Help Me Find The Leak

[Yellowsound]

This AM, I discovered some water collecting in my sump cabinet around the cutout in the stand where my drains and return plumbing drop down from the tank. You can see moisture in the wood plies (see photo). I immediately thought it must be a leaky bulkhead, but now I'm not so sure. There was no salt creep around any of the bulkheads where they meet the glass, nor any water dripping down the plumbing.

You can see from the photo that I have the tank sitting on a piece of styrofoam, which is also wet around the cutout. I do get drips down the outside of the tank sometimes when the flow inside gets a little chaotic (SPS tank = high flow). Is it possible that over time, some of that overflow that dripped down the side of the tank has creeped through the styrofoam, sort of like it would in a sponge?

I can't see any obvious leaks at any of the seams, but I'm a bit nervous (to say the least). I'd be grateful for anyone's thoughts or suggestions!

Thanks!!

 

[jimmyzhou]

Look like this has some water mark and rust

 

[cracker]

Hello, I would think the corrosion could be from salt creep & salt air. How much water are You seeing? Is it constant?

 

[Yellowsound]

The rust on the split ring hangar is from my skimmer- the top of the collection cup is right next to it. There is no rust on the wood/stand.

There was some drips collecting on the stand on the upper left corner of the pic (at the corner of the cutout.). I only saw it this AM for the first time- I haven't seen water collect there since I dried it this AM. But I hit the whole cutout w/ a hair dryer this AM ... I couldn't get the wood plies completely dry, but even so, it seems more wet this evening.

 

[cracker]

Here in Florida it rains so much the bottom of my tanks sweat & it's a lot. Has it been real humid out Your way? Is the water salty tasting? That alone will tell.

 

[Yellowsound]

Hmmm .., not terribly humid in the last few days. Still, I'll taste the water as soon as it starts collecting. Good tip!

 

[mcarroll]

DO NOT LICK YOUR TANK!

Yuck.

Any changes to your drains or your flow situation? I had a "mystery leak" that turned out to be slightly higher surface turbulence generated by a new pump layout. The turbulence caused water to lap up the sides of the glass up to the trim. Apparently the trim is not completely sealed because water wicks through under the top trim and runs down the outside of the tank in a nearly invisible spot.

It only took me three heart attacks and a whole crate of cursing to figure that out. ;Blackeye

I lowered my drain-weir – problem solved.

 

[cracker]

Good point, I was freaking out when I noticed it raining under my tank . LOL

 

[Fishmanz]

I think your going to find the issue may be related to that thick styrofoam. It is also not really necessary.

 

[Yellowsound]

I licked the tank

...but it was salty.

YES! I did change the flow only a couple days ago... 2 gyres. It's a rimless tank, so no trim to speak of. But there is some salt creep on the sides of thank in a few places. Now I'm thinking that the styrofoam had just "sponged " the water that dripped down the sides of the tank.

 

[Bob3655]

It might just be my eyes but that looks like salt creep where I highlighted unless I am mistaken. Is that towards the back of your tank? maybe its dripping down the outside of the back from too much flow or something

 

[Yellowsound]

I'm not sure if what you've circled is salt creep because I wiped everything down before taking this photo, but there definitely was salt creep there. And, there was salt creep down the back of the tank, just behind this location. I didn't think much of it because I do sometimes get some salt creep back there, but now you've got me thinking...

Don't know why I didn't think of this before: when I opened the sump cabinet yesterday AM, I noticed the water level in my return section was very high (alarm from ATO was going off because the float switch was under water). I checked the overflow and found that the strainer on the main drain was all clogged up. Weirdly, the water level in the overflow was low- down to the strainer- and not high as you would expect if there was a blockage. Anyway, I cleaned the strainer, stopped & restarted the return pump, and the levels returned to normal. While I was working on this, I discovered the dripping water near the bulkheads.

Any connection to these events?

 

[Yellowsound]

Revisiting this thread. I have not solved the problem and I could use some more ideas. I want it to be just a bad bulkhead gasket or something, but concerned that it could be something worse. See new photos here... you can see the water drops collecting in the corner of cabinet cutout nearest the return line; also, there's plenty of salt creep around
the perimeter of the cutout, but not anything to speak of where the bulkhead meets the glass.

I'd be grateful for any additional input!

 

[Mandelstam]

If the bulkheads are leaking I have a hard time picturing the water ending up where that drop of water is hanging... My gut feeling says that the water is wicked between the styrofoam and the glass (or between styrofoam and cabinet) and coming from somewhere else.

 

[Instigate]

Thoroughly dry the whole area then tape some paper towels around the bulkheads. If it's coming from them it will be obvious.

 

[mcarroll]

I agree...I think it's been happening so long that water has wicked over to the bulkhead gaskets and is creeping out there coincidentally.

I do not think it's a coincidence that it's happening near the plumbing, however.

Can we see some pics of the top and back? A video of the surface during "storm mode" could be helpful to see as well.

 

[Yellowsound]

Tried to upload some video, but apparently .mov files are not permitted. I'll try to figure it out and get the videos up!

 

[Yellowsound]

My 8 month old assistant was offering some background commentary as I shot these

 

[Yellowsound]

@mcarroll, it sounds like you may have an idea as to what's going on. Do the videos help at all? I'd love to hear what you're thinking...

 

[mcarroll]

Guess #1: Condensation from your drain lid (vid #1; about 0:14 in) is seeping out the back and touching the canopy, which allows it to run down the tank.

Guess #2: The canopy (apparently?) rests on the edge of the tank. Every significant drip has the chance to seep out and become creep. Over time, the local area becomes saturated and (maddeningly) the local creep transmits the new water to any (every) location that's downhill. If it's on a level surface, then it just spreads until it finds a route down. It can be pretty hard to locate the source of an old creep because of this.....have to adjust your thinking to how they spread....which is actually kinda amazing.

Could be both.

Also was there a fragment of creep near the back left corner on the left wall in the vid too?