Magic Leaking 5Ft Tank

[Ludwig Venter]

Now... this is the 2nd time this happens to me... My 5ft started to leak prolifically ... I hastily removed the fish & all.... and.. between the fish room and outside ponds... I found space for all the fish and left it like that for more than a year now.... With the colder weather stepping in... I decided to fix the tank... (empty for all of this time).....

I removed the gravel and moved the tank outside to establish where the leak is.... I filled the tank... and.... no leak after one day....

Now??... do I just clean the tank and fill her up again... or do I wait another couple of days??.... (my previous leaky tank was a Jebo, which I just re-set up... and is still going fine).....

 

[star4]

Maybe try and clean it up then re-test it in case algae or dirt has got into where it was leaking and temporarily plugged the leak.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hmm, if this was my tank, i'd probably clean it completely and refill tank right to top and see if any further leaks.
 
If so, may just be as simple as applying new aquarium sealant on the joint where leak is from.

 

[rms]

If so, may just be as simple as applying new aquarium sealant on the joint where leak is from.

 
Does this work without having to reseal the entire tank?

 

[Chad]

I'm always a fan for cleaning it up and refilling one more time before loading up livestock etc. Sometimes when we remove water and put it back in the flexing that takes place reveals new leaks.

 

[Ch4rlie]

 

If so, may just be as simple as applying new aquarium sealant on the joint where leak is from.

 
Does this work without having to reseal the entire tank?

 
Would say just to reseal on the joint where the leak is, that'll probably work fine.
 
But as tcamos said there may have been flexing on that tank and the seal may have been compromised, really, only way to tell is to fill the tank entirely and leave for a while. Then assess after that. 

 

[rms]

 

 


If so, may just be as simple as applying new aquarium sealant on the joint where leak is from.

 
Does this work without having to reseal the entire tank?

 
Would say just to reseal on the joint where the leak is, that'll probably work fine.
 
But as tcamos said there may have been flexing on that tank and the seal may have been compromised, really, only way to tell is to fill the tank entirely and leave for a while. Then assess after that. 
 


 
 Yeah 5ft is quite a lump and a bit of flexing could cause heavy stress on the seal.
 
Here's a thing, maybe... Perhaps the way the tank is placed outside may have caused the leak to reseal, simply due to pressure. If the tank is not on level ground there will be additional pressure applied to the area where the tank lays lowest. That might be where the leak is, which could cause the silicone to tighten up and stop the leak.
 
Wild stab, but it could be the reason.
 
The reason I ask about the patch is that I resealed an entire tank instead of patching it, because new silicone doesn't stick to cured silicone. I thought that might cause the repair to only last a shorter time. There might be lots of people who tried a patch job though and worked fine. Would be good to know as resealing an entire tank is....... A real pain...!

 

[Ludwig Venter]

 
If so, may just be as simple as applying new aquarium sealant on the joint where leak is from.

 
The problem is just that.... I have no clue where the joint is where the leak "was" from... it is currently not leaking at all......

 

[fishmad2014]

i had this prioblem with my old 5ft tank that im thinking off having back.... it leaked once alot could i find where it leaked from nope. so after drying the whole tank and carefully filled up without splashing the tank i finally found it. then i got some sealant and resealed it all