Urgent Question: Tank in Danger of Collapsing?

[garnet13aj]

I've noticed recently that salt is forming on the outside of my tank on the bottom rim of the glass. At first it was just the left-hand front corner, but now it's on the right also. What is this from? Is this something I can stop from happening or do I need to get a new tank? How urgent do you think the problem is?
I'm heading to bed now, but I'll check back in the morning and then again in the evening. I could probably get a new tank saturday or sunday if I need to (but obviously I'd rather not cough up the money if I don't have to).
Thanks for any advice!

 

[howardj]

It's salt creep, Just wipe it off.

 

[harris28]

I would wipe it off and see if it comes back. It could have been water that splashed over the side and evaporated and left salt. Or it could be a slow leak at the bottom. Can you tell if water has run down from the top? Is the tank sitting level? I would say you have time but for sure would inspect it a little closer. If it is slowing leaking and can tell you that a friend of mine had the same thing and it was infact leaking on the bottom. Well it stayed that way for months!!!

 

[maxalmon]

Like mentioned above, wipe all the salt creep off and then do nothing to the tank, hands out...wait to see if it comes back, if it does then you have a small leak and thats not good.

 

[garnet13aj]

It's definitely coming from the bottom, not the top...In fact, when I touched the salt, there was a tiny bit of water in it yesterday. I've wiped it off a number of times and it always comes bac in the same spot. Do I need to get a new tank?

 

[maxalmon]

If you've exhausted all possibilities that it's not from the top of the tank, then I would say it's time to get a new one. How far down from the top is your water level?

 

[waterworld]

Please take this serious. Examine the tank at the edges of the glass and look for cracks as well. This could be as simple as a small leak in the seal or as extreme as glass failure. Jan 3rd the front of my 125 gallon blew out with no evidence there was an issue. Not a pretty sight and $1,000 for new carpet. See my posts on this fiasco. When in doubt be careful!
WW

 

[garnet13aj]

I am taking this seriously. I live in an apartment, I'd be paying a lot more than $1000 is there was a significant leak...That being said, I'd rather not shell out the money and perform the manual labor if it's not necessary...The salt build-up isn't lowering the water level at all and the water level is typically is about an inch to an inch and a half from the top of the tank. There are no cracks in the tank, as far as I can see, but over the course of a week or two a layer of salt builds up on the bottom left side that's about half an inch high and 2.5 inches across. The build-up on the other side is smaller than that. Is there any way to tell if this is a potential flood risk or do I need to suck it up and buy a new tank just in case? It's a 55 gallon tank, so if it blows I'm going to have a significant amount of water to deal with and no way to clean it up quickly.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by garnet13aj
http:///forum/post/2453086
I am taking this seriously. I live in an apartment, I'd be paying a lot more than $1000 is there was a significant leak...That being said, I'd rather not shell out the money and perform the manual labor if it's not necessary...There are no cracks in the tank, as far as I can see, but over the course of a week or two a layer of salt builds up on the bottom left side that's about half an inch high and 2.5 inches across. Is there any way to tell if this is a potential flood risk or do I need to suck it up and buy a new tank just in case? It's a 55 gallon tank, so if it blows I'm going to have a significant amount of water to deal with and no way to clean it up quickly.
Is there any possibility that it is dripping down along a corner or something? Is your water level really high up near the top of the rim? If your floors wobble at all, and you keep it topped up pretty high, it's possible that a little bit of water just "waves" up over the edge and runs down a corner until it builds up in that spot. I know one of my tanks does that, and I've gotten salt creep in spots that worry me until I figured out what was going on. It's not like my tank is swaying back and forth, it's just the tiny bit that the wood in my floors move when I walk through the room is enough to lightly shake the tank so the water waves can run over the edge if it's too high.

 

[garnet13aj]

I just edited my post above to mention about the water level. It's about an inch to an inch and a half from the top of the tank, but some water could be dripping during water changes...Maybe I should tape some paper towel to the glass up top and see what accumulates (if anything). Not exactly high tech, but it could rule out some options...I just don't want to come to an apartment full of water and angry neighbors/landlord waiting to sue.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by garnet13aj
http:///forum/post/2453099
I just edited my post above to mention about the water level. It's about an inch to an inch and a half from the top of the tank, but some water could be dripping during water changes...Maybe I should tape some paper towel to the glass up top and see what accumulates (if anything). Not exactly high tech, but it could rule out some options...I just don't want to come to an apartment full of water and angry neighbors/landlord waiting to sue.
I understand that, this is the reason I didnt' have a tank bigger than 12 gallon until I bought a house.

Personally, I'd have a tank on hand or a plan to get one real quick, if you think there's a chance that there truly is a leak.

 

[gmann1139]

I've noticed that I only get salt creep around my in-tank PS, due to the bubbles.
I've also heard you should throw the creep back in, as its concentration of elements could be radically different from the tank's.

 

[garnet13aj]

I've noticed that I only get salt creep around my in-tank PS, due to the bubbles.
Yeah, I get that too because my water return splashes...but what's happening at the bottom of my tank doesn't seem to be coming from any sort of splashing.