our 75 is leaking … more like seeping out of joint of the side and bottom glass. any ideas on how to seal this. its not bad yet just a little damp and an accumulation of salt.
cleaned and sealed with silicone fingers crossed any other ideas
wow both of us. what are the chances…hope ya got it fixed. let caulk dry 24 hrs should do it
Do nothing!
If the leak is that small it will fill itself. I would simply let it stop on its own and avoid that area of silicone when cleaning. If it gets worse in the future, i would reseal the seam. Ive suffered from the “molehill/mountain” affliction too many times to overreact to something so minor!
thanks guys i think it should be ok. keep ya posted. if it isnt one thing its another in this hobby. will have to post some pics of the tank some time this week see what every one thinks so far
I doubt it will seal itself as there is a decent amount of pressure because of the water. The water movement in the tank adds extra strain on the seam. I would not feel safe going to work with a “seeping” little leak.
ya i agree it would always be wet so salt creep would not close hole and pressure would force water through. i would caulk it then retest. i have even made gaskets from caulk for pressure lines.
Hey guys. Sorry to hear about that… seems like its always something doesnt it? How is the silicone patch holding up?
so far so good. it was real slow so hard to tell. hope that its under the sand bed the sand will help plug the leak like it would in a radiator.
Are you kidding? My bulkhead in my tank leaked for days. Everytime i tried to fix it it got worse. Jim told me to leave it alone. I did. It hasnt leaked for 4 years. I built a manifold about a month ago. I had a really slow leak at one fitting. It would leak at a rate of about 1 drop every 3-5 minutes or so. I left if for a couple of days and has never leaked since. That manifold has WAY more pressure than any seam of a 75g. If its a steady leak, repair it the right way or bad things will happen. A bandaid will only leave to failure later. If its a VERY slow leak, leave it alone, it will stop.
My :TWOCENTS
not saying it would not stop on its own. on whirlpools the jets are only siliconed in where they meet fiberglass as gasket. i have had to redue this seal before. i know alot of people dont glue fittings and they can leak till salt creep seals them. al did not glue some of his plumbing so he could change things around later.
I dont glue any drain fittings! All of my drain fittings are simply slip fittings that are pressure fitted. I like to use threaded with pipe dope for pressure pipes, but i usually glue. I guess its all in how you define a leak. In my experience when the leak is really slow its best to leave it alone. It will stop and your not hiding the problem. However, if the leak is significant, its best to fix it the right way. A bandaid will only hide the symptoms and you could be setting yourself up for a catastrophic failure later on.
For example, if the seam of my tank were leaking at a significant rate, i would never simply put silicone on top of old silicone. The tank could be pulling apart at the seam, but your repair job may hide the symptoms until its to late. If its very slow and you do nothing, only one of two things can happen. It will stop or get worse.
Hope it is still holding well for you.
A bulkhead is a little different then the tank. If it was a bulkhead or a pvc drain I would leave it but not a tank
Well, now we have answered two out of three important questions. We now know WWSD, and WWAD…but lets ask ourselves, WWJD? lOl
Split the water where the leak was and reseal it? lol
lOl
So that would be WWID
What Would I do
I will never forget the story my grandfather told me when I was a kid about the silicone giving way on his fish tank during Easter dinner.
There the family sat, enjoying their Easter ham when the whole front panel of his tank gave way dumping the entire contents of his tank on to the living room floor.
I would never wait to hope salt will seal a leak in a tank. Way too much time, money, and love put in to our tanks to have them end up on the living room floor.
I don’t like water on the floor. Anymore. 