yabadaba
Fish Crazy
Just thought I'd share something with you that I've discovered - having said that some of you guys are probably already aware of this...but just in case.
A week or so ago I discovered a small leak on my 60 litre Hagan Elite tank. Water was very slowly coming up over the edge of the plastic base that the tank itself sits in. At first I though I must have splashed some water down the side of the glass when cleaning the tank, so just soaked it up using a tissue. But, over last weekend the leak happened again, so this time, convinced there must be a small crack or the seal had broken somewhere, I bought a replacement tank. Yes, I could have tried a repair, but I didn't like the lid on the Elite tank anyway and also fancied something a tad larger.
So, I set up the replacement tank (a Juwel Rekord 800) yesterday, took the opportunity to replace my gravel with sand and transferred the fish. Then after that I actually decided to read the online manual for the Rekord 800 and noticed that it warned against using an airstone as it may cause a 'capillary leak'. Apparently, what can happen is that the spray caused by the bubbles surfacing can collect on the underside of the lid and small amounts can drip down the glass and collect in the base. Well, I use an airstone (primarily because my fish love playing in the bubbles) so today I check the Juwel's lid and right above where the airstone is I see a load of water on the underside of the lid. Then I look around the sides and spot a couple of small drip marks going down the back glass from the area where the water droplets had collected. I then took a tissue and slid it between the glass and the base where the drip would have ended and (surprise surprise) it comes away damp.
So, the chances are that my Elite 60 was not actually leaking as a result of a defect or damage, but more than likely as a result of what I have described above and if I hadn't have read that bit in the manual I would just have presumed that both that tank and my new Juwel were faulty or had become damaged.
Sorry, by the way, if I've just made a big deal about the bleedin' obvious!!
A week or so ago I discovered a small leak on my 60 litre Hagan Elite tank. Water was very slowly coming up over the edge of the plastic base that the tank itself sits in. At first I though I must have splashed some water down the side of the glass when cleaning the tank, so just soaked it up using a tissue. But, over last weekend the leak happened again, so this time, convinced there must be a small crack or the seal had broken somewhere, I bought a replacement tank. Yes, I could have tried a repair, but I didn't like the lid on the Elite tank anyway and also fancied something a tad larger.
So, I set up the replacement tank (a Juwel Rekord 800) yesterday, took the opportunity to replace my gravel with sand and transferred the fish. Then after that I actually decided to read the online manual for the Rekord 800 and noticed that it warned against using an airstone as it may cause a 'capillary leak'. Apparently, what can happen is that the spray caused by the bubbles surfacing can collect on the underside of the lid and small amounts can drip down the glass and collect in the base. Well, I use an airstone (primarily because my fish love playing in the bubbles) so today I check the Juwel's lid and right above where the airstone is I see a load of water on the underside of the lid. Then I look around the sides and spot a couple of small drip marks going down the back glass from the area where the water droplets had collected. I then took a tissue and slid it between the glass and the base where the drip would have ended and (surprise surprise) it comes away damp.
So, the chances are that my Elite 60 was not actually leaking as a result of a defect or damage, but more than likely as a result of what I have described above and if I hadn't have read that bit in the manual I would just have presumed that both that tank and my new Juwel were faulty or had become damaged.
Sorry, by the way, if I've just made a big deal about the bleedin' obvious!!
