What do you do if your 55 gallon starts to leak from the bottom??

[shine~on]

oh yeah, this is great...
55 gallon tank, is leaking from the bottom, so no way to patch besides tearing the whole thing apart and going from the bottom. I've looked carefully and it's not coming from any hoses at all.
How am I supposed to handle this situation? I have coral and LR,LS and FISH.
I know I'm going to have to take it apart, but what do I do with all the livestock in the meantime? How to keep the coral alive? I'm gonna have to patch the tank w/ silicone and after that's all done I have to wait 24 hours right?
This has to have happened to someone before, how did you handle it????
why :nervous: oh why

 

[ronipa]

I opted for the fast and easy way out and just spent $40 on a new tank. Those things are pretty cheap around here (unless it's an all glass one). I bought the tank and had everything ready for a quick switch.....
Good luck with whatever you do!
Roni

 

[gregvabch]

yeah, i think you'd save yourself a lot of heartache if you just got a new one and swapped them out. good luck!

 

[birdy]

To switch everything over, get some large rubbermaid containers and move everything over to them, then get a new one, 55gal. tanks are the cheapest don't even try to patch it IMO.
Good luck, that really stinks.

 

[shine~on]

hmm ok. How much bigger of a tank could I get without having to cycle the water?

 

[birdy]

If you use the same rocks sand and water I would think you could go up to 50% bigger without a cycle, there are people who do a 50% water change without going through a cycle, That is the absolute highest I would go though, and you do run the risk of a small cycle with a 50% water changes. I would think you could easily move up to a 75gal without a cycle.

 

[shine~on]

yea, I'll probably go w/ a 75 gallon. Maybe I can get a hippo tang now . I'm thinking too far ahead, I've got a lot of work to do :nervous:

 

[sagxman]

I'm thinking too far ahead, I've got a lot of work to do
No, thinking too far ahead is the fun part. And besides, it gives you a goal to keep you motivated while you are working on the stressful part.

 

[shine~on]

If I upgrade to a 75 I can still keep my lighting right, the 75 is the same length as the 55 gallon just wider right?
I'll be picking up a rubbermaid tonight, thanks for replies.

 

[shine~on]

Should I transfer my Sand bed to the same container? would this cause a nitrate spike? wouldnt this make the water in the rubbermaid very cloudy? It's been established since October.

 

[birdy]

Is it a DSB?
I have heard to only move the top 3" of a DSB, and leave the bottom part. If you sandbed is only a couple of inches, then I would put it in a completely seperate rubbermaid, You could have an ammonia spike from the switch of sandbeds (I had one for about a week from my switch). I just kept all my livestock out of the tank for a week.

 

[ty_05_f]

Yeah you should be just fine moving to a 75. I moved my 25 to a 58g and I didn't cycle. I also didn't have any loses on the switch. I did have a small spike but it was gone very quickly. It's always wonderful to take a bad thing and make it a good one.

 

[shine~on]

Welp, I got everything into the rubbermaid, I soon found out after putting a little sand in there that it was a BAD idea. Water was very cloudy. I got the sand in seperate buckets now.
Can the fish still breathe ok in the cloudy water?
also, I have my PC lighting resting on top of the rubbermaid will this melt the plastic if I keep it on for a day or so?
got my yellow tang out in a seperate bucket whom I've been wanting to get rid of to a better home (larger tank), hopefully the 1000 gallon at LFS. They have weird hours tomorrow but hopefully I can catch them before work.

 

[ty_05_f]

I don't think the pc would melt the plastic but im not 100% positive on that. Its good that you care about your fish that much and that you will find a much better home than what you can provide for him. :happyfish