EMERGENCY: 54g Reef is LEAKING and now dismantled! Need new 54g Corner Bowfront!

DRC Archive General Saltwater Discussion
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First of all, it’s been a year or two since I’ve been on the forums or at any meetings, so Hi to you all (I’m Josh if you remember…).

The aquarists’ worst nightmare has just happened to me this evening. At 1220 AM I was fortunately awake in the living room where my aquarium is and I began to hear a tapping sound. I looked up and to my unbelief, my 4.5 year old aquarium was leaking and dripping onto the floor. After the several minutes of shock subsided, I got to work taking all my coral and fish (2 clowns, kole tang, shrimp goby, citron clown goby) out of the aquarium. They are all in a 20g bin for now, complete w/ powerhead and heater. The rest of my LR is in another 20g bin, and I have 2 5g buckets full of sand. I need to get this thing back up ASAP. Does anyone happen to have any leads on a 54g corner bowfront aquarium? I’ll be calling all of the usual suspects tomorrow (DPA, ECA, TFP, etc.) in desperation trying to find a replacement. I thought about attempting to fix it but I really can’t trust this thing anymore. It looked like it was leaking from the front-right side. There are no cracks at all in the glass. I wonder if my pistol shrimp is to blame. Would they mess with the silicone seals? I’ll clean it out tomorrow to get a better look, but I just want to replace it and get my aquarium/life back! I’ll take ANY advice you can give! Thanks!

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Were you in love with the corner bowfront? Many people find it a bit aqward to work with and a bit too small to house full size tangs. You may be able to find a reef ready 75g a lot faster and a lot more local to you.

REMEMBER, you can run a tank with out a sump and many people do successfully for many many years. If you buy a Reef Ready(RR) tank with an overflow box you can put water in the tank before you have the pipes set up. Just make sure it is easy to work with where the plumbing will be.(larger corner tank could be a nightmere to reach) I have run 75g reef ready tanks with no pipes in the over flox box or sump under the tank for months with out issues.
The other benefit there is that you don’t have to throw the live stock in with 80g of new water not well mixed and 10g of seeded water just because you feel you have to rush things.

You probably don’t need to rush things. If the live stock doesn’t look happy make sure the temperature is right and that they get getting enough oxygen and movement. If you have an ammonia test kit it wouldn’t hurt to check on things 1-2 a day for the next couple of days if you don’t have an instant solution.

If you loved the tank you have and want to find the exact same thing call around to Concord Pet supply, Petco, and Petsmart as well. Hate to support the bigger changes, but if you need one asap and the LFS don’t have them…

Could look at the upside and use this as an opportunity to upgrade the tank size.

Leave the sand out, at least for now. Unless you gravel vaced once a day or had a massive amount of sand stirring animals(and I mean a massive amount) then there was likely a lot of stuff that settled in it and it will cloudy the tank and strip oxygen if you add it back in. It helps a marine tank in certain several little ways in the long run, but your tank will be 100% fine with out it. You have enough to worry about at this point, so I would ignore that.

Do you have the ability to do water changes on your live stock? VERY small frequent water changes until the new tank is running will help keep things stable. Also keep the power head near the top to help keep things highly oxygenated which is key.

I don’t think your pistol shrimp is to blame.

Do you have any anemones? If so don’t keep them in a temporary tank with a power head, they will end up in the power head and if it is the only one they will stress and release slime and possibly jam the only water mover. Would be better to have them in a 5g bucket with a bubbler and small heater.

All I can think of at 3am. Make sure anything I said makes sense to you before you follow it. Post any questions you may have. Best of luck.

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Any luck yet finding something?? Re-sealing it isn’t that bad, i would reccomend doing all the seals because you never know where the leak could be migrating from… the down side is you need to let that new silicone cure for at least a couple days… at least you were home and awake, could’ve been a bigger nightmare then it already is!!
whatever you decide, don’t toss out that tank, and just give a shout if you need anything else… i like jon’s idea though… upgrade!! lOl

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Tank could be sold, cheaply, to someone willing to reseal it or to a reptile geek. Certainly don’t toss it. I rarely ever trash a tank even if it is in very rough shape. Ask Joe.

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[quote=“Gordonious, post:4, topic:3674”]
Tank could be sold, cheaply, to someone willing to reseal it or to a reptile geek. Certainly don’t toss it. I rarely ever trash a tank even if it is in very rough shape. Ask Joe. [/quote]

Very true, don’t throw it out!

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I think I am going to take Jon’s advice and upgrade. Was just in DPA talking to Jared and he convinced me of a 65g (regular old rectangle tank) w/ corner overflow. Now of course I need a new light, sump, etc., etc…this is not a cheap hobby. Anyone need a 54g corner w/ a leak and a stand to go w/ it???

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I have a couple 55 gallon tanks no bow front I would be willing to sell or trade tanks they all are in great shape hold water and no scratches even have a nice stand to go with it.

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Sure you want to go 65 vs 75g? The costs of running the two are about the same as the depth is the same(same light to penetrate) and smaller bulbs often aren’t much more then a dollar cheaper.(Speaking in terms of T5s above) The amount of flow, and skimming required is about the same as well. 75 may allow you to do a bit more aquascaping wise and may be a bit better for larger tangs, rabbit fish, and so on. It is up to you. A 48" stand also has a good bit more working room. Even at 48" it is a struggle to fit a proper size fuge, skimmer, and media reactors in my opinion, but 36" is just real difficult.(again in my opinion)

Up to you and partly comes down to the space you have to work with.

Regardless pop online more often and we can help you through the decisions and whatever.

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Unfortunately I only have about 37" in the corner I’m putting it. If I had the room, I’d definitely go 75g or larger. Tearing down a tank that’s been running for a while SUCKS! All I have left to move is the tank and stand. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks guys!

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Any suggestions for the size of the sump section I should leave for a skimmer? I have an AquaC Urchin which takes up virtually no space, but I’d like to have the option of upgrading in the future. What are the best/most popular skimmers you guys use today? I’m using a 20g long aquarium as a sump. Overflow will come into the left side where I’ll place the skimmer, then middle will have a fuge w/ mud, then a small section for the pump.

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Make sure the 20L will fit in the stand before you drill or anything. I had a 65 and the stand was about 1/8th of an inch too narrow on the inside. Bigtime PITA. Just make sure it fits before you add water, etc.

Good luck!

Joe