First fill and leaking

[hoco86]

Hi I'm very new.
I have 125 gal tank. Used and last people removed the overflows. It has dual drains and dual returns.I had a man in Florida custom make an acrylic divider with teeth at the top. I siliconed that in a few weeks ago and did test the seal with water without any leaks.

Just got my sand and live rock this weekend and started the initial fill with my RODI salt water. Once I got it half filled the acrylic started bowing significantly. Obviously this was due to the pressure on one side of the tank. So I did fill the overflow box about halfway to equalize and the acrylic divider leveled out. I ended up keeping the levels in the display side of the tank and the overflow side equal overnight just to let it rest and to watch for potential leaks between the divider, on the overflow or the display tank.

Here's my problem: now with nothing running the water just sitting in both sides water continues to drain out of the overflow side extremely slowly into my sump. I cannot figure out where the water is draining from. The standpipe is above the water level. The bulkheads are dry underneath in my tank stand and there's no dripping outside of the piping. Most likely draining from somewhere in my standpipe but where? I have the aqueon mega flow overflow kit.

Is this normal?
How can I fix it?
it's so slow that I'm sure once everything's running it's not even going to be something I have noticed. But I worry if this is a larger problem waiting to happen or not.

I reached out to three local fish areas to help me and no luck.

 

[hoco86]

Here is a pic. Taped the water level to watch it. When I woke up the overflow side 3 inches below tank side. Tank side didn't change.

 

[zalick]

Here is a pic. Taped the water level to watch it. When I woke up the overflow side 3 inches below tank side. Tank side didn't change.

My bet is it's dripping where the slip fitting of your standpipe enters the bulkhead.

Not an issue at all IMO.

 

[zalick]

A real issue is your acrylic divider. Silicone doesn't stick to acrylic. And also the bowing when your tank is filling.

If you ever have power go off briefly and back on the divider may bow and pop out when the tank refills.

Or when doing maintenance if you turn off return pump the overflow will drain and possibly pop out.

 

[hoco86]

My bet is it's dripping where the slip fitting of your standpipe enters the bulkhead.

Not an issue at all IMO.

Thank you! How about in an extended power outage situation?

 

[hoco86]

A real issue is your acrylic divider. Silicone doesn't stick to acrylic. And also the bowing when your tank is filling.

If you ever have power go off briefly and back on the divider may bow and pop out when the tank refills.

Or when doing maintenance if you turn off return pump the overflow will drain and possibly pop out.

What's my worst case scenario? That's how my mind works. My custom divider maker is making me some supports to out in the overflow to support it in the middle. But I won't get that for a few days to a week.

 

[zalick]

Thank you! How about in an extended power outage situation?

Actually now that I think about the acrylic divider using silicone the drip is a HUGE issue. You could easily have your hole tank drain out in a power off situation because the silicone seam won't necessarily be water tight even if the acrylic looks in place.

 

[zalick]

Actually now that I think about the acrylic divider using silicone the drip is a HUGE issue. You could easily have your hole tank drain out in a power off situation because the silicone seam won't necessarily be water tight even if the acrylic looks in place.

Your easiest solution in this situation, would be to use threaded bulkheads in the overflow instead of slip to make sure it's water tight.

If that's not feasible you could use pvc cement to permanently fix your standpipes in place.

I had acrylic dividers in a glass sump and the pressure difference eventually made them pop out.

 

[hoco86]

My bulkheads are threaded. Nothing leaking there everything been in the pipe to the sump.

Even with the huge bowing initially there was no water displaced from display tank to overflow section.!meaning no evidence of leak? added the water in overflow to level out the pressure and it worked well..
so I don't think the acrylic divider is leaking. I'm trying to understand. But that's my only options for my overflows at this time. The original boxes were gone and couldn't get the boxes high enough for my tank.
Thanks for taking the time.

 

[zalick]

My bulkheads are threaded. Nothing leaking there everything been in the pipe to the sump.

Even with the huge bowing initially there was no water displaced from display tank to overflow section.!meaning no evidence of leak? added the water in overflow to level out the pressure and it worked well..
so I don't think the acrylic divider is leaking. I'm trying to understand. But that's my only options for my overflows at this time. The original boxes were gone and couldn't get the boxes high enough for my tank.
Thanks for taking the time.

correct, The current drip is not related to the acrylic divider. You have a joint that is leaking. Either your bulkhead or any joint on your standpipes. Impossible for me to tell from the photos. If it's leaking where the standpipe connects to the bulkhead with the threaded fitting, that's the dangerous situation because 100% of your water could drain down if the acrylic divider fails.

Just because it bowed and held this time doesn't mean it will hold everytime. Silicone isn't a "glue". It fills tiny holes in the surface and that's how it holds things together. Acrylic is too smooth and doesn't have these holes so silicone doesn't bond well to it.


My guess is the standpipes are not tightened enough to the bulkhead threads and this is causing a slow drip.

As long as your return pump is on, there is no real danger. But If the return pump is off for any reason, you would have potential to drain the whole tank.

You'll get it solved! These types of drips are common when setting up plumbing.