!! The silicone holds the tank together. NOT the top and bottom rim. If the seal continues to weaken, the whole thing can come apart. PLEASE take Al's advice and duct tape that thing now in order to reinforce it till you can do something.!! If the seal is starting to give, it will only get worse and it can happen very quickly.

[tyrancooper]

Richman,

We posted simultaneously. The same thing happened last night with Al (brewmaster 15). I'll get some duct tape and reinforce the tank before I go to work this morning.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of the aquarist!!! :'(

Tyra

[DarkDiscus]

Tyra,

Good luck. You are right, leaky tanks are definitely scary! I have known those hex tanks to be on the leaky side. I had to adopt a bunch of angels from a friend when his hex tank decided to turn into Niagra Falls. I guess the more seals the better the chance for a leak.

Once you get the new tank, you should be fine, and like Al says, they make good terrariums!

John

[midnight1]

tyra

these guys are definately correct - the silicone holds the tank glass together not the plastic rims. the bottom rim is to help keep the pressure on the glass where it should be from the weight of the water and to help make solid contact (bearing) around the entire perimeter of the tank. the top piece is just decorative to finish of the tank and for something for the lid to sit on. for the best permanent fiox you do need to disassemble the entire tank and reglue the area between the pieces of glass - a real pain in a regular tank - can't imagine the problems in a hex shape. the otehr thing if you do reseal this or any tank you must wiggle the pieces of glass into the glue and against each other to remove all air bubbles that might get trapped. good luck.

midnight1

[Wahter]

I re-sealed a ten gallon tank once - lots of people say it's not too hard, etc..., but I did NOT think it was easy, nor a lot of fun, nor did the sealant smell very good! :-X You need to strip off all the old sealant, then when applying the new sealant, make sure you get all the bubbles out of the joints.

I guess if you're used to re-sealing tanks every few years, then it's not that big of a deal. otherwise, it's not one of my favorite things to do.

Walter

[RandalB]

Wrong night for me to stay off the forum!

Tyra,
Glad to see you got some good advice! One of the perc's of being a Simply member. If I had been on, I would have given the same advice as Al.

I would also have offered to drop off one of the several 55's and 20H's I have cluttering up the garage waiting 'till spring too. But, some great people jumped in and it sounds like everything will be OK! Let us know....


Regards,
RandalB

[black rat]

Tyra,
iv'e replaced glass sections in quite a few tanks up 2 6 foot in size.
Don't b afraid about doin it,take the old piece out with a razor blade and clean the rest of the tank with a razor blade.
put a nice bead of silicon on the tank and replace the glass...let it cure o/night.
in the morning add another small bead on the inside of the tank only.
let it cure....................any excess remove with a razor blade if its dry,if wet...use a wet sponge.
hope this helps
;)

[fossil]

I heard it is best to re-seal every 6 years. :(
In my mind it's best just to buy a new tank.

- I hope everything works out alright. Let us know.

[tyrancooper]

Hi Everybody!

I'm finally back home from work. Needless to say, it was a VERY long day.

I bought a 30 gallon long tank and a basic wrought iron stand. I'll spend the next few hours setting it up and transporting plants, fish, equipment, and water.

Thankfully, the original leaking tank held up.

Hopefully my ordeal is almost over.

Tyra

[Fish_Fin-atic]

Tyra,
Just one other thing I can add - DON'T BUY SILICONE FROM YOUR LFS! If you are going to re-seal your entire tank, you will need lots of silicone. If you buy from the LFS, you WILL pay up to 400 percent more than you would at a hardware store!!! :o :o

At my LFS, a tiny tube of silicone is approximately $7, but at Canadian Tire, or at Home Hardware (not sure if you're from Canada, but you should be able to find some at a similar hardware store like maybe Home Depot) I got a huge tube for $4.99 - you could fit about 10 of the LFS tubes into it!!!
It says right on the tube (and this is very very important) no fungicides used, and suitable for aquarium repairs. You will probably want the transparent stuff. Just trying to save you some money, HTH 8)

[tyrancooper]

It's so ironic that in so many situations concerning the aquarium hobby, the LFS is the ABSOLUTE wrong place to go for products or advice. :-\

Tyra

[DarkDiscus]

Tyra,

LFS are good for tanks, emergency supplies and easier tropicals. They are the best for getting people into the hobby and interested in fish.

A good LFS is a joy, as I re-learned on Sunday when I visited a LFS near my Mom's house which had some great cichlids, plants and even breeding pairs for sale. They even had some discus, but I'm refraining from comment on those - though they did actually have some golden pigeons that looked decent and healthy.

You're just not looking for discus or aquarium hardware, as you can save SO much money!

John

[limige]

tyra BE CAREFUL

1st is the tank glass or acrylic? i haven't seen a flat back hex that was glass thats why i'm asking.

if it's acrylic forget silicone, it's junk.

if it's glass goto the lfs's in your area and look for a caulking tube of tank silicone. a few of my lfs around here carry it for like $7.

DO NOT just go buy from a local hardware store unless it is clearly marked aquarium safe!!!!!
i called GE and asking them if their 100% silicone for windows would be fine for my tank and they said NO. appartly someone had recently used it on a saltwater tank and killed their fish and tried to hold GE responsible for the $$$ he lost in fish and live rock/corals. she said it emits unsafe toxins.

2nd of all sometimes you can get away with stripping away all loose silicone and cleaning with alcohol and reapplying a new bead. then smooth with your finger. it's worked for me in the past.

i personally wouldn't trust the tank half full, just put a sponge filter, heater and your fish in a clean garbage can and use that for a tank until you get your sitiuation under control. make sure it's either new or just used for water storage, otherwise line with several garbage bags.

good luck...keep us posted.

ps sorry it took so long to post, i haven't been able to stay logged in on internet explorer, i have to download netscape!

[tyrancooper]

limige,


I'm almost certain that this tank is glass. It is a discontinued Perfecto model. I'm still not sure what i want to do with this tank. I've mentioned it in the 'Buy, Sell, Trade" section, but it is such an attractive tank that I'm starting to wonder if I should put it in storage until I have time to overhaul it completely. Then I could set it up in again in the future... (One can never have too many tanks, you know. ;))

It took me several hours over a couple of days, but I finally got a brand new 30 gallon tank set up for the adults. I have the two sets of kribensis fry in two ten gallon and two five gallon tanks. Catching all of them was the most difficult.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice and support! :wave:

Tyra

[flogger426]

simple.

dump the tank and buy a new one! - quit ***** footing around. i know it sucks, but we've all been there - don't be penny wise, pound foolish - your fish are worth more than that!