Waterbox Dream turned Nightmare

[Natasha Mcvicker]

First off, this is my first time posting anything on R2R. I’ve been a member for a short while, researching as much as I could for my new tank. A Waterbox 100.3. I was upgrading from a fluval 13.5 nano. I researched for months before deciding on the Waterbox, then found my LFS was beginning to carry them & quickly bought my 100.3 the beginning of September. I set up the tank, leak checked, cleaned, & meticulously set up & checked everything I added to the tank to get it ready to use. It has been a lot of work but, a lot of fun setting up, cycling, & transferring my fish buddies & corals to their much larger home. I even just added an ich ridden one spot foxface that I qt’d & treated while the tank was cycling. So, today I went to do my weekly WC and turned off my pumps and went to get my siphon and bucket. When I got back my dining room floor and sump area are full of water as the sump tank continued to overflow. I turned on the return pump to stop the flood and after cleaning up the mess figured out the reason for the overflow. I finally found a gap in the silicone where the front panel of the overflow attaches to the side panels are few inches from the bottom. So, when the water level goes below the overflow it continues to fill anyway through that gap. I guess the silicone was thin there on the inside & finally let go after 2 months. Of course, this happens on a Sunday afternoon. My family & I are leaving for vacation in 5 days & my QT tank is full with my next batch of livestock. If my power or the pump fails while I’m gone the sump will overflow in moments & I’ll possibly lose my fishies& corals. I have a house sitter but, he won’t know what to do. Not to mention the damage that will be caused to my house. I’m torn on what I should do (non refundable vacation so not going is not an option). Hopefully, Waterbox will get back to me ASAP. Any ideas? Anyone else have this issue with these tanks? I bought new to hopefully avoid these issues...

 

[PDR]

Welcome to R2R! Sorry you are going through this! Let’s see if the #reefsquad and @Waterbox Aquariums can help out.

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

Welcome to R2R! Sorry you are going through this! Let’s see if the #reefsquad and @Waterbox Aquariums can help out.

Thanks! I’m scared to go to sleep knowing how easily my tank could fail & flood my house again. I don’t know how I’ll be able to leave knowing it could happen while I’m gone & can do nothing about it.

 

[marlinmon]

Are you able to locate and reach the location of the leak? Try filling it in with reef glue or epoxy?

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

Are you able to locate and reach the location of the leak? Try filling it in with reef glue or epoxy?

I can. Barely. I have some Instant Ocean Epoxy. Do you think it will work? Even though it takes a while to cure? Willing to try anything.

 

[Dsnakes]

Welcome to R2R

That’s a bummer for sure. From what I have seen, Waterbox has great customer service. Its tough from the vacation aspect.

I would try to bandaid it for your trip and hope you don’t lose power. Might be worth a UPS back up for the return pump.

Epoxy might not stick well, but some good frag glue may do the trick for now.

Layer towels around your tank for when Murphy visits...

 

[davocean]

I'm looking at your locklines which seem kinda low, have you tried to move them higher up and see if it makes an earlier siphon break?
Even if your overflow was not completely sealed, that would most likely be a slow drip if it even continued.

One thing that is a good idea is leak test, and during leak test also check for siphon breaks, as well as making sure your sump will handle the back siphon.
I would test this after raising those locklines.
It looks to me from pic that your water level is right at the bottom of those locklines

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

I'm looking at your locklines which seem kinda low, have you tried to move them higher up and see if it makes an earlier siphon break?
Even if your overflow was not completely sealed, that would most likely be a slow drip if it even continued.

One thing that is a good idea is leak test, and during leak test also check for siphon breaks, as well as making sure your sump will handle the back siphon.
I would test this after raising those locklines.
It looks to me from pic that your water level is right at the bottom of those locklines

The picture was after the leak before I topped it back off. I just posted it to show the level that was still draining into the sump.

 

[marlinmon]

Can you give us a full shot of the setup you're working with?

And +1 if you can use frag glue and a ball of epoxy

 

[ScottBrew]

What kind of plumbing is in the sump? If your main drain is much lower than the top of the overflow, it will continue to drain until it reaches the top of that pipe. You can put a coupler and a short piece of PVC pipe of the correct size to raise the drain level higher in the sump. It will be louder as it will be sucking air but will help in case of a power outage.

 

[Fin]

I'm looking at your locklines which seem kinda low, have you tried to move them higher up and see if it makes an earlier siphon break?
Even if your overflow was not completely sealed, that would most likely be a slow drip if it even continued.

One thing that is a good idea is leak test, and during leak test also check for siphon breaks, as well as making sure your sump will handle the back siphon.
I would test this after raising those locklines.
It looks to me from pic that your water level is right at the bottom of those locklines

This was my first thought as well. Sounded like it overflowed pretty quickly. Not what I would expect from a small gap between the panels of the overflow.

