URGENT Tank Advice Needed - LEAKING!

[nim6us]

Well this was a post I was hoping I wouldn't have to ever make but here we are!

I was just about to do a WC and I noticed water on the floor. I thought I'd spilled something but no it was a leak.

I traced it back to the seam on the side panel that connects to the back wall of my Red Sea Reefer 42XL. You can see from the video it's a very tiny slice. Not sure if I did it some how, or the cat perhaps pawing at the fish? Either way it's a very slow stream, it's not gushing but it's definitely streaming out.



Where it's leaking from is about 4 inches from the top of the tank. My plan is to drain the water down to where it's leaking from so it's dry. From there I can try to put a temporary patch.

My questions...

What do I patch it with? I have super glue, silicone, or Maxspect coral putty to hand.

Can I fill it back up after it dries? Draining 4 inches down will leave corals exposed, and means water can't go down the overflow, so ideally I need to fill it back up is that an option?

How long do I have? I know this is a tough question to answer, but is this a "you need to get everything out of that tank ASAP!" or "if you patch it it should be fine for 2-3 weeks while you setup a new tank".

I can't stick around for answers, I need to go mop up water and drain the tank down but will be back soon. Any advice is very welcome.

 

[rtparty]

It’s toast. You can try putting a ratchet strap around it to keep it from totally separating but everything must come out for a proper repair. A proper repair will require the whole tank to be taken apart, ALL silicone removed, and put back together. Not worth it IMO.

New silicone won’t bond to old silicone. It’s best turned into a terrarium, vivarium, turtle tank, etc

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Man I am so sorry. Like he said and go get you stock tank before it’s too late. Man, I am so sorry.

@SaltwaterAq this is why I was dogging you guys with Jimmy’s build. I really like you guys and try and shop with you guys. But man, the wake of destruction that Red Sea is leaving behind is catastrophic.

Thanks,
Chris Freader
@thedeyreef

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

if you have the cheddar order a brand new system overnight and take off work tomorrow and/or tuesday.

I can’t believe this company.

I wish you the best. I’d come help out if you were local. Go to home depot and get some extra rubbermaid containers for live stock and hopefully you have spare heaters and power heads.

 

[UncommonSense]

I dealt with one of these exact tanks recently…

The back pane is peeling itself off the tank… drain the water down below the leak, and go get a sizable stocking tank…

Any realistic attempts at a patch would have to be made with the tank empty and dry.

As @rtparty says, this tank would need a full rebuild; disassembly to panes, all old silicone removed, reassembly…

The issue here isn’t unique to your tank; Red Sea aquariums have been having seam failures left and right for years now… this is primarily due to inferior silicone, and secondarily due to actual tank design…

I’m sorry that you’re going through this mess… Red Sea has become a blight upon the hobby with these tanks…

 

[W31Olds]

I'd try some of that Flexseal Tape first. unsightly, but it may work and buy you some time. Something more permanent might be to have an inside corner brace cut out of glass, drain the water, clean the glass and silicone it in. Still unsightly though. If it's damage from your cat I would inspect all the seams for cuts. If you got additional damage, even if not leaking , I would get a new tank.

 

[exnisstech]

Sorry to see more of this. The blame is on redsea not you or your cat.

@WhatCouldGoWrong71 I was thinking the same thing about Jimmy's new tank. Also IIRC Hillary also used RS. Would be interesting to know how much they actually paid for the tanks or is it nothing more than a promotional RS video?

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

it’s all about the dead presidents. They don’t care what these manufactures are doing to end users. OK. Enough of this, I’m not looking to shut this guys thread down because we are being critical of another stream of dead presidents.

 

[nim6us]

Thanks for the quick replies every. I know the tank is done, even patched there's no way I'd trust it long term.

What I was hoping for was to be able to patch it and buy me a week. I've got savings so I can replace it, but the tank has to arrive, I need to set it up and then transfer everything across.

If I put some silicone on the inside and out, then ratchet it all together. Do you think I've got a week?

Here's some video from the inside with the tank drained down now.

 

[UncommonSense]

Thanks for the quick replies every. I know the tank is done, even patched there's no way I'd trust it long term.

What I was hoping for was to be able to patch it and buy me a week. I've got savings so I can replace it, but the tank has to arrive, I need to set it up and then transfer everything across.

If I put some silicone on the inside and out, then ratchet it all together. Do you think I've got a week?

Here's some video from the inside with the tank drained down now.

