Plastic tank trim "wicking" water?

[raoul duke]

Woke up this morning to find the floor on one of the back corners of the stand for my 180 gallon FOWLR all damp.

I followed the drips up to the top same corner of the tank (confirming that it isn't the sump, bottom of the tank, or the HOB overflow box leaking) and found that when I push on the plastic trim it squeezes out a bit of water.

Two days ago I was re arranging some of the rockwork etc, so I don't know if that could have something to do with it.

My basement floor is a tiny bit canted to that side so the water is a fraction of an inch closer to the inside trim on that side.

I've read a little about how the trim can sometimes "siphon" water to the outside if the water level on the inside is touching it, but not enough to convince me that this is the case for sure.

Thoughts?

[daplatapus]

Yup, my 77 does that and drives me crazy. Salt creep all over the place because of it. It's one of the major factors in me upgrading my tank and getting rid of this one.
Technically it's called capillary action and the only way to stop it is either to keep your water level low enough the surface tension of the water never climbs up the glass wall that high or somehow get in there and completely seal that underside of the trim. I've never found a way to do it without draining my tank, so I've lived with it and cleaned up the mess everyday :(

[hillegom]

Yes mine does that too in two corners. Salt creep on outside of glass all the time, but not any water (touch wood)
The only way I see to fix it is to take off the complete top plastic surround and reseal with silicone.

[ckmullin]

If the plastic is causing this issue run the take lower for a few days and put a bead of silicone to seal that gap. Done deal.

[Phil]

I think theres a issue with some plastic trim were they silicon it to hold it on but not to seal it best bet is to lower the water level and run a bead around the inside of the tank. Make sure it's reef safe. And try to let cure as much as possible before raising the water back up.

[raoul duke]

Thanks for the input guys. The prospect of an actual leak had me a little paranoid.

I guess I'll figure out some way to sillicone it.

Unfortunately my overflow box doesn't lower on the inside much past the trim. Maybe I'ts time to swap it out for a new one so I can adjust the water level where I want it.