Possible leak

drtodd · Mar 5, 2021

I would like to get back in the hobby but one problem. I live in a condo with people living below me. It is inevitable a leak will occur sooner or later from past experience. Any thoughts on how to address this? All suggestions appreciated.

mdb_talon · Mar 5, 2021

I would say a small or mid size all in one with minimize the risk and damage if a leak occurs. Also you can buy a leak detector to put on the floor at the base of the tank to alert you to leaks hopefully before they cost too much damage

Bruce60 · Mar 5, 2021

Hi! I am not sure what you mean by a leak.

If you mean that water will get on the floor, yes, that is inevitable. However, if you mean a tank or part of the system will spring a leak and create a flood below, that should be exceedingly rare.

One thing you can do if you are concerned about water is to place your sump system in a large plastic tub. It makes it a bit harder to service and the larger tubs can be costly, but they will contain quite a bit of leaking or even water excursion. For example...
https://www.uline.com/BL_1493/Utility-Trays

Good luck!

Uncle99 · Mar 5, 2021

mdb_talon said:
I would say a small or mid size all in one with minimize the risk and damage if a leak occurs. Also you can buy a leak detector to put on the floor at the base of the tank to alert you to leaks hopefully before they cost too much damage

Just be able to transfer stuff to a plastic tote in case of leak.
It’s likely not to just explode, so you can mitigate losses and water by just, being ready.

You want to keep DT size reasonable for a condo.

Joe31415 · Mar 5, 2021

drtodd said:
I would like to get back in the hobby but one problem. I live in a condo with people living below me. It is inevitable a leak will occur sooner or later from past experience. Any thoughts on how to address this? All suggestions appreciated.

Maybe a tank that's not too big and a really big sump. If there's a leak you can cut the return pump and start dumping/siphoning water into the sump. If you're lucky, you can get enough water from the DT to the sump to be below the leak. At least that'll buy you some time.

Leak detectors that will send you a message (and maybe cut the return pump).

A bunch of big plastic storage totes that you can move water and fish into while you get the tank replaced (and to stop the leaking).

Maybe even keeping some Flex Tape on hand so you can quickly/temporiaily stop a leak, again, to buy you some time while you start emptying the tank and finding a new one.

drtodd · Mar 5, 2021

Bruce60 said:
Hi! I am not sure what you mean by a leak.

If you mean that water will get on the floor, yes, that is inevitable. However, if you mean a tank or part of the system will spring a leak and create a flood below, that should be exceedingly rare.

One thing you can do if you are concerned about water is to place your sump system in a large plastic tub. It makes it a bit harder to service and the larger tubs can be costly, but they will contain quite a bit of leaking or even water excursion. For example...
https://www.uline.com/BL_1493/Utility-Trays

Good luck!

Good thought Im thinking about a red sea system just have to see it will fit in cabine.

drtodd · Mar 5, 2021

drtodd said:
Good thought Im thinking about a red sea system just have to see it will fit in cabine.

Thank you very much

drtodd · Mar 5, 2021

Joe31415 said:
Maybe a tank that's not too big and a really big sump. If there's a leak you can cut the return pump and start dumping/siphoning water into the sump. If you're lucky, you can get enough water from the DT to the sump to be below the leak. At least that'll buy you some time.

Leak detectors that will send you a message (and maybe cut the return pump).

A bunch of big plastic storage totes that you can move water and fish into while you get the tank replaced (and to stop the leaking).

Maybe even keeping some Flex Tape on hand so you can quickly/temporiaily stop a leak, again, to buy you some time while you start emptying the tank and finding a new one.

I will use a leak detector hooked up to Neptune controller.