Yup, it's crazy I know, but I've heard rumors of this from time to time over the years and now I may be in that same situation.
Last night I got a call from my landlady of water dripping into the basement from an area where there are no water pipes below or above, and as Murphy would have it, directly onto an electrical junction box. After some Q&A she tracked it down to my 55. The rear corner underneath where the Emperor 400 is placed was soaking wet. I had her run her hand along the outside of the filter and she said it was dry. The only other option was the tank. I wasn't scheduled to get in til about 1 AM so as I semi-frantically weighted my options I suggested she place several towels in that corner to stop the water from reaching the floor (and the junction box below) and mark the water line on the tank with a marker.
I asked her to then monitor the tank for a bit to see how fast it was leaking so I'd know if I had to come straight home to drain it and transfer the fish, or if it could wait until after work. She marked it, and in about 20 minutes it lowered another 1/8th inch and th towels under the corner were only damp, not wet. We agreed this would be worth risking the wait until I got off work. I called her after another hour and found out that the water hadn't moved again. I hustled home, getting there about a quarter to one (this all started around 9PM) to find that the water still had not moved again, and the outside of the tank at all corners was completely dry!
This morning it was still dry and hadn't rained another ounce. Since the filter hadn't clogged and overflowed, and I couldn't find a leak even with the baby powder test, do you think this was a case of a tank spontaneous resealing?
I want to add this just in case it matters, the filter had been performing fine until I decided to add a background to the tank. I had to lift the filter away from the tank a bit while I slid the paper underneath (commercial backing) and ever since that day I have had a lot of particulates in the water, where before that would only happen if I was a few days late for a water change.
I plan to shut it off today and clean it out and reseat the intake and the filter pads, but when I look into it while running the water is NOT bypassing the pads, so I can't explain why there is such a change in effectiveness, and I don't THINK it overflowed to cause the dripping she noticed.
Anybody want to weigh in on this? I have counted myself blessed for keeping aquariums since 1978 and never having a seal split or fail, and I'm really not even sure that's what happened here.
edit: I forgot to mention, there is no substrate, and the stock is (2) young H. pearsei (yes I know their eventual expected size, they'll be moved when it is time), (2) young Aequidens diadema, (2) nearly grown scalare angels, (9) head and tail Light tetras added as dither, (1) pimelodus blochii.
Water changes are 20% weekly, 50% monthly, feeding is 2 to 3 times daily a variety of flake, pellet, frozen, and live.
Last night I got a call from my landlady of water dripping into the basement from an area where there are no water pipes below or above, and as Murphy would have it, directly onto an electrical junction box. After some Q&A she tracked it down to my 55. The rear corner underneath where the Emperor 400 is placed was soaking wet. I had her run her hand along the outside of the filter and she said it was dry. The only other option was the tank. I wasn't scheduled to get in til about 1 AM so as I semi-frantically weighted my options I suggested she place several towels in that corner to stop the water from reaching the floor (and the junction box below) and mark the water line on the tank with a marker.
I asked her to then monitor the tank for a bit to see how fast it was leaking so I'd know if I had to come straight home to drain it and transfer the fish, or if it could wait until after work. She marked it, and in about 20 minutes it lowered another 1/8th inch and th towels under the corner were only damp, not wet. We agreed this would be worth risking the wait until I got off work. I called her after another hour and found out that the water hadn't moved again. I hustled home, getting there about a quarter to one (this all started around 9PM) to find that the water still had not moved again, and the outside of the tank at all corners was completely dry!
This morning it was still dry and hadn't rained another ounce. Since the filter hadn't clogged and overflowed, and I couldn't find a leak even with the baby powder test, do you think this was a case of a tank spontaneous resealing?
I want to add this just in case it matters, the filter had been performing fine until I decided to add a background to the tank. I had to lift the filter away from the tank a bit while I slid the paper underneath (commercial backing) and ever since that day I have had a lot of particulates in the water, where before that would only happen if I was a few days late for a water change.
I plan to shut it off today and clean it out and reseat the intake and the filter pads, but when I look into it while running the water is NOT bypassing the pads, so I can't explain why there is such a change in effectiveness, and I don't THINK it overflowed to cause the dripping she noticed.
Anybody want to weigh in on this? I have counted myself blessed for keeping aquariums since 1978 and never having a seal split or fail, and I'm really not even sure that's what happened here.
edit: I forgot to mention, there is no substrate, and the stock is (2) young H. pearsei (yes I know their eventual expected size, they'll be moved when it is time), (2) young Aequidens diadema, (2) nearly grown scalare angels, (9) head and tail Light tetras added as dither, (1) pimelodus blochii.
Water changes are 20% weekly, 50% monthly, feeding is 2 to 3 times daily a variety of flake, pellet, frozen, and live.
