Silicone Failure - Hello Reef 15 Gallon

[Benny’sTank]

I’ve followed along with tank failure threads on R2R that lead me to believe that what I’m looking at is bad - really bad. Correct?

My question is this: What is the best way to secure the tank?

By sheer coincidence (and now I think luck), I have a new tank coming in on Tuesday/Wednesday. In the meantime, is it safer to leave this be (and avoid the risk of disturbing the existing silicone seams), ratchet the glass (until I can quickly establish the new tank), or buy a temporary tank (I.e. petco) until I can get the new tank set up? All advice welcome and I can add more pictures as needed.

 

[rtparty]

@UncommonSense do you know how these tanks are constructed? Having sand all the way to the bottom should indicate total failure right?

 

[UncommonSense]

do you know how these tanks are constructed?

this particular tank is constructed in the typical rimless style; bottom pane rests inside vertical panes!

Having sand all the way to the bottom should indicate total failure right?

Yes, the only thing I can think is that this tank is holding on by an absolute thread of silicone, thanks to the relatively low water weight/pressure!

By sheer coincidence (and now I think luck), I have a new tank coming in on Tuesday/Wednesday

Good!!

or buy a temporary tank (I.e. petco) until I can get the new tank set up?

This. Probably a 20-32g trash can from a hardware store would be cheapest/easiest/most useful later, unless you want another tank around!

— First step, drain as much water as you comfortably can from this tank, reducing pressure on these failing seams… save the water in a bucket or two for later if possible…

— next step, go get a temporary holding tank!

— finally, transfer water, livestock, and rock to holding container, leaving sand behind… and finish draining that water damage waiting to happen!

 

[Benny’sTank]

That’s what I was afraid to hear. Remind me why leave all the sand? Stirring up nutrients previously trapped?

I have some burrowing inverts. Is there a “safe” amount of sand I can move over in a container?

 

[UncommonSense]

That’s what I was afraid to hear. Remind me why leave all the sand? Stirring up nutrients previously trapped?

I have some burrowing inverts. Is there a “safe” amount of sand I can move over in a container?

The sand can indeed have some nasty stuff in it, like pockets of hydrogen sulfide!

I’d recommend getting all the non-sand dwelling critters and rock out into your holding container, then putting all the sand in a second container, possibly with a bubbler or tiny pump…

This way, the sand dwellers at least get a chance of survival if the release of toxins from the sand bed isn’t too awful!

 

[UncommonSense]

I have some burrowing inverts. Is there a “safe” amount of sand I can move over in a container?

This would ideally be done over time, using methods like a gravel vacuum during water changes to either clean, or outright suck out sand from the system bit by bit…

In these circumstances, the risk of at least a gallon of saltwater on the floor is so significant that I believe the big priority is getting the water pressure off those seams before the thread of silicone holding them fails!

 

[UncommonSense]

Also, this could easily be from cumulative spills during maintenance…

but, I see a good amount of salt creep on the leveling mat, and creeping under the vinyl back at the AIO compartment…

It’s entirely possible that this tank is already weeping water!

 

[grumpy-crab]

Im amazed that seam hasn't giving out yet.

Do you have corals or fish only with live rock? This will matter in how you temporarily store everything

 

[Benny’sTank]

 

[Benny’sTank]

 

[Benny’sTank]

 

[Benny’sTank]

Everything’s been moved over and is safe for the moment. I have an airstone for air exchange, and my wave maker for flow. Bumped the lights up given the extra distance to the water’s edge. I chose to take out a cup of sand, rinse it thoroughly in saltwater, and place it in this system for the snails that burrow. Thanks for all of the advice, and open to any more that you might have.

 

[Benny’sTank]

Im amazed that seam hasn't giving out yet.

Do you have corals or fish only with live rock? This will matter in how you temporarily store everything

Yes, I have coral and an anemone (as you can see from the photos). If you have any recommendations I’m all ears.

 

[Benny’sTank]

Also, this could easily be from cumulative spills during maintenance…

but, I see a good amount of salt creep on the leveling mat, and creeping under the vinyl back at the AIO compartment…

It’s entirely possible that this tank is already weeping water!

So, now that I’ve had time to remove the water, it looks like that thread of silicone was still intact. Very very thankful for it.

 

[Benny’sTank]

Here you can see that I peeled back the vinyl for the AIO chamber and the silicone failure extended farther than I previously realized (the tank is outside in this photo). Any troubleshooting/advice/helpful criticism that I should consider? We checked that the tank was level when we were putting it in. Did I maybe miss something that would’ve made this preventable?

 

[UncommonSense]

So, now that I’ve had time to remove the water, it looks like that thread of silicone was still intact. Very very thankful for it.

presumably that silicone thread is on the exterior of the tank, where the excess silicone squished out of that seam is wiped smooth?

— I’d imagine that you can make the glass move by gently pushing on it, showing visibly in the compromised seam!

Thanks for all of the advice, and open to any more that you might have.

Happy to help! I think your best-bet from here is going to be scooping out the easy majority of the sand into a bucket/etc… ideally, get a low spot down to the bottom glass; this will allow you to siphon out as much of the silty saltwater as possible (probably into your sand bucket) before you move this tank at all!

edit: I see you moved it out on the stand, good thinking!

— once you’ve got the tank lifted up, proceed to take it outside or to a large sink to wash out laid on a side… from there, have fun! (It could be worth saving the tank for glass panes, allowing you to make some custom sump baffles/etc during a later project!)



Regarding prevention? This honestly looks like the Red Sea style peel failure… it starts in the bottom center of the long pane, and propagates towards the sides…

— knowing glass thickness for sides and bottom pane would be the best way to determine if this was likely moreso adhesion related, vs. bowing glass related!

— is the AIO divider well adhered to that pictured vertical viewing pane? Or is able to move? — the divider can serve as a structural reinforcement, holding the two long tank panes together… this effect is lost partially or completely if it looses adhesion to either or both tank walls!

 

[fish_collector]

You could have siphoned all of the sand out into a bucket with zero issue, I've done it dozens of times. I've never lost a fish, coral, snail, invert, etc. ever. Decades ago it was common to have a deep sand bed using oolitic aragonite, all in the interest of denitrfication abilities. Well as it turns out there was never enough water movement in and out of the deep oolitic sand beds to accomplish much of anything except smell like rotten eggs when you finally dug into it, the rotten egg odor was hydrogen sulfide. The special grade sand that is typically used these days isn't fine enough or deep enough to become anaerobic so hydrogen sulfide isn't really a concern.

Good job catching your tank failure before it made a mess.

 

[grumpy-crab]

Save the sand... rinse it really well... put it in a open Rubbermaid container and add it to the tote you have... then you can use the old sand to seed the new tank so minimal cycling