Crack in Tank?? Crack in Filter?? Help!!

[Kiara1125]

Yesterday morning, my tank was fine, I come home at 5:30pm and My stand is soaking wet and there's only about 3 inches of water in my tank!! I refilled my tank and look for any crack or leaks, but I don't see or feel anything happening. Just 5 minutes after wiping it down, it's wet again. I think that it's coming from my Power Filter, but just to be safe, I put all of my fish (yes, they all survived) in my other 10 gallon tank. I put all of my plants and decorations in there, my Sponge Filter, my heater, and I tranferred my hood too. They seem to be doing fine, but I don't know what's wrong with my oother tank/filter. Can someone please tell me what to do, and possibly what type of silicone to get??

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Remove the filter....is the tank still leaking? If not it is the filter, it could be just a seam. You will need to isolate the leak to determine the best repair. I had a tank that had a drip from a seam. I just lowered the water level a few inches, resealed with aquarium silicone, let it dry for 36 hours and filled it up. You should be able to determine where the leak is coming from pretty quickly.

Good luck and glad to hear all your fishies are OK!

 

[nanu156]

if the glass is cracked the tank is now a hampster cage... can't be fixed.

If the seam is bad then you can fix that. The tank drained do to 3" total? that means that the seal is at or below that line of water, I would guess your filter doesn't suck out of the bottom 3" so it can't be responsible for the leak.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Good point Marcy.....

 

[OrangeCones]

If the seam is bad then you can fix that. The tank drained do to 3" total? that means that the seal is at or below that line of water,

If it drained all but the bottom 3" of water, I'd think the possible leak in the tank's seal would be at or ABOVE the water line, not below it (or did I misunderstand?).

I would guess your filter doesn't suck out of the bottom 3" so it can't be responsible for the leak.

I've seen HOB filters crack a seam and drain a tank like this. If the intake is around the 3" mark, it could have sucked the water up and leaked it out of the filter's box.

 

[nanu156]

well yeah, it it was still leaking then the leak is below the 3" mark if the leaking stopped then it is at the 3" mark.

I think she has the aqua neon hob and I don't think their stems are that long. Yeah if it has a crack then you should be able to see it, if the water went below the intake then it isn't the filter. (can't suck up the water to leak it out if it can't reach the water right )

At this stage i would take everythig including gravel out of the tank, take the tank outside sit it on the cement and fill it up then find your leak.

They sell 10g tanks for 7.99-10.00 so if it's the tank you might just want to replace it.

 

[Monoxide]

You can fix a crack in the tank(cost a lot tho). I had few leaks myself. One was the trim around the tank it leaked very little. And after some time it squeeze its way through and eventually pile up. Id check the seams and trim on it. I had to push on the tank to try to move the crack a little bit to show the leaking area. Also Ive done this once before and I didn't hook the bottom of the feature on the back. And as the water got pulled up to the filter it leaked out of the back of the filter.

 

[nanu156]

yeah it's a 10g monoxide. That being said the time and effort to fix an actual crack would not be justified as you can go to any pet-store and buy one for 10.00

 

[Dan Steveo]

It could be related to pressure too... if lets say the crack is at 2 inches but with the water at 3 inches there isn't enough pressure to force water out then it won't leak however over three inches and there is enough pressure it will go...

best way is to strip the tank and look for sure...

However glass and concrete can be a bad mix, a nice comfy piece of polystyrene or enven on the stand where it is would do, just make sure you've checked the bottom.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Do not recall if an air pump and bubbler was mentioned to be in use in the leaking tank. If so it is possible for the tubing to siphon the tank water out, say if the power was off for a while. I place air pumps above the top of any tank to which they provide air. I also think check valves are available for the same purpose, but have not relied on them.

 

[prsturm]

If it is the filter, you can buy a new one with a stem with two intake levels, so the pump stops working once the water drops below the top intake. It loses pressure and can't keep sucking water out.

 

[nanu156]

if you determine that the filter is ok i wouldn't worry about finding the crack or leak i would just spend the small amt of money to replace the tank so that you don"t have this problem again in the future

if the tank was larger thus more expensive to replace i would then suggest you repair it or attempt to repair it

 

[Kiara1125]

Ok, so I found out that it was my power filter that was leaking, not the tank. I took out the power filter, and I'll take it to my lfs so they can check it tout. I can't find anything, but I put water in there, and turned off the filter, and the water stayed in there. So for 2 days, everything has been dry. What can you use to fix a crack in plastic??

 

[aakaakaak]

You can use silicone 1 to fix a crack in plastic I think.

Hey, isn't this your second leaky filter?

 

[Kiara1125]

...no. It's my first.

 

[nanu156]

we have had a rush of leaky filters here lately haven"t we

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

My AQ's (4) have never leaked!

 

[aakaakaak]

Somebody else's filter leaked out of a tank kit. They brought it back to the store and was replaced without incident. If you're within around 30 days of getting it and have the receipt you should be able to bring it back to the store for a direct exchange.

 

[supra1997]

Not to mention it may be smart to just go buy a new filter instead of trying to fix it. The cost of repair and hassle would not be worth it to me. Just go grab a new one and call it a day IMO.

Good, luck! Hope it all works out for you!

 

[Kiara1125]

Thanks. I've had the kit for 2 months now. Plus, I got it as a Christmas present, so I'm pretty sure I don't have a receipt. lo!! I'll be taking my filter to get looked at on Saturday, but I'm not sure that I have enough money to buy a new filter.