265 Gallon Crossroads, a decent read ahead of you.

[Racersk]

If it don't overflow, your good. That being said, Any chance for water drain and a sump auto fill in your tank location? This is what I plan, but my tanks are in my garage.

If you want more of a safety net a drain for 'Just in case' and to assist with water changes. Or you will need another larger sump-I'm upping my game from a 55g to a 90G sump with an external pump.

 

[jesteratc]

The water must be leaking on the bottom somewhere, it comes out eh outside corner of the tank stand. But only when i've put rocks and stuff in the bottom. My wife was questioning me for an hr last night about it. Every time ive added Rocks to the tank, its leaked. It ran No Problems that whole week, then the day i put rocks and driftwood it it leaks...

 

[jaws7777]

Damn man sorry this is happening after all your hard work. That co-worker that sold it to you had to know it was leaking .smh

 

[jesteratc]

So ive been thinking again. A Few things i hope people will chime in on.

The Wood Trim around the base of the tank, does that actually have a purpose besides looks? I can see some silicone globs down there, but it only looks to space the trim out properly to match with the rest of it. If i take off a piece of it am i asking for trouble?

Im thinking about taking everything out again, and cleaning it, then filling it back up to see if it still leaks.

Why would it only leak with all the rocks in? It didn't leak for a week when i had it full before.

Its eating away at me. Since its already paid for, and i doubt anyone is really interested in a project this big. Also i wont be able to buy my new tank for another 2 months. Im thinking of really trying to figure out whats wrong with it. I need to see where this leak is coming from. But if i take off the trim, and i fill it back up. Is there a much greater chance for a blow out?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[jesteratc]

Or empty everything out, since it didn't leak with no rocks, and create the worlds largest Betta Tank.

Or Build a custom stand that is capable of draining the leak water back into the sump as Rasersk posted. I work at an Aluminum Company, so its possible i could make one for very very cheap. But id rather just fix the problem right.

 

[jesteratc]

Tonight on Tank Detectives.

Were gonna bust open this tank base and find out whats going on.


But seriously. I figure its paid for, and i have nothing to loose. If it busts, ill have an easier way of getting it out of the house. Even tho it will be in thousands of pieces.

First i removed the Cabinet Molding. It had a few nails in the side, then like 4 in each board across.


Looking at the left side first you can obviously see some wetness damage to the existing wood underneath.


Just look at all those nails!


As you look further down you can see it was all wet. So were deffinately onto something here.


On closer inspection of the rear corner of the tank you an see its really wet over here


The Tank Molding has sort of a trouth in it possibly for water, or possibly for molding reasons. Not really sure. But it deffinately makes it easier for water to travel hidden.
This stuff is really hard to break loose. Came out in at least 15 pieces and i certainly didnt get it all.

Heres a close up on the back corner


Now that i know its got a gulley in the trim i can now understand how a leak at one end of the tank can travel all the way to the other end.

I put a paper towel into the hole to see if anything would happen. Then tank had about 1/16 of itself filled at this time. It took probably 10 minutes to get this wet.


I Swapped it out for a new paper towel and another 15 minutes later it was like this


Very exciting right? Right? RIGHT!!???!?!?

I started filling the tank because the leak i had before was nothing like this currently is. Much faster paced when the tank is full.

I put in the third paper towel and let it sit while filling the tank. Tank is about half full and now the pace is picking up.


After about 6 minutes it was already soaked.

First drop in the bucket


I get a drop about every 6 seconds. So it should take a while to fill the bucket. Ill empty it before bed and again in the morning.

So what did we learn?

So far i can tell that the leak is at least coming from the back of the tank. The further "left" end is dry as a bone, the center rear brace is also dry. The only wetness is coming from the right rear 3rd of the tank. Best guess anyway.

Now my options are to.

1. Create custom drip tray into the sump. To which i dont really fix anything, just put a bandaid on a larger problem.

2. Drain the tank...Like Completely. I can't move it with anything in it. I cant even move it when its empty and the sump is full....After which i can pry off the trim like i did on the right side. This will show me where leak is presumably.
With the way this tank is built. The bottom glass is the first part, then everything else is put on top. So if theres a leak on the seam, i should be able to see it easily. When the tank is away from the wall that is.

Let me hear your thoughts. People on here are basically the only reason im trying so hard to make this work.

 

[jesteratc]

Heres the part where people start hating or loving me.

The conclusions ive come to are, nobodys gonna buy a giant leaking tank like this. I cant bring myself to re seal it all over again, just to have it leak possibly again.

I drilled a weep hole in the back of the tank base trim molding. This allows Fluid to leak out of a specific spot that i make it.

I have a paper towel in there to work as a wick at the moment, ill probably get a rag to use as a wick later. Currently theres a Dust Pan in there to guide the water into the sump. Im gonna try and bend a piece of aluminum tomorrow and ill screw it to the frame.

Onto the Bad Goodness.




Heres a new piece i put in after an hour.

Dry as a bone.

So its working like i wanted. Woo Hoo?

Is this a fix, No. Clearly not. It's mearly a bandaid on a problem ill have to face at some point. Maybe in a year, maybe 10. Maybe next week. Point is, i can now use my tank, and go about putting fish in it, with the hope that ill get a good life out of my "Cheap" large tank.



Im basically expecting hate mail at this point lol.

 

[krichardson]

No hate mail from me....but kudos for sticking to your guns and not letting this thing defeat you.
I still don't see how a completely resealed interior still leaks though.....like,how is the water getting past the inner silicone barrier?

 

[jesteratc]

Got some work done at lunch time. Started to fabricate my new (Whatever this thing is. Drip tray?)

Modeled/Rendered


Printed out with some dimensions and sketched with some marker. At the "South Shop" of my company they have a sheet metal brake, along with a bender. I was lucky enough to get cut what i did. They were closing early for Thanksgiving.


I cut the rest using a Bandsaw, and drilled some holes for mounting.


Now both shops are closed, ill have to bend the sides the old fashioned way at home. Ill post a pic when im done with it, and showing it mounted.

 

[jesteratc]

Heres some pics of it installed.




After proving it worked, i pulled the wick out and viola, it drips into the tray and into the sump. Heres a video of the whole kit and kaboodle.

This is a bandaid. Although i am going to see how long this lasts. From today im starting my new tank fund. Basically need another $650 for the 125 gallon i want. Too bad the drift wood wont fit in that tank. Hopefully this system gets me to go for a little while. Then i can get the 125 and put it in the wall.

Thanks for following me this far.

Andrew.