A pool of water on a cement floor...
No one wants to see that, but it has a way of happening sometimes. I took a few 5.5 gallon tanks out of storage the other day, and set them up for fry. I got the filtration running, and was quite pleased. And then, in the morning, I saw the water.
Here's my checklist:
1. Always check power filters first. If they back up as the media clogs, you can get small leaks that are hard to trace. In this case, I was using air filtration.
2. Look along the edges of the tank, and see if that gives you a spot to trace. On this leak, I had none. But Murphy's Law says if there is one, it will be in a hard to see place. Still, it didn't seem to be a bottom leak, even if there was water all along the base frame. I filed that one away until I had tried some simpler approaches.
3. Look for wicking. Plants hanging over the rim, or even calcium deposits have been known to carry water.
4. Look at the cover. Could an air driven filtration system be coming up with too much force? That's a hard one to see sometimes. But it's the easiest to fix.
In this case, I turned the air down and decided I'd check in the morning. That's the luxury of fish in a warm garage. At 6 AM, the water along the rim had evaporated, and the pool on the floor was a smudge. My initial idea that the tank was shot and that I had a leaker was wrong. I had a filter spitting water, and in the way of water, it had found a mysterious route out and along. Tracing leaks, as everyone with a bad roof knows, is not easy.
Twice, I have bought leaking tanks for next to nothing, because I would have to reseal. At home, when both 20s were filled with water, there were no leaks. Both tanks gave me years of use, and one is still in use.
The floor is now bone dry, and the eggs are waiting to hatch. It'll be a good starter home for fry.
Whew.
No one wants to see that, but it has a way of happening sometimes. I took a few 5.5 gallon tanks out of storage the other day, and set them up for fry. I got the filtration running, and was quite pleased. And then, in the morning, I saw the water.
Here's my checklist:
1. Always check power filters first. If they back up as the media clogs, you can get small leaks that are hard to trace. In this case, I was using air filtration.
2. Look along the edges of the tank, and see if that gives you a spot to trace. On this leak, I had none. But Murphy's Law says if there is one, it will be in a hard to see place. Still, it didn't seem to be a bottom leak, even if there was water all along the base frame. I filed that one away until I had tried some simpler approaches.
3. Look for wicking. Plants hanging over the rim, or even calcium deposits have been known to carry water.
4. Look at the cover. Could an air driven filtration system be coming up with too much force? That's a hard one to see sometimes. But it's the easiest to fix.
In this case, I turned the air down and decided I'd check in the morning. That's the luxury of fish in a warm garage. At 6 AM, the water along the rim had evaporated, and the pool on the floor was a smudge. My initial idea that the tank was shot and that I had a leaker was wrong. I had a filter spitting water, and in the way of water, it had found a mysterious route out and along. Tracing leaks, as everyone with a bad roof knows, is not easy.
Twice, I have bought leaking tanks for next to nothing, because I would have to reseal. At home, when both 20s were filled with water, there were no leaks. Both tanks gave me years of use, and one is still in use.
The floor is now bone dry, and the eggs are waiting to hatch. It'll be a good starter home for fry.
Whew.
