225 Gallon Aquarium Leaked

[mike37909]

I bought it used. Not sure how old it is. It was just a slow drip so no damage to floor or livestock. I drained it and took fish to aquarium store for boarding.
I have learned it is a floating bottom so not supposed to be sitting on foam or anything. My stand is homemade but really heavy duty. I did not crack so I guess it just needs resealed. The leak is around the bottom somewhere because the water was dripping out of the stand. The stand has a sheet of thick plywood that the tank sits on and is very heavily built. I did notice the water looked a little deeper on one end than the other maybe a quarter inch. I didnt see that when I first set it up. Maybe stand settled? the floor is a slab.
I have read some threads about resealing so I have an idea of what to do. Thought about selling it as is and buying a brand new one. Sucks bad.
I will also mention one of the braces on the bottom is cracked but not all the way through. It happened when we slid it out of the Ford Expedition used to move it. Assuming this brace holds the front and back to the bottom it is under a tension load. In other words the glass could not move unless it was broken completely in half. If this is true since it is just cracked and not broken i do not think it would be the cause of problems? I will epoxy it though. I have also read that the bottom bracing and trim etc is not really to hold it together anyway but rather it floats the bottom plate so the loads are on the edges of the glass rather than the surface. Anyway if anyone has any thoughts feel free to chime in....
Also it was set up almost 8 months before it leaked....

 

[Allan01230]

ld get rid of it and get a new tank. That is a lot of water on the floor if it should break. Thats why Iam not a fan of used aquariums and equipment I learned the hard way good luck to you

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I have resealed leaking tanks before and usually give a tank a few tries before giving up. If you have a safe place to do a test fill for a few days that might give some peace of mind. If money is not an issue then get a new one.

 

[krichardson]

My 265 which I bought used a few years ago also sprung a leak some time after I set it up.I drained,resealed,refilled it and haven't looked back.

 

[THQ]

Yeah, TBH personally, this is why I don't buy secondhand tanks as a lot of times you really don't know what abuse it's been through eg., handled incorrectly, lifted by bracing etc. The money you save may not be much when you throw in the headache, the sleepless nights, and the cost/time of resealing a tank let alone the damage and cleanup bill if it sprung a huge leak and you lost all your livestock. Plus everyone selling their used tanks in my area are unrealistic with their asking prices.

Silicone seals have a life span. Problem is, you don't really know when to reseal until it springs a leak. Alternative is to strip and reseal at the start, but you might as well build a new one from scratch in that case.

 

[krichardson]

Silicone seals have a life span. Problem is, you don't really know when to reseal until it springs a leak. Alternative is to strip and reseal at the start, but you might as well build a new one from scratch in that case.

That might be true but I dont recall hearing of a seal having a lifespan before and there is a big difference between resealing a tank and building one from scratch.

 

[Skalper666]

Most of my tanks I bought over the past 25 years are used. Never had one start leaking on me yet. Bought a few known to leak and resealed them successfully. Just didn't use them for months to give them lots of time to cure.

 

[skjl47]

Silicone seals have a life span.

hello; This is not my understanding. I have tanks with lots of years and no leaks. To me it is more the way a tank is handled.

 

[krichardson]

Most of my tanks I bought over the past 25 years are used. Never had one start leaking on me yet. Bought a few known to leak and resealed them successfully. Just didn't use them for months to give them lots of time to cure.

Same here,most of my tanks are second or third hand.It's kind of ironic that the majority of them were rescues from sidewalk trash pickup but the biggest one was a purchase (the 265)and had to be the one that leaked.It is my experience that if the scrape and reseal of a tank is done properly then the tank should be good to go for years to come.

 

[Lepisosteus]

the scrape is the most important. Make sure it's very clean. Unfortunate to hear but good luck with it, resealing aquariums is easy