The silicone sealant takes a full 7 days to cure under ideal conditions… it will cure somewhat faster when exposed to high humidity…

You should definitely get three bar clamps, and two ~2ft lengths of 2x4 lumber! — place the lumber flat along the length of the front/rear seam… clamp the three clamps equally spaced snug, not tight with the 2x4 lumber between clamp jaws and tank glass!

This will essentially create a rigid “structure” pressed against the full length of that front/rear vertical seam, preventing the long panes from spreading any further apart!

 

[rtparty]

Silicone won’t bond to old silicone

Do you have a Petco or farm supply store nearby? Livestock troughs usually aren’t too expensive and are great for transfers

Petco may have tanks on sale. Just grab one that’s big enough to hold everything for a week

 

[LiquidSpace]

Give it a month and Red Sea is going to start blaming these failures on cats.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

i will buy nothing red sea anymore. Not even the salt.

This needs to be dealt with and Red Sea needs to be held accountable

 

[fish_collector]

@SaltwaterAq this is why I was dogging you guys with Jimmy’s build. I really like you guys and try and shop with you guys. But man, the wake of destruction that Red Sea is leaving behind is catastrophic.

Thanks,
Chris Freader
@thedeyreef

Who is Jimmy?

@WhatCouldGoWrong71 I was thinking the same thing about Jimmy's new tank. Also IIRC Hillary also used RS. Would be interesting to know how much they actually paid for the tanks or is it nothing more than a promotional RS video?

Who is Hillary?

 

[nim6us]

Issue number one is it's Sunday, and in the UK everything shuts at 4pm on a Sunday. I'm going to have to ratchet it back together and hope that gets me through until tomorrow.

Issue number two is this everything that needs to come out...

And not to sound like I'm clutching at straws, but are we sure this is the the tank silicone giving way?

In the video you can see it looks like a scratch or a slice right in the middle of the silicone going horizontally. If the seam was letting go from the panel I would expect to see the damage vertically coming out near either side of the glass. Also bear in mind that white blob is my thumbprint not an air pocket.

Admittedly I've never dealt with anything like this, but is there a chance the seam is not ripping apart, or is that 100% what's happening?

 

[UncommonSense]

Issue number one is it's Sunday, and in the UK everything shuts at 4pm on a Sunday. I'm going to have to ratchet it back together and hope that gets me through until tomorrow.

Issue number two is this everything that needs to come out...

And not to sound like I'm clutching at straws, but are we sure this is the the tank silicone giving way?

In the video you can see it looks like a scratch or a slice right in the middle of the silicone going horizontally. If the seam was letting go from the panel I would expect to see the damage vertically coming out near either side of the glass. Also bear in mind that white blob is my thumbprint not an air pocket.

Admittedly I've never dealt with anything like this, but is there a chance the seam is not ripping apart, or is that 100% what's happening?

The seam is definitely splitting; examine your other top corner seams as well! — you might find that at least one other corner is starting to peel…

 

[EliteReefing1023]

I was just gonna say, lemme guess, it’s a Red Sea tank? Smh. This seems to be a common theme with this brand. I hope you get everything taken care of

 

[UncommonSense]

Issue number one is it's Sunday, and in the UK everything shuts at 4pm on a Sunday. I'm going to have to ratchet it back together and hope that gets me through until tomorrow.

Issue number two is this everything that needs to come out...

And not to sound like I'm clutching at straws, but are we sure this is the the tank silicone giving way?

In the video you can see it looks like a scratch or a slice right in the middle of the silicone going horizontally. If the seam was letting go from the panel I would expect to see the damage vertically coming out near either side of the glass. Also bear in mind that white blob is my thumbprint not an air pocket.

Admittedly I've never dealt with anything like this, but is there a chance the seam is not ripping apart, or is that 100% what's happening?

I would drain the water to below the leak, and use the ratchet strap at the water line…

Don’t make the ratchet strap extremely tight; that will just put more stress on the seams!

— move any bio media in the sump to the display, an just let the sump sit shut down… — alternatively, temporarily plumb your return pump to your filter sock/roller chamber so the sump just recirculates into itself, keeping everything in it alive!

 

[Jimbo327]

get some cheap bar clamps, get some wood so the clamp doesn't touch glass and distribute the pressure, and clamp snug (not too tight as you want to seal, not squeeze out the silicone). It'll hold for a long time (indefinitely) as this basically takes all the pressure off the silicone.

Good luck! You will have to find replacement tank.

 

[Ziggy17]

This is actually the best of a bad situation, and in a weird way, be somewhat thankful you’re not experiencing a fast leak from the bottom portion.

How old is the tank? Did you buy it new or used?

But yeah, tank is done.