Tank Emergency!!!

[cabbagehead]

Well today was the single most frustrating day that I have had with my tank. I got a call at around 1:1:00pm from my wife saying that the tank was LEAKING water. I tried not to panic knowing that I had adjusted the skimmer late the night before . I explained how to open the flow valve on the skimmer and that I would look at it when I got home (7:00pm). AT first it seemed that this was the correct solution but after a couple of hours my wife noticed more water coming out from the bottom of the tank!!! I told her to shut everything off but the powerheads and separate the light ballasts from the cabinet. When I got home I tore apart the plumbing and removed everything from under the tank. It turns out that I had a one inch hole in my rubbermaid sump ( temporary sump ). Lucky for me the hole was about 5 inches from the top of the sump and was only letting a small amount of water leak out. When I removed the sump the hole got bigger and it started to really let a lot of water out. I was able to pump all the water to a 55 gallon brute container that I use for water changes that just happened to have my mag5 in it connected to a hose. Well, needless to say I have just spent the past 3 hours constructing my Sump/Fuge out of my old 55 gallon. I am now waiting for the silicone to dry so I can do a flow test with water. My tank is now running on just four maxijet 1200's pointed to the top of the tank to stir up water. Its going to be a long night!!!

[pham411]

doh!! i hope u dont have carpet man

[gwen_o_lyn]

sorry to hear that!! I've been using a rubbermaid sump for awhile now- doh!

[cabbagehead]

No carpet thank goodness!! When I got the bigger tank I moved it to a tiled area of the house. I do not regret that decision.

[JustDavidP]

ouch...yet another reason for my setting up the sump in the basement and using a pressure rated pump to feed the display upstairs.

Hope it all works out for you..

Dave

[gman0526]

Your tank will be fine. Just make sure you're getting as much circulation through the tank as posssible, a lot of people run sumpless systems, so just point one maxi to the surface and have the others moving water around the tank until you get all back to normal. Even though it was bad just be grateful it wasn't worse.

[Kassun]

cabbagehead: sorri to hear about the leak, but it sounds like you were able to act fast and come up with a temporay solution. I have the worst luck when I pick out new tanks. Everyone I pick when I bring home leaks, It doesn't matter if I take the one in the back or top, it's a curse . I now have my wife pick out the tanks and the leaky issues are resolved.

-Kassun

[kj_yoda]

I had a tank leak from the bottom of the tank... but it was actually was leaking from the seal at the bottom... had to downsize rather quickly from a 110 to a 55.

[jeepjon]

Good call on the work to fix the tank! That was some good hard work that fixed it. Great call!