 

[garbled]

Can you setup, or buy additional powerheads to keep the water moving in the top of the aquarium itself, and get some good water movement up on the surface? My thinking here is can you shut the sump down and stop the flow to it entirely for a few days, and maybe make up for some of the issues with in-tank or hang-on-the-back fixes? For example:

1. CPR style hang on overflow, just to keep a slow amount of water to the sump.
2. Shut the sump down entirely and throw a HOB skimmer on the side to just keep the oxygen going?

A leak at the bottom of the overflow is seriously bad. Any kind of epoxy or otherwise could easily give way, and with you potentially thousands of miles away, you should just assume the entire volume of water will be on your floor. I would never trust a pump to continue to operate properly like that. Work under the assumption the pump will shut down. Let that be your guide to what you do to fix it.

If like other people said it is a siphon from the locline, maybe install anti-drainback valves at the pump?

 

[marlinmon]

Can you setup, or buy additional powerheads to keep the water moving in the top of the aquarium itself, and get some good water movement up on the surface? My thinking here is can you shut the sump down and stop the flow to it entirely for a few days, and maybe make up for some of the issues with in-tank or hang-on-the-back fixes? For example:

1. CPR style hang on overflow, just to keep a slow amount of water to the sump.
2. Shut the sump down entirely and throw a HOB skimmer on the side to just keep the oxygen going?

A leak at the bottom of the overflow is seriously bad. Any kind of epoxy or otherwise could easily give way, and with you potentially thousands of miles away, you should just assume the entire volume of water will be on your floor. I would never trust a pump to continue to operate properly like that. Work under the assumption the pump will shut down. Let that be your guide to what you do to fix it.

I like this idea

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

Can you give us a full shot of the setup you're working with?

And +1 if you can use frag glue and a ball of epoxy

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

What kind of plumbing is in the sump? If your main drain is much lower than the top of the overflow, it will continue to drain until it reaches the top of that pipe. You can put a coupler and a short piece of PVC pipe of the correct size to raise the drain level higher in the sump. It will be louder as it will be sucking air but will help in case of a power outage.

Great idea!

 

[Fin]

Do you have anything inline to stop the back-siphon from the returns? They look to be 4+" below the surface. Do you have a check valve in the drain line (even though they are not dependable) or an anti-siphon hole close to the surface? Those returns are going to suck a lot of water into your sump really quick when you turn the pump off. You don't have a lot of room left for backflow in your sump.

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

The picture was after the leak before I topped it back off. I just posted it to show the level that was still draining into the sump.

This is filled back up.

Can you setup, or buy additional powerheads to keep the water moving in the top of the aquarium itself, and get some good water movement up on the surface? My thinking here is can you shut the sump down and stop the flow to it entirely for a few days, and maybe make up for some of the issues with in-tank or hang-on-the-back fixes? For example:

1. CPR style hang on overflow, just to keep a slow amount of water to the sump.
2. Shut the sump down entirely and throw a HOB skimmer on the side to just keep the oxygen going?

A leak at the bottom of the overflow is seriously bad. Any kind of epoxy or otherwise could easily give way, and with you potentially thousands of miles away, you should just assume the entire volume of water will be on your floor. I would never trust a pump to continue to operate properly like that. Work under the assumption the pump will shut down. Let that be your guide to what you do to fix it.

If like other people said it is a siphon from the locline, maybe install anti-drainback valves at the pump?

We’ll be gone a week with my brother just popping in, so I’ll have to do something that’ll make it at least that long. I hate this. Two of my corals just started to recover from the transfer. Thank y’all for all the ideas though

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

Do you have anything inline to stop the back-siphon from the returns? They look to be 4+" below the surface. Do you have a check valve in the drain line (even though they are not dependable) or an anti-siphon hole close to the surface? Those returns are going to suck a lot of water into your sump really quick when you turn the pump off. You don't have a lot of room left for backflow in your sump.

Yeah I’m definitely going to decrease the amount of water in my sump, but it was lower than that pic before the flood. I just added water this time to where my ATO sensor is which I obviously need to readjust

 

[Fin]

BTW...

 

[Natasha Mcvicker]

I'm looking at your locklines which seem kinda low, have you tried to move them higher up and see if it makes an earlier siphon break?
Even if your overflow was not completely sealed, that would most likely be a slow drip if it even continued.

One thing that is a good idea is leak test, and during leak test also check for siphon breaks, as well as making sure your sump will handle the back siphon.
I would test this after raising those locklines.
It looks to me from pic that your water level is right at the bottom of those locklines

Also, just so y’all know, the tank had been leak tested and for siphon break. It worked flawlessly for 2x daily feedings & multiple water changes before today. That hole in the caulk line was not there previously either. We stare at this tank A LOT.