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Let me preface this post by first stating that I picked up this tank in 07, were it was being used for land hermit crabs. It was a custom made 60 by 18 by 20 3/4 high tank with half inch glass....rimless....no euro bracing. When I say custom, I'm thinking a DIY homemade tank.....rather poorly done. I drilled the backside and put in a Glass-Holes 1500 overflow. Tank has been great up until recently.
My first indication of a tank leak was salt creep down the back corner edge of the tank. I had just moved powerheads around and having a rimless tank, I'm figuring it was just slightly spilling over the top. So I turned down those powerheads.
A second indication was my ATO running frequently.....and I attributed this to a change in ATO's from AquaHub to JBJ. My thought was that the reed switch in this new float switch had a hair trigger. I actually did a simply DIY in tricking the ATO to add more water....HERE.
Now this third one really got me thinking that something funny was going on. I went to do my bi-monthly water change and I always check my new salt, and then check the DT salt. I use this to tell me if my refractometer needs calibration. If the tank is not at 1.026, I recalibrate the refractometer. Well, the tank was at 1.025. I recalibrated the refractometer, and the tank was still at 1.025.
The clincher telling me for sure I had a leak was that first thing in the morning I get sun coming throught the side of the blinds, and it just so happen to be shining on the back corner of the tank. I could see a silvery look to the seam, towards the top of the tank. I immediately knew what that meant. Not the best picture, but here's that silvery corner:
What to do? The first thing I did was to use duct tape and taped the outside corner of the tank. But now I needed to stop the leak. I had water ready for a water change, so I took all 25 gallons out of the DT, lowering the level of the water below the leak point. After scraping off coraline and cutting out the old silicone, the area was wiped dried. Painter's tape was placed on either side of the corner, and a fast setting clear epoxy was used to fill the corner.
Before the epoxy set up, the tape was removed. New water was added and, the good news, it no longer leaks.
However, I'm not happy with this being a long term fix. I think I'm looking at replacing this tank. I'm bummed because I recently finished all the cabinetry and I don't want to start over with a different sized tank. So I need to find a tank with a 60" by 18" footprint....and off-the-shelf, it's pretty slim pickings. A quick search identified these stock, off-the-shelf tanks with my footprint:
Clear-For-Life 100 g (Acrylic) - 20" h
Seaclear 100 g (Acrylic) - 20" h
Top Fin 120 g (Glass) - 26" h
SeaClear 125 g (Acrylic) - 24" h
SeaClear 145 g (Acrylic) - 30" h
Marineland 120 g (Glass) NOTE: 60.5 x 18.5 x 25 5/16 (#11944)
With my other requirements.....no acrylic, nothing deeper than I can reach, and no behemoth overflows, this eliminates all the above tanks. So I'm most likely looking at a custom build. Anyone have recommendations?
My first indication of a tank leak was salt creep down the back corner edge of the tank. I had just moved powerheads around and having a rimless tank, I'm figuring it was just slightly spilling over the top. So I turned down those powerheads.
A second indication was my ATO running frequently.....and I attributed this to a change in ATO's from AquaHub to JBJ. My thought was that the reed switch in this new float switch had a hair trigger. I actually did a simply DIY in tricking the ATO to add more water....HERE.
Now this third one really got me thinking that something funny was going on. I went to do my bi-monthly water change and I always check my new salt, and then check the DT salt. I use this to tell me if my refractometer needs calibration. If the tank is not at 1.026, I recalibrate the refractometer. Well, the tank was at 1.025. I recalibrated the refractometer, and the tank was still at 1.025.
The clincher telling me for sure I had a leak was that first thing in the morning I get sun coming throught the side of the blinds, and it just so happen to be shining on the back corner of the tank. I could see a silvery look to the seam, towards the top of the tank. I immediately knew what that meant. Not the best picture, but here's that silvery corner:
What to do? The first thing I did was to use duct tape and taped the outside corner of the tank. But now I needed to stop the leak. I had water ready for a water change, so I took all 25 gallons out of the DT, lowering the level of the water below the leak point. After scraping off coraline and cutting out the old silicone, the area was wiped dried. Painter's tape was placed on either side of the corner, and a fast setting clear epoxy was used to fill the corner.
Before the epoxy set up, the tape was removed. New water was added and, the good news, it no longer leaks.
However, I'm not happy with this being a long term fix. I think I'm looking at replacing this tank. I'm bummed because I recently finished all the cabinetry and I don't want to start over with a different sized tank. So I need to find a tank with a 60" by 18" footprint....and off-the-shelf, it's pretty slim pickings. A quick search identified these stock, off-the-shelf tanks with my footprint:
Clear-For-Life 100 g (Acrylic) - 20" h
Seaclear 100 g (Acrylic) - 20" h
Top Fin 120 g (Glass) - 26" h
SeaClear 125 g (Acrylic) - 24" h
SeaClear 145 g (Acrylic) - 30" h
Marineland 120 g (Glass) NOTE: 60.5 x 18.5 x 25 5/16 (#11944)
With my other requirements.....no acrylic, nothing deeper than I can reach, and no behemoth overflows, this eliminates all the above tanks. So I'm most likely looking at a custom build. Anyone have recommendations?
......Yes, I am a DIY'er.....and I've started to look at "How to" build threads. My first impression is that the injection method of siliconing a tank looks intriguing. I also need to see if I could find local glass shops that had 1/2 inch glass (12mm). I'm also looking at making the front glass low iron as well. I'm thinking I could do this for around $400 US. Definitely more research needed.
