Aquarium emergency

[Amy406]

Good morning everybody,
Last night at about 8 o’clock I noticed that my 90 gallon aquarium was leaking from the bottom somewhere. I wasn’t sure how large the leak was, but I noticed if I wiped it up, the water came right back to the surface of the bottom border and an hour and a half later, we were empty in the aquarium and putting all life stock and rock in Brutes. I added a heater to the brutes and today I’ll put in powerheads, but obviously with everything stacked on top of each other time is not some thing I have a whole lot of and I don’t have a spare aquarium laying around so I have to attempt to remove caulk and reseal this aquarium with an overflow built-in.
Could really use some advice on how to do this correctly as quickly and as easily the first time with no mistakes, because time is not my friend.

 

[Dburr1014]

Oh man, sorry I can't offer much advice.
Make sure that stand is level and straight. Was there a leveling mat under it?

Good luck, sorry to hear your troubles.

 

[Fish Styx]

Yikes! Sorry to hear about this. A few things... 1st and foremost, don't use caulk. Get Loctite Clear Silicone waterproof sealant. It is aquarium safe and you can find it easily at any Home Depot or Lowes. It will, however, need time to cure before you can refill your tank. Since it is empty and you'll be making a repair, it is best to do the whole tank, and not just a patch job, so to speak. If one spot failed, it is likely another will soon. It may not be in the realm of possibility financially, but at this point, given the time crunch and lack of experience repairing aquariums, it is probably best to procure a new tank entirely. If not, there are a number of videos on how to repair a tank online. Remember to take your time, ensuring that you remove all of the old silicone and residue, and then prep your edges with isopropyl alcohol before applying the new stuff. Best of luck!

 

[Amy406]

Oh man, sorry I can't offer much advice.
Make sure that stand is level and straight. Was there a leveling mat under it?

Good luck, sorry to hear your troubles.

No leveling mat but it is level

 

[Amy406]

Yikes! Sorry to hear about this. A few things... 1st and foremost, don't use caulk. Get Loctite Clear Silicone waterproof sealant. It is aquarium safe and you can find it easily at any Home Depot or Lowes. It will, however, need time to cure before you can refill your tank. Since it is empty and you'll be making a repair, it is best to do the whole tank, and not just a patch job, so to speak. If one spot failed, it is likely another will soon. It may not be in the realm of possibility financially, but at this point, given the time crunch and lack of experience repairing aquariums, it is probably best to procure a new tank entirely. If not, there are a number of videos on how to repair a tank online. Remember to take your time, ensuring that you remove all of the old silicone and residue, and then prep your edges with isopropyl alcohol before applying the new stuff. Best of luck!

I can do all that, I just don’t think I have enough time to get a new aquarium in because the corals and anemones are all stacked inside of brute, and I don’t know how long they can live in there, without some kind of light. On top of the fact that purchasing a new tank might be out of my budget. I definitely have the patience to do this right, just not quite sure how much time I really have

 

[Fish Styx]

I can do all that, I just don’t think I have enough time to get a new aquarium in because the corals and anemones are all stacked inside of brute, and I don’t know how long they can live in there, without some kind of light. On top of the fact that purchasing a new tank might be out of my budget. I definitely have the patience to do this right, just not quite sure how much time I really have

Do your best to provide heat and flow. You may experience some loss, unfortunately; but, for a day or so you'll likely be fine. The lack of light for a few days will make things grumpy, for sure, but shouldn't kill anything by itself. If it is of any comfort, raging storms pass over reefs all the time, sometimes blocking out light for days.

 

[South Carolina reef]

Time to upgrade to a 120

 

[homer1475]

Had to do something like this recently. I had new floors put down in my house so I had to move the aquarium. Put everything in tubs with a heater and PH, no lights. Everything was fine for a week. SPS were slightly ticked, but perked back up in a couple days after light was added.

Only thing I lost was a melanarus wrasses that decided carpet surfing was more fun then staying in the water.

 

[Fish Styx]

Had to do something like this recently. I had new floors put down in my house so I had to move the aquarium. Put everything in tubs with a heater and PH, no lights. Everything was fine for a week. SPS were slightly ticked, but perked back up in a couple days after light was added.

Only thing I lost was a melanarus wrasses that decided carpet surfing was more fun then staying in the water.

My "thumbs up" was for everything except your wrasse. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[srobertb]

Good morning everybody,
Last night at about 8 o’clock I noticed that my 90 gallon aquarium was leaking from the bottom somewhere. I wasn’t sure how large the leak was, but I noticed if I wiped it up, the water came right back to the surface of the bottom border and an hour and a half later, we were empty in the aquarium and putting all life stock and rock in Brutes. I added a heater to the brutes and today I’ll put in powerheads, but obviously with everything stacked on top of each other time is not some thing I have a whole lot of and I don’t have a spare aquarium laying around so I have to attempt to remove caulk and reseal this aquarium with an overflow built-in.
Could really use some advice on how to do this correctly as quickly and as easily the first time with no mistakes, because time is not my friend.

