my tank sprung a major leak
18 posts • Page 1 of 2
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MARTINUTZ5646 - Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:00 pm
my tank sprung a major leak
it seems the glue on the bottom on my 55 gal. tank just gave out any ideas on how to fix or should i just buy a new one
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Peterkarig3210 - Posts: 1980
- Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am
It's easy to fix a leaking tank as long as the glass is not broken.
First, sometimes when you fill a tank all the way to the top water can seep under the plastic beam on top making it seem to be a leak lower down. If this isn't the case, empty the whole tank, rinse it out and use a sponge and clean the glass in all the seems and let it dry.
Buy some aquarium grade silicone and put a bead in all the inside edges. Then take your finger and use it to spread the silicone so it is wider than the old silicone. Do it with one movement and use a paper towel to wipe the boo-boos. Let it dry for a couple days and tank should be good as new.
I'm trying to cover everything, but when you fill it back up make sure the tank is on a flat surface so there are no weird stresses on it when it's full of heavy water.
First, sometimes when you fill a tank all the way to the top water can seep under the plastic beam on top making it seem to be a leak lower down. If this isn't the case, empty the whole tank, rinse it out and use a sponge and clean the glass in all the seems and let it dry.
Buy some aquarium grade silicone and put a bead in all the inside edges. Then take your finger and use it to spread the silicone so it is wider than the old silicone. Do it with one movement and use a paper towel to wipe the boo-boos. Let it dry for a couple days and tank should be good as new.
I'm trying to cover everything, but when you fill it back up make sure the tank is on a flat surface so there are no weird stresses on it when it's full of heavy water.
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
just as a referance a 55 gallon tank is bumping the 700 lb mark .......so PK's concern for being level and square is very warented
my stepfather blew a 29 gallon up by having it sitting on a marble when he filled it ...no warning nothin....just............ crack splash!!!!!!!
that sucked....lol
my stepfather blew a 29 gallon up by having it sitting on a marble when he filled it ...no warning nothin....just............ crack splash!!!!!!!
that sucked....lol
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martinutz - Posts: 9
- Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:23 pm
im not sure i bought it used about a year ago it had been working fine till last night good thing it happened while i was still awake.....
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Poetic_Irony2267 - Posts: 297
- Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm
do the silicone thing as it's quite cheap compared to a new tank, secondly after waiting a few days and it dries, fill it slowly. i would put maybe ten or fifteen gallons in it and let it sit if it leaks, throw it out and buy a new one, or use it as a reptile habitat. a few small lizards and a heavily (fake) planted jungle looks great in a 55 gal. if it doesn't leak i would keep adding water slowly, very slowly, a few gallons at a time and be careful not to spill water on the front of the tank as you fill it, and wait and watch after every bucket full.
Boss it happens even to 10 gallon tanks, my first tank i had when i was 7 was a ten gal, my mom went to move it from my dresser to a nice little stand she had bought for me, well she drained it down about half way, (she's a farm girl from way back, strong as an ox) she thought eh i should be able to move this, she picked it up and turned around and the whole tank exploded cutting her wrist so bad it hit the artery, she went the hospital, i came home to my room looking like someone was murdered in there, blood splatter on the wall, and all of my fish were in my top dresser drawer, thankfully my mom and all of the fish made it, top dresser drawer was empty and full of tank water so the neighbor picked the fish up off of the floor and threw them in there until i got home to put them in a bucket, the aterial spray on the walls and my toy box was enough to look like a freakin slasher movie, needless to say i got a new tank, and a new paint job for my room and toy box!!
just a lesson to everyone never move a tank that has water in it. if the stress on the glass gets unbalanced there is no telling how bad it's going to turn out!!!
Brandon
Boss it happens even to 10 gallon tanks, my first tank i had when i was 7 was a ten gal, my mom went to move it from my dresser to a nice little stand she had bought for me, well she drained it down about half way, (she's a farm girl from way back, strong as an ox) she thought eh i should be able to move this, she picked it up and turned around and the whole tank exploded cutting her wrist so bad it hit the artery, she went the hospital, i came home to my room looking like someone was murdered in there, blood splatter on the wall, and all of my fish were in my top dresser drawer, thankfully my mom and all of the fish made it, top dresser drawer was empty and full of tank water so the neighbor picked the fish up off of the floor and threw them in there until i got home to put them in a bucket, the aterial spray on the walls and my toy box was enough to look like a freakin slasher movie, needless to say i got a new tank, and a new paint job for my room and toy box!!
just a lesson to everyone never move a tank that has water in it. if the stress on the glass gets unbalanced there is no telling how bad it's going to turn out!!!
Brandon
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snowboss - Posts: 458
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:53 pm
OMG man ...........wow.......I was laughin my ass off when my stepfather blew his tank up.....but thank god no one injured and there was no fish in it at the time......your expierience is not funny at all though ...Whew.....
I'd hate to have CSI in the house and try to explain that a fish tank almost killed my mother ...................
glad to here mom is ok ......
PS...we grew up on a farm and I can totally see my mother latching onto a tank and squat thrusting it across the room ....lol
Snowboss
I'd hate to have CSI in the house and try to explain that a fish tank almost killed my mother ...................
glad to here mom is ok ......
PS...we grew up on a farm and I can totally see my mother latching onto a tank and squat thrusting it across the room ....lol
Snowboss
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Poetic_Irony2267 - Posts: 297
- Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm
LOL snowboss country women aint no joke man, she could throw bales with the best of the crew, she also use to break horses and all that as well, we talk about it now and get a good laugh cause of how she thought "eh i can move this thing, no problem" and then crack smash and i have fish in what should have been my sock drawer. the funniest part of all of that though is that all of the fish made it, living in a 1x1 foot drawer with two and a half inches of water and broken glass in it.
Brandon
Brandon
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MARTINUTZ5646 - Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:00 pm
the weird thing was that the tank had not been moved in over a year it had been just sitting there looking pretty like on my tank pic. then just out of no where the flood began. good thing i had my magnum filter it helped me empty it onto a plastic container so i just lost about 10 gallons of water to the floor...
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snowboss - Posts: 458
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:53 pm
lol nice save man .................
my mother and grandmother used to throw bales 10 feet up from the wagon to the hay mow and us kids would drag to the other end where my grandfather and uncle would stack em.....we've got nice hay elevators now...lol but my uncle at 53 and myself at 39 will put 45,000 bales up this year by ourselves....unless i can talk serial32 into helping...lol
and he has a full time job and I run my own excavation business....lol most kids don't know how to work these days anymore
Boss
my mother and grandmother used to throw bales 10 feet up from the wagon to the hay mow and us kids would drag to the other end where my grandfather and uncle would stack em.....we've got nice hay elevators now...lol but my uncle at 53 and myself at 39 will put 45,000 bales up this year by ourselves....unless i can talk serial32 into helping...lol
and he has a full time job and I run my own excavation business....lol most kids don't know how to work these days anymore
Boss
