Leaky Tank

[selah]

Yesterday I found a slow leak in my tank (75 gallon oceanic). The water was trickeling out of the lower right hand corner area. Luckily I was home and put my fish and critters in my sons 20 gallon tank (which is crowded now), put 75 lbs of live rock in clean trash cans with tank water and an powerhead, and siphoned out all of the water. Today I scooped out all of the sand but I don't see any cracks (glass). I guess it is a bad seam? I have only had the tank up and running for less than 9 months. My local fish store is looking into a replacement with the manufacturers guarantee. What a pain!!!!
Is this a common occurance on new tanks?
Is there anything to do to prevent this from happening again?
Kim

 

[robchuck]

Sorry to hear about your tank leaking.
It sounds like you did everything right in moving the critters and LR to safety.
It definately sounds like you have a bad seam, and hopefully Oceanic will replace it for you. As for your question asking how common this is, I will say it happens from time to time, though it isn't very usual. For instance, I've probably owned 20 glass tanks or so over the years and have never encountered a leaky seam.

 

[alison]

Hi, I feel for ya, I had the same thing happen to me in a 30 gal. qt. Luckily I just had to drain it, and it wasn't my reef or anything. My tank was over 6 years old, so a seam was going. Saltwater is SOOO harsh on everything, so it can be a bit more common that freshwater. Plus with coraline, sometimes people can get a bit overzelous with scrapin that off the glass and nick a seam. I know I personally have done that myself. Luckily it wasn't bad, but I learned to stay away from the seams, and use no scrapers near there. Seams can just all the sudden start to leak I've heard it over and over again. I also about 6 months ago had my center support on my reef tank break, and had to go and get a new tank because of it. Tanks I guess wear out just like anything else. How long had yours been set up? -ali

 

[selah]

Hey, thanks for the info. I am pretty new to this hobby so my tank has only been set up for about 9 months. I only had 3 fish, 2 shrimp, star fish and a bunch of snails. Luckily my LFS is going to replace the tank for me. How great is that!! Some time this week I have to take my old tank back to the LFS and they are going to order me a new one. I hope this is a one time event because it sure is a pain.
Kim