Dilema - Need Help

[Nemain]

My tank is leaking. From what I can see, it is both front corner seams, the leak is slow (5 Gal/day - 92 gallon tank), I have drained as much water as I can without disturbing the livestock in the tank too much.

And, it is still leaking. I am going to have to remove everything in my tank.

How difficult will it be to move the contents of Broken tank directly into a new tank? Is this a viable option? Or do i have to rubbermaid everything whilst I play around with attempting to repait the broken tank?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks =)

Beth

[Aquattro]

you could certainly move the stuff into a new tank, but usually the new tank needs to sit where the old one presently sits. That's where the tubs come in. Are you sure it's leaking? Is there water running down the sides? My tank loses 5g/day from evaporation.

[Nemain]

Definately leaking, the floor and the under neathe of the tank are wet, and it is 5 gallons more that what would normally be expected to evaporate.

Why would the new tank have to sit where the old is?

[Jason McK]

The new tank certainly doesn't need to sit were the old one is. Just most people may not have a second choice or water and other things are handy were the original tank is.

Having had two leaks myself, and two replacements I would check your tank warranty. No sense paying for a new tank if you don't have to. I have also heard of 2 people who had their tank replaced even after the warranty ran out.

If you have the option moving your inhabitant directly to the new tank would be best. But you will still need buckets. If you are going to use the same sand it will need time to settle and this may be a good time to add more or clean what you have. Stirring up a sand bed can be deadly.

Just out of curiosity what size and who makes your current Tank?

J

[Nemain]

92 gallon All-Glass. i emailed themabout the problem, but havent recieved a reply as of yet, be it as it is the Christmas season, I am really not expecting much in the short term =)

About how long do you think I should let the sand bed settle in the new tank? Prior to adding everything?

Live rock shortly after I would imagine, about a week for other inhabitants?

[Jason McK]

I'm going to write from experience. I'm sure there will be many that will feel that my info is wrong, but this is what I did, not out of knowledge but out of panic.

I will combine both leaks.

Back seem slit 5:30am. Removed all LR into 2 Rubber maid Garbage cans.
Removed all coral into shallow rubber maid container.
Removed 5 fish (one Tang) into 10G tank
Inverts went into Coral tank
Sand into garbage pail

New tank arrived in two weeks. That two weeks with a tang, 3 Chromis and a Blenny in a 10G. Amolock was used but Ammonia levels were through the roof the entire time. (AmoLock makes Ammonia less deadly to fish but will not effect the readings from test kits)

New tank arrived. Wet tested for a couple of hours
added new water (About 20G) brought up to temp and added salt.
Added sand Ran power heads and Skinner plus some filter floss.
Next Day added LR and water from LR buckets. Drained some of the New water out.
Next Day added Coral and Fish. Zero Losses.

I must admit I got lucky. The fish I had during both mishaps I still have today. 9 Months later. All coral I had then I also have today. One Shrimp was lost several days after


As you could expect I don't sleep very well anymore. Always one ear on the tank. :smile:

I hope this helps some what. The only advise I can offer is to try and slow down. I was always in a panic trying to get the poor fish out of that dam 10G. If you have the time to do things right or make improvements to your system this is the best time to do it.

Good Luck
Jason

[Nemain]

Ok picking up the new tank tommorow. It is pre drilled, unlike the cursed one I have now, but thats an improvement I am happy for.

My problem is: LFS says that I need a new filter ( a trickle filter, not canister) and pump, and pluming, lalala etc.

How much of this can I get away with NOT buying for the interum? I was planning on switching my fish over to the *ecosystem* at the end of the month ....

Any help would be great! Thank you all muchly, and BTW - AG tanks were wonderful about the entire thing =) Very profesional.

Beth

[Jason McK]

Well I would say you don't need any type of filter. You have a sump? Skimmer? LR? and an active sand bed. I'd say your set.
Never had a filter in my system

J

[Aquattro]

Is this a reef? If so, you don't need a trickle filter. All you need is a sump (rubbermaids work well) and a return pump. You connect it all together with pvc pipe.

[CHEAPREEF]

If your worried about the new pump ect to run a sump, just cap the overflow pipe for right now until you get the rest of your setup. Run it as a sumpless system for the time being. Not sure if that's what you meant or not. I did ths on my current system for the first month till i got everything sorted out.

Clinton

[Nemain]

Ok, I will just pick up the tank and pluming tommorow =) Thank you all very much =)

I already have a skimmer, and a canister filter ( my newbie buy's :splat: )

*crosses fingers*

Just a few more hours beore the final transfer o_O

Beth

[Nemain]

Everything is in the new tank !!!! *cheers* Everything seems to be fine, other than all my baby snails - was just imposible to transfer them all =(

I wanted to thank you all again for your help =) It means a lot to me =)

Beth.

[Aquattro]

Keep us updated, glad it went smooth!

[Nemain]

I just did all the cursed water tests; of course nitrates were a little high, amonia was a little high not sure why, but again, just slightly raised), what worrys me is that the PH is at 7.5ish from its normal 8.2 =(

Could it be that raising the temp in my house to help keeping the heat in all the buckets added that much CO2 into my air and dropped the PH? Or is there something else that could be causing it?

Any help would be appreciated.

I would rather try to figure out the problem before I start dosing anything.

Thanks again,

Beth

[Aquattro]

A rise in NH3 and NO3 can affect pH. What is your alk? Acides, (ammonia and nitrate) affect alkalinity which in turn reduces it's ability to buffer the pH. A partial water change and good surface aeration should help.

[Nemain]

Have two ten gallon changes getting ready =) I am hoping that will fix it all up, just in case I opened all the windows upstairs :P

I think due to stress I will make several small wter changes this week, perhaps even the next.

I lost more snails today, not sure if my crab just got honery or if they fell to their demise. When do you think it would be safe to add more?

Also, ALK is a touch low, but I have been strugeling with it for about a month now, so its not really concerning me atm.

Beth

BTW : Happy New Years all, may it be filled with blessings and good will.

[Aquattro]

how low is a "touch"? The higher it is, the less likely the pH will be affected by acids.

[Nemain]

around 100ppm.

[Aquattro]

Hagen kit? Not sure what 100ppm is. Is there a conversion factor in the instructions? I forget what it is.

[Nemain]

Just got a new kit, says the PH is at 8.1 and alkalinity is at 7 ;/ seems a little strange to me, so I am going to get yet another kit, three times the charm right!

Everything is going very well atm, other than that this new tnak has a mirror on the back sides. My chromis insist on swimming full force into them =( I am hoping the algea will take over soon and save what little brains they have left.

Beth