Odd drip from trim of tank....

[Skyeboy]

i have a 180g that has been running few months with no issues. Recently noticed a dry drip mark down fron corner of tank. It appears that there is a small bit of water between the glass and the top plastic trim. There are bass in the tank and they do splash from time to time.however i only noticed the water this past week. Do you think they somehow got water in there? Or do i need to put more silicone near the plastic top trim? Is there a leak?I attached pics. One is of the outside view and other is from inside of tank where water is between glass and trim. The seams appear to be fine. This tank is only year old.

 

[dr exum]

others will chime in - it does not appear to have anything to do with the integrity -

 

[Matteus]

I had this issue with my last 180

As long as the water is coming up over the side or else condensation you should be fine. It will just be annoying to see water marks coming down your tank. If it was structural like exum mentioned, it would be coming from the seal.

You could try to caulk it, but you will need to make sure the surface is fully cleaned, dry, and also need to use a primer on the plastic or else the caulking won’t stick properly and you will be right back at square one but with caulking in the way.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I don't see anything to worry about, looks like you've got a few spots with condensation or splashes around the trim.

 

[Skyeboy]

Ok thanks guys i will keep an eye on it. Has me paranoid now bc the tank is in my brand new finished basement.

 

[Oughtsix]

Is the stand the tank is on solid and flat? A twisted stand will put pressure points on the tank it is holding which can tweak the tank. In my experience tweaked tanks are the most likely cause of seal problems and drips. Make sure the stand is planer under load (weight) and I like to use a yoga mat for a bit of extra relief from any high spots on the stand.

 

[Skyeboy]

The tank is on a solid cement floor with vinyl flooring. I needed to shim alittle to get it level. It measures level with the shims

 

[Oughtsix]

Level isn't as important as planer (flat). The tank should not rock at all when empty. When the tank is full it will conform to the floor and if it rocks at all when empty this will tweak the tank.

Level is only really important for the water line to look right. As long as the tank doesn't contort when filled it should have no undue stresses that litterally try to tear it apart at the seams.

Although level is not important it can serve a secondary purpose of making it easy to check for flattness. If all 4 sides are perfectly level the tank is by default flat. If the front and back sides of the tank are not level BUT they are out of level by the SAME amount the tank should be flat which is what is important. Use a long level that will span across the entire width of the back side of the aquarium. Add shims between the level and the corner of the rim of the tank that is low until the level reads... "level". Move the long level to the front of the tank and move the shim to the front corner of the tank. If the level reads "level" with the same thicknes of shims then your tank is flat but not level... which is perfectly fine! The same holds for the left and right sides of the tank.

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

No worries. I have the same issue with a 65 gal. tank. The problem is condensation at the top of a corner joint. There is a tiny gap in the plastic trim, allowing moisture to slowly seep through. Nothing structural.

 

[BigDaddyMagnum]

i wouldn’t worry, when it comes through the seal i would panic but otherwise i think you should be fine