Tank leak

[ooferret]

I recently began a saltwater biocube that I bought used. I have had it up and running going on 5 weeks and of course Asa I add fish a problem arises. I bought a tiny clownfish and cardinal fish to go with my cleanup crew ( minus a hermit commandeering the shiny shell of a snail are doing great) well the tank sprung a leak and has cost me the cardinal fish already. It leaks around the seals and has done a number on my water levels and salt concentration. I think the water concentration has to do alot with the changing temperature (that's TN for you 85 today 35 tomorrow) and the leaking but at this point who knows. I went ahead and bought a used standard 30 gallon tank as a back up but it is not setup obviously and just has a hang on the back filter. Is it ok to just transfer everything over and use the over the back filter till I can get the cube fixed/replaced? I got the cube to ease the transition from fw and it's letting me down. The tank is a fowlr btw so lighting isn't an issue. Thanks for any ideas

 

[ooferret]

I have sealed up the leaking parts from the outside for the time being I don't trust it long term but at least this does buy me some time to figure it out

 

[sweatervest13]

That stinks man. Sorry for all the troubles you have had.
You have live rock and live sand??
You can transfer the cube rock to the new 30g. That should help getting the good bacteria from the cube going in the new tank. keep an eye on the parameters and get yourself some Prime or Amquil + (this is an ammonia binder, it does not get rid of it, but rather makes it non-lethal). If you ammonia levels read anything other than 0 use the prime. You may have to soft cycle the new tank, this is doing water changes during the cycle.
It can be done. I had my first 29g tank spring a leak about 2-3 months into starting. I had to run out to ***** and buy a new tank at 9:00 pm at night and preform a transfer of the tank. Took until after 1:00 am to do, but everything made it through.
Be careful with the sand. Transferring the sand may cause a bit of a cycle to start. You may want to get some new dry sand for the 30g and then add just a cup or two of your LS from the cube.
Good luck!!!

 

[flower]

Hi,
I have never in 40 years had any tank leak...but I always used glass tanks. I THOUGHT I had a 6 year old 55g tank leak years ago, but it turned out to just be the filter was bubbling water over the rim just a little...I didn't discover that until I had purchased the new 55g and started to swap things out. LOL...so I had two 55g tanks, it was win, win because my husband let me then set up the extra tank too. I don't know how I would react towards the manufacturing company if I had a new tank spring a leak...the ears of the customer support person would be burning that's for sure.
In 5 weeks I don't think you have to really worry about toxic build up in the sand....I would go ahead and swap everything from the old tank to the new, including the fish (acclimate like they are new arrivals). I agree about the soft cycle and Amquil.
What I don't understand is how a leaky tank can mess with parameters, unless you didn't know it was leaking and you were adding freshwater top off. If you have a heater, the lower temps won't make any difference...the warm up can be controlled with a fan blowing across the top to cool off the surface water. A small swing in temps won't hurt anything because it takes time for the temp to change in the tank, the critters can adapt...sudden change is a problem.

 

[ooferret]

Yea if it was a new tank I would be going ballistic at some poor rep but unfortunately it was a used one. I was hoping it wasn't anything at first just coming over the top or something but alas it is coming out of the seals at the bottom mostly around the plastic back. It is very mild but I'm afraid I will come home to something not so mild. So basically I need to cycle the new tank completely before fully transferring anything? I was hoping I could try and scoop out the sand and rocks and then just transfer the water that's left and not have much of a cycle since the tank is so newly cycled and has had fish for less than a week. would it be easier to start over with new water and everything? I had about 28ish gallons left as of this morning.

 

[ooferret]

What I don't understand is how a leaky tank can mess with parameters, unless you didn't know it was leaking and you were adding freshwater top off. If you have a heater, the lower temps won't make any difference...the warm up can be controlled with a fan blowing across the top to cool off the surface water. A small swing in temps won't hurt anything because it takes time for the temp to change in the tank, the critters can adapt...sudden change is a problem.
You hit the nail on the head. I thought the water was from routine tank dealings the first couple of days because it was minor and just under the lip. I did have my wife add water when the salinity was too high and even still it remained slightly high. The temperature has more to do with my wife and outdoors than the tank heater itself. The light put off alot of heat but it levels off around 80 until these last couple of days where we have been alot hotter than room temperature. My wife keeps the thermostat at 78 to save electricity and money so that extra 10 degrees pushes the tank above 80. It's either suffer the heat myself or pay for electricity and my wife makes me lose a few fish tanks to cover the difference. I could use to sweat off a couple pounds I guess... Lol. I think it was more me trying to maintain the water levels with fresh water and thinking it was all just evaporation that messed up the salinty. Chalk it up to new hobbyist mistakes

