Developing a leak in 100 gallon tank

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Tom Puskar - 17 Jul 2005 01:50 GMT

I may be headed for trouble here! I have a 100 gallon aquarium I got from a
friend. It has been in use for about 18 months without a hitch. I have a
bunch of goldfish in it ranging from 2 inches to 8 inches.

I noticed water on the stand at one corner of the tank (oh yeah the tank is
18 inches square by 6 feet long) this evening when I was feeding the fish.
The tank is in an out of the way corner so there's no chance it got bumped
or banged.

The water seem to be coming from the band of metal on the bottom of the
tank. If I push it in a bit I see water between it and the glass.

The leak isn't bad and I won't lose too much water but I'm afraid it is a
precursor of things to come. I know this sound silly, but is there a way to
find and seal the leak without tearing the tank down? It is well balanced
and I hate to start over.

Any ideas?

Tom from Howell, NJ

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bassett - 17 Jul 2005 07:26 GMT

You could try and get some silicone between the glass and the band on the
outside, Or there are some silicones that will set while in water, you could
try using some of that on your finger, on the seam, corner join on the
inside. By the sound of it, you only have a pin hole size leak. So it's not
going to take much to seal it . As for fumes , etc from the silicone, with
the small amount you going to use and the large volume of water it really
won't matter.
bassett

>I may be headed for trouble here! I have a 100 gallon aquarium I got from
>a friend. It has been in use for about 18 months without a hitch. I have
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Tom from Howell, NJ

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OmManiPadmeOmelet - 17 Jul 2005 09:25 GMT

> I may be headed for trouble here! I have a 100 gallon aquarium I got from a
> friend. It has been in use for about 18 months without a hitch. I have a
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Tom from Howell, NJ

I personally do not see much of a choice...

Just save all the "balanced" water in some clean 5 gallon buckets???

You could use a large rubbermaid storage container as a temporary tank
while this one "cures" after re-sealing.

Good luck! What a PITA!!!

Signature

Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

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Lilly - 19 Jul 2005 17:42 GMT

Seal it from the inside out. Otherwise, the pressure will just pop the
silicone plug. There is no guarantee it will work, but likely it will
hold. You just have to find the spot or seal the whole stretch of
silicone over again. Run it over the old stuff making sure it has
complete contact with the glass on both sides of the seam.

Do it now. You really don't want to hear waterfalls in your house do
you? I've BTDTGTTS. ;-)

Lilly

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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / July 2005

Developing a leak in 100 gallon tank