My tank is leaking!!! aggghhhhh!!

[smellsfishy]

Ah yes, 8 weeks into this hobby and my patience is really being tested tonight.
My wife n kds n I get home from a nice dinner and a little shopping (including the LFS for some water, new PH, phosphate filter pad for the cyano hostile-takover-attempt, etc) We get home after a couple hours and my son (6y/o) runs out to the truck as I'm unloading and yells "daddy, somethings wrong with the fish tank!!" yeah, sure I think to myself, but then he includes"...and theres water all over the carpet!!" Oh, S@#T!!! I think to myself..plus a few extra explatives...
So.....all my LR and critters are spending the night "camped-out" in 2 big ice-chests, 2 5gal buckets (sand) and a 5gal jug. I've got the PH and heater with the critters, and another (brand new!) PH in the icechest with other rock.
What a huge pain in my A$$$! Not exactly the way I was hoping to spend the evening.
Oh, I cleaned out the tank in the driveway, filled it with some water, and viola...water seeping out from under the front. I'm thinking the front bottom seam popped loose or something. The water wasnt pooring out, just a fast seep.... enough to soak every towel in our house in a matter of 30 minutes. Looks like it drained about 3 gal in the 2.5hrs we were gone.
Just thought I'd share this experience with y'all. Anybody had a similar experience? Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[fshhub]

All I am going to say is that hopefuly you can correct the problem, without any major catastrophes. It already sounds as if you are handling it well. But, I am not going to say anymore, so as to not jinx myself.
my hopes are with you, I know what it is like to have an emergency. And that it is never a good thing. Just be glad it was merely a seep. Had you been much longer, it could have gotten worse, water has a bad habit of making holes bigger before it si all over.

 

[smellsfishy]

Yes, it could have been much worse. And I am very thankful it wasnt. The water level was just about low enough for the PH to shoot water all over the place, including out of the tank.... that may have qualified as worse..
I'm hoping the little livestock I have makes it through this. I'll be at the LFs when they open at 9am to give them the defective tank back, get a new one and start alllll over again.

 

[dreeves]

My 45 did that. Except mine was like a 3 inch high drinking fountain out of the right from corner. You were lucky to have your child detect it for you quickly...
Mine leaked about 15-20 gallons through the night, and I found it the next morning while in the basement trying to figure out why my several thousand in power tools was dripping...
Good luck...and oh yeah...a wet/dry vac is a very handy device.

 

[birdy]

Just thought I would say that really sucks, you should try to get some freebies from your LFS for the trouble this has caused.

 

[smellsfishy]

LFS didnt hesitate in replacing the tank. I was standing at the door when they opened this morning. In fact the one they gave me is a "Visio", which is twice as Heavy with twice as much silicone. Looks mucho stronger than the "Marineland" tank that leaked. Critters are still alive nitheir temp. quarters. Tonight they'll b back in the tank. I just hope water param's stay good...
Thanks.

 

[rickycobra]

good luck man, and dont let the bad luck get you down.

 

[mdhyde]

ice chests make great fish tanks......and you can still float your beers in there!!!

 

[smellsfishy]

I could use a few cold ones about now. I just finished getting everything and everybody back in their new, non-leaking home. Took me most of the day with work...sons t-ball practice..etc etc.
Well, at least the rock formation looks cooler than before, and nothing has died (yet!!). I was gonna add some "fresh" saltwater, rather than all the water thats been sitting in the cooler and sand buckets all day and all night.... LFS store: "no water 'til tomorrow". I'm afraid to test param's..if all is alive in the morning, must be o.k.

 

[kalisad]

sorry to hear about your near catastrophe smellsfishy. I have a similiar story to share. My darling husband (who has difficulty leaving things alone) was constantly checking the protien skimmer (like ALL the time) Well, he failed to put the skimmer back together properly one time and it began to leak (was hanging on the back of the tank) It obviously wasn't a fast leak or we would have noticed it right away. It was a slow leak...... Getting to the point of my story. One morning my husband came to me and said, "Um.....the protien skimmer was leaking and I didn't notice and it has leaked onto the stand and the stand is about to collapse." I totally FREAKED out. 55 gallon fish tank about to collapse on my brand new berber carpet!?!? We ended up having to go back to the LFS, buying a new stand, had to drain the tank, switch the aquarium to the new stand. It was a BIG fat mess. Thank god the stand didn't collapse though. Needless to say the protein skimmer is no longer in use and my husband doesn't touch anything anymore.

 

[badkharma]

A stand shouldn't collapse if it gets wet. Unless it was made with particle board. Which a stand should definitely NOT be made out of. :thinking:
EDIT: Wow I just brought this back from the dead. I was doing a search on "Visio" tanks and this one came up, and I thought I'd reply without checking the date.

 

[aaron childs]

Very sorry to hear that ...:nope:
That happened to me a little over a year ago. My 29, just "cracked" open. *Sigh* ... I quit the hobby for a year, but Im back and as strong as ever. Stay positive and relaxed. This is a great hobby.
Enjoy the "new" tank and good luck!