 

[ooferret]

Be careful with the sand.  Transferring the sand may cause a bit of a cycle to start.  You may want to get some new dry sand for the 30g and then add just a cup or two of your LS from the cube. 
Good luck!!!
I have aragonite that is about 5 weeks old so I'd hate to go put more money into the tank on sand already. My spending spree to start the tank ate all of my fish budget and I'm over already for the spare tank( I just sold two 30 gallon freshwater tanks two weeks ago. funny how life works) I'm hoping to avoid any more spending that isnt medically necessary. Would it be better to transfer most of the rocks and just slowly add some of the sand? I have several small 1-2 gallon tanks I could keep the fish and crabs if the tank transfer cycled faster than starting a new tank. I'm already quite fond of my maroon clown and want to save him with as little stress to him and my pocket book as possible.

 

[ooferret]

I bought the wet sand too so it already had a good bacteria base before I started the tank so maybe that would help since it has an older than 5 weeks life?

 

[sweatervest13]

You can transfer all the rock and sand from the cube to the new 30g tank ASAP. You will not have to wait for the tank to cycle. It should have a decent amount of beneficial bacteria established on the rocks and in the sand. You do not use the old tank water. Mix up a fresh batch of RO/DI water mixed with your salt mix. I would get that water mixing ASAP as well. Try to let it mix for at least 24 hrs before you flip everything over from the bad cube.
The Prime or Amquil + will be needed... You should check the ammonia levels each day (I would do a test in the AM and again in the PM just to be safe). If you get any reading of ammonia use the prime or amquil + per the directions.
You do not need to wait to fully cycle the new 30g tank. The LR and LS from the cube should keep it from a full cycle. Like I said before just keep an eye on the tank, you may need to soft cycle the tank (you should be fine though).
Let us know if you have any other questions.
Nothing new to buy because you already have the new tank and the LR and LS from the cube.

 

[ooferret]

Excellent! I was worried about the filter but I have a power head for the current so ill just hope the hang on filter works! Ill keep you posted

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395289/tank-leak#post_3519102
Excellent! I was worried about the filter but I have a power head for the current so ill just hope the hang on filter works! Ill keep you posted
What filter were you using before? Why can't you use the same "everything" from the other tank?

 

[ooferret]

It's a biocube so it is all contained in the back of the aquarium. The pump and the rack comes out but it's a self contained unit so I can't just move the housing. It's why I got this tank to begin with. It made the tank setup a breeze essentially put water in and plug it up

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395289/tank-leak#post_3519171
It's a biocube so it is all contained in the back of the aquarium. The pump and the rack comes out but it's a self contained unit so I can't just move the housing. It's why I got this tank to begin with. It made the tank setup a breeze essentially put water in and plug it up
Hi,
Now I understand...a HOB will do just fine. I removed the sump I had on the 56g, and now just use a HOB...swapping out the media is a snap, and I don't have to worry about my lifter pump failing. In the future if I ever purchase another tank, I will get it pre-drilled....if you are going to go with a sump, pre-drilled is the only smart way to go. With the right decorative macroalgae you don't need a skimmer either.
Note:
If you keep coral I wouldn't go with macros in a display, since macros really get on everything. The less invasive does not suffocate them, but it does spread out...but on a fish only system it works great.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395289/tank-leak#post_3519171
It's a biocube so it is all contained in the back of the aquarium. The pump and the rack comes out but it's a self contained unit so I can't just move the housing. It's why I got this tank to begin with. It made the tank setup a breeze essentially put water in and plug it up
Hi,
Now I understand...a HOB will do just fine. I removed the sump I had on the 56g, and now just use a HOB...swapping out the media is a snap, and I don't have to worry about my lifter pump failing. In the future if I ever purchase another tank, I will get it pre-drilled....if you are going to go with a sump, pre-drilled is the only smart way to go. With the right decorative macroalgae you don't need a skimmer either.
Note:
If you keep coral I wouldn't go with macros in a display, since macros really get on everything. The less invasive does not suffocate them, but it does spread out...but on a fish only system it works great.