A few days/weeks back, I put up a list of what I do when I suspect a tank leak. First, I check HOB media to see if it's clogged and backing water up. Then I look for plants wicking water. I look for forceful filtration causing water to gather on the hood and sneak out. I try to trace water, to see if by touch I can spot leak trails.
This morning, I got to do all of the above.
Leaks are rare, but I have older tanks and a lot of them in a garage.
I have a 1 metre, 36 inch rimless tank that housed my current favourite Corys, C. concolor, and a group of Beckford's pencilfish. It was well planted and scaped, and was a tank I really liked looking at in the evening. I did a water change two days ago, and this morning, noticed it has lost about 10cm of water. And so, I ran through my checklist. No luck. Nothing seemed obvious. I moved the fish into my South American tank, and drained the suspect tank.
I then tried the thing I had forgotten to suggest. I gently went around the top of the tank, pushing. Silicone doesn't get holes in it - it pulls away from glass. I felt a tiny give in a back corner, and followed it down to about where the "evaporation" had stopped. I had a full on split started. As I worked with a razor blade to remove the old silicone, I realized the tank manufacturer had really cheaped out. That tank was poorly made. Silicone is not that expensive, but the builders had used as little as possible.
Purists will scream no (possibly with reason), but I examined the rest of the tank, and it appeared to have been done right. Maybe that back corner had been the end of a tube in their machine. I removed all the silicone along the joint, made sure everything was spotless and smooth, and lathered on the silicone I had. The danger is the meeting point of old and new when you don't razor strip the entire tank. I put it on crudely there, as it'll be under substrate. I am going to attach a glass brace to the top of the rim. The stand is perfectly level, but the tank did bounce around in a move.
So, I let it cure. I attach a rim piece if it holds water. It can sit for a few weeks. If it fails because I didn't strip the whole thing, I'll take it outside in the sunlight and do it right. Now, it's snowy and still cold.
This morning, I got to do all of the above.
Leaks are rare, but I have older tanks and a lot of them in a garage.
I have a 1 metre, 36 inch rimless tank that housed my current favourite Corys, C. concolor, and a group of Beckford's pencilfish. It was well planted and scaped, and was a tank I really liked looking at in the evening. I did a water change two days ago, and this morning, noticed it has lost about 10cm of water. And so, I ran through my checklist. No luck. Nothing seemed obvious. I moved the fish into my South American tank, and drained the suspect tank.
I then tried the thing I had forgotten to suggest. I gently went around the top of the tank, pushing. Silicone doesn't get holes in it - it pulls away from glass. I felt a tiny give in a back corner, and followed it down to about where the "evaporation" had stopped. I had a full on split started. As I worked with a razor blade to remove the old silicone, I realized the tank manufacturer had really cheaped out. That tank was poorly made. Silicone is not that expensive, but the builders had used as little as possible.
Purists will scream no (possibly with reason), but I examined the rest of the tank, and it appeared to have been done right. Maybe that back corner had been the end of a tube in their machine. I removed all the silicone along the joint, made sure everything was spotless and smooth, and lathered on the silicone I had. The danger is the meeting point of old and new when you don't razor strip the entire tank. I put it on crudely there, as it'll be under substrate. I am going to attach a glass brace to the top of the rim. The stand is perfectly level, but the tank did bounce around in a move.
So, I let it cure. I attach a rim piece if it holds water. It can sit for a few weeks. If it fails because I didn't strip the whole thing, I'll take it outside in the sunlight and do it right. Now, it's snowy and still cold.