Had this happen about 2 months ago on a 120g. It sucks. 10-11 O’clock at night got a water alarm. Just had surgery so I only had one arm. Spent all night moving corals, draining, and cleaning. One of my emergency heaters in a tote had a short and killed 2 fish.

I would go find a new tank. I wouldn’t personally be able to trust that tank any more. I can use silicone but I’m no expert and once again, I would never trust it. My LFS (as an example) can have almost any sized standard tank delivered within 72 hours- about the same amount of time it would take for the silicone to be redone and cured.

You might consider looking at tractor supply/farm stores for a stock tank to put everything in while you wait. $100 makes it easier.

 

[South Carolina reef]

IMO. I would be paranoid about the remaining seals. If the bottom one failed its only a matter of time before the others go. If affordable I would replace the tank. I know I would sleep better. Just my opinion

 

[Pntbll687]

If you're going to try and reseal the tank, you need to take the entire tank apart and reseal all the joints. If you just want to get by for the time being, then add silicone where the leak is, and start looking for a new tank.

Fish and coral will be fine in the rubbermaid for now. You could go get one of the 4ft heavy duty bins from lowes or home depot to get everything in 1 tote, and you could put the lights on it.

I would go with a new tank, because if you do seal the leak, you'll be thinking about it ALL THE TIME.

Where you located? I'm sure someone on here has a 90 in the garage if you're really in a bind.

 

[Amy406]

Do your best to provide heat and flow. You may experience some loss, unfortunately; but, for a day or so you'll likely be fine. The lack of light for a few days will make things grumpy, for sure, but shouldn't kill anything by itself. If it is of any comfort, raging storms pass over reefs all the time, sometimes blocking out light for days.

I can provide lights, so this makes me feel a lot better, but my concern is that there are a lot of corals built into the rocks, so of course somebody has to be at the bottom of the brutes and there’s a lot, so I’m worried about not everybody being exposed and I have a Colorado in there and I’m worried about what she’s gonna do and wrasse who no longer has sand to bury in at night.

 

[Fish Styx]

I can provide lights, so this makes me feel a lot better, but my concern is that there are a lot of corals built into the rocks, so of course somebody has to be at the bottom of the brutes and there’s a lot, so I’m worried about not everybody being exposed and I have a Colorado in there and I’m worried about what she’s gonna do and wrasse who no longer has sand to bury in at night.

I 2nd the suggestion about buying 4' storage containers while you're at Home Depot later. Might help you spread them out better.

 

[Amy406]

Time to upgrade to a 120

I’m sure this comment will be funny when this is all over don’t get me thinking, my husband would $&@?

 

[itgoeson]

I’d get a Rubbermaid water trough from a farm store. You can hang lights over it and all your livestock and rock etc will be fine indefinitely. They’re less than $200 (plus you can resell it later). Would buy you time to get a new tank up even if it takes months.

 

[Amy406]

Had to do something like this recently. I had new floors put down in my house so I had to move the aquarium. Put everything in tubs with a heater and PH, no lights. Everything was fine for a week. SPS were slightly ticked, but perked back up in a couple days after light was added.

Only thing I lost was a melanarus wrasses that decided carpet surfing was more fun then staying in the water.

That’s so funny because that is the one fish I’m worried about, mine just doesn’t have a sound bed to sleep in. Almost couldn’t get them out of the aquarium after I emptied it last night.

 

[Amy406]

Had this happen about 2 months ago on a 120g. It sucks. 10-11 O’clock at night got a water alarm. Just had surgery so I only had one arm. Spent all night moving corals, draining, and cleaning. One of my emergency heaters in a tote had a short and killed 2 fish.

I would go find a new tank. I wouldn’t personally be able to trust that tank any more. I can use silicone but I’m no expert and once again, I would never trust it. My LFS (as an example) can have almost any sized standard tank delivered within 72 hours- about the same amount of time it would take for the silicone to be redone and cured.

You might consider looking at tractor supply/farm stores for a stock tank to put everything in while you wait. $100 makes it easier.

I was just wondering about those big tractor supply tubs, and whether I should grab one, I don’t know about my LRS , they just re-opened and I don’t know if they’d be able to get me a tank

 

[Amy406]

If you're going to try and reseal the tank, you need to take the entire tank apart and reseal all the joints. If you just want to get by for the time being, then add silicone where the leak is, and start looking for a new tank.

Fish and coral will be fine in the rubbermaid for now. You could go get one of the 4ft heavy duty bins from lowes or home depot to get everything in 1 tote, and you could put the lights on it.

I would go with a new tank, because if you do seal the leak, you'll be thinking about it ALL THE TIME.

Where you located? I'm sure someone on here has a 90 in the garage if you're really in a bind.

I’ll look into the bins, and I live in Montana. Not the easiest place to get a tank at the moment, LRS just reopened last week

 

[Just John]

One place to try for a used tank is on a local facebook reefing club page. The groups here have used tanks for sale posted all the time. Also facebook marketplace.