Leak

[Okguy]

Yep it's leaking. So slowly I hardly noticed. The ATO is keeping up with it (I had to increase the ATO pump timer by a minute last week and this explains why) but I guess I should start adding salt to keep the salinity up.

I can't pinpoint exactly where the leak is yet (I think it's on the bottom) but the salt creep gave it away. I'm calling around today to see if I can find a replacement locally. It's a metric tank so it's not easy to find (100 x 40 x 50 cm). I'm also getting quotes to get it shipped in for me.

http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=103&PROD_ID=01029740010101

It will all come down to price if I plan to continue. It's not the way I want to go out but sometimes you just don't have a choice.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc72/Okguys_tank/both_tanks.jpg

[Chin_Lee]

Are you finding any wet spots on the carpet? if you've had to increase your ATO by a minute, there should be some wet area where the water is draining from. Aside from that, did you get the MH recently? could be the just evaporation if you are not finding any dampness.

[mseepman]

Hey Kevin, that's brutal...

I agree with Chin Lee, have you found a wet area? You have a siphon overflow like me...could that be the point of water escape. Of the few times I've had water that made me look for a leak, it was always the overflow. I get a ton of salt creep from it too.

[Okguy]

No wet carpet yet. All the water is pooling under the tank (on the shelving) and I think a combination of surface tension and evaporation is keeping it there. I spent the past 2 days wiping up water hoping that maybe some just spilled over. I then cleaned the sides of the glass so that if water was running over the top the streaks would show. I managed to wedge a corner of a paper towel under the tank before bed last night and woke up to find it soaking wet.

As for evaporation it has been constant for over 3 years. This is the first time I've changed my pump timer since I got it dialed in. So that's highly unlikely. I've tried to come up with every scenario where the tank isn't leaking (fish splasing, power heads set too high) but all get quickly shot down.

The overflow seem ok (that was my first thought too). I checked it and it's completely dry. Most of the water\salt is located in the front right and the overflow is in the back left so while possible it's highly unlikely...

[Myka]

Oh no!!

What about this... buy a cheap similarly sized tank off Castanet, move your tank into there, reseal your leaky tank, SEAL TEST IT, then move everything back. This is a very affordable option, just takes more work having to move everything around an extra time.

If you do move the tank (you're going to have to at some point), I would recommend NOT moving the sand bed, simply toss it to get a new one. Stirring up the crap in the sand bed has caused more than one tank's demise.

[Okguy]

Thanks Myka, that's not a bad idea. I'll price that option out too. I just wish this could of happened at a better time. I always thought my next tank would be an upgrade and not a replacement.