Leaking aquarium

[KyleBradley]

My 39-gallon tank has a salty residue around the top and bottom frames, and I can only assume that it is leaking ever so slightly and evaporating so quickly that only the minerals are left. I have a cloth skirt around the bottom of it, and the skirt is not wet, so it's a very very slow leak.
Can anyone tell me the steps involved in sealing a tank, since the package directions are never filled with the tips and tricks that people have learned from experiene.

 

[Big Vine]

That's strange...the cloth at the bottom isn't wet at all? Are there any water-marks along the corners of the tank anywhere?

Seems to me that this is from evaporation, but I don't know how fast it is emptying on you. That would depend on your lighting too and how open the hood on your tank is. I had an old ten gallon tank a while back, and it would evaporate water very quickly---the hood had lots of openings in it. Seems like the water level would go down at least an inch in under a week's time. My Eclipse tanks, on the other hand, are covered so well that there is virtually no evaporation at all.

Of course, you're talking about a much bigger tank, so any really noticeable decline in the water level would be more suspicious...

Hmm...guess I'm not really solving your problem here...just thinking out loud. Lol.

Big Vine

 

[KyleBradley]

Actually, there's no noticeable water loss, but the white residue is around the bottom of the tank, so it can't be evaporation from the top, and, no, the skirt is not wet at all. I'm befuddled..

 

[FroggyFox]

Its a fw tank right (if it was salt it would make a lot more sense haha)? Do you have pretty hard water? I know that when I do water changes I drip water all over the place and I try to wipe it up but generally I miss a least a little and end up with the crusty white gunk. I also have an issue with my tanks sometimes when water condenses on the hood and I open it up or bump the tank it will roll off and over the edge.

I would lean towards that if you dont notice any water loss, and the cloth around the tank isn't wet at all...then you probably dont have a leak.

PS I also had an issue a few weeks ago with my 55g tank, thought it was leaking but what was happening was the splashback from the filter output was hitting the side of the tank and rolling down to where another piece of equipment was over the edge and then falling over the back of the tank. SO be sure to check the bottom of all of your equipment to make sure its dry.

 

[scubadude]

I had a similar prob once. Check to see that condensation from the interior of your hood is building up on the upper edge of the tank.....if so get a diffrent hood that will drain the condensation back into the tank more effectivly.