Tank leak!!! Need guidance fast please!

[TalkinTangie]

I haven't been here lately, everything has been good.

Long story short, my 75gallon fish and corals is leaking bad!!! Bottom right corner.

I have transferred most live rock and most corals.

Here is my concern or where I need help. I have been doing this for hours now moving everything into 2 separate tanks.
Tank one is for the rocks, and the one fish who accidentally made it over, this is an existing tank with rock and one blown.

Second tank, corals and lighting needed, done.

Fish.....I believe I can leave then in main tank overnight, I have slowed the leak.

They are super stressed out. Very stressed.

Do i continue and try to make the move tonight, or give them a night to calm down?? My yellow tang is my baby and he is not happy. Original Hawaiian yellow tang , about 5 yrs old. Going against the glass and shaking his head it appears. He is so stressed. Transfer them or let them relax and try tomorrow??

Sorry for long post and being all over the place with message. Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[cdemoss01]

I haven't been here lately, everything has been good.

Long story short, my 75gallon fish and corals is leaking bad!!! Bottom right corner.

I have transferred most live rock and most corals.

Here is my concern or where I need help. I have been doing this for hours now moving everything into 2 separate tanks.
Tank one is for the rocks, and the one fish who accidentally made it over, this is an existing tank with rock and one blown.

Second tank, corals and lighting needed, done.

Fish.....I believe I can leave then in main tank overnight, I have slowed the leak.

They are super stressed out. Very stressed.

Do i continue and try to make the move tonight, or give them a night to calm down?? My yellow tang is my baby and he is not happy. Original Hawaiian yellow tang , about 5 yrs old. Going against the glass and shaking his head it appears. He is so stressed. Transfer them or let them relax and try tomorrow??

Sorry for long post and being all over the place with message. Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated!!!

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 slightly worried as most have gone to bed by now. The yellow tang is up to you either way transfer or not it is not looking too good but I have faith.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081 slightly worried as most have gone to bed by now. The yellow tang is up to you either way transfer or not it is not looking too good but I have faith.

I realize its late at night and most stores are closed. You may have to utilize a tub or rubbermaid container to hold livestock. Ive repaired too many tanks.
It sounds like you have one area of concern. If so, Jig not needed but tape the outside with painters tape or frog tape. Also please post pics of area of concern
Take a sharp razor and cut way the silicone on both sides of glass. Then take the razor and scrape away the remaining silicone and using a wet cloth remove all the pieces of silicone, even using a shop vac. The with a different clean cloth, clean area well with rubbing alohol.
Using AQUARIUM SEALANT (either aqueon or Marineland brand)- apply a generous bead into corner. Wet your finger and smooth it out uniformly starting from bottom and and run wet finger to the top.
Once done, allow to dry for at least 24 (i like 36 hours) hours then cold water test for a full 24 hours. If no leak- get ready to restart tank.

 

[TalkinTangie]

Update, upstairs laying daughter down, so photos will have to be later. And yes, I knew the late post was not going to get much reply.

Have most rock and coral moved into the two separate tanks.

Accidentally transferred a royal gramma that was hiding in a rock, so that is in tank 1 with a clown fish and packed full of liverock. No biggie.

I got most of the corals in tank 2, had to setup filtration, skimmer, flow, and light, not hard.

So main tank is sitting with coral I can afford to lose for the most part. And fish. I love them all, but the tang is my special one, and the one who is also skiddish but super social too.

I killed all lights other than tank 2 with corals. It is next to main tank with fish. They are all hiding, except my yellow tang who has been at the glass acting frantic.

Back to leak. Larger puddle at first on my floor, but slow leak overall in that it was not gushing out. I was fearful it would just explode. Is that likely even now? Cheap tank with fake wood trim, can't think of brand, but typical 75 gallon.

I used baking soda and the aqueon sealant and it seems to have stopped the leaking for now. I saw that on YouTube just before I posted here. I panicked!

Plans to get a new tank. Honestly have wanted to get a new one, but not this way. I have already caused a lot of damage ripping corals apart that were together over multiple rocks, and messing up all my lighting settings.

Okay, so leaving the tang until tomorrow and will move him and others over. I spent hours in the tank tonight so they are all traumatized.

I'll be back, I'm going to get up and check it again shortly once daughter is asleep. Thanks for the replies I know it is late! Thank you thank you

 

[ReefingDreams]

Not sure of your setup, but I assume you don't have any flow. What you're describing with the yellow tang could be oxygen deprivation. I would just move it over and be done with the stress event.

 

[TalkinTangie]

Can this much stress cause ich on the tang? I just checked on everything.

I couldn't photo. Low level lighting and tang appeared a little less frantic, but he was out , and on the side nearest the light by coral. I thought a flash will spook him all over again. I'll photo in daylight on the AM.

The tank should hold up, it is just in such disarray and I caused so much commotion that the stress on corals and fish has been bad. Thanks again everyone.

Only good out of this will be I have every reason now to get a brand new tank asap and go larger finally.

 

[TalkinTangie]

Not sure of your setup, but I assume you don't have any flow. What you're describing with the yellow tang could be oxygen deprivation. I would just move it over and be done with the stress event.

So I moved most things, as i intend to get a new tank, I have had this one for a while, so in that sense, no biggie.

But yes, most equipment moved already for fear of tank totally going.

Kessil lighting so I don't want that falling into tank or something. I am just imagining this thing bursting, so I panicked.

I have ran out of time, and am exhausted after hours of this already, and have to be up for k9 walk thru at the school here. So I have to be up early.

I have a powerhead going at the moment that is keeping water circulating but I can move it up to cause some disruption in the water, and bubbles. Is that sufficient?

The problem moving tang tonight is, I still have rock and other corals to move out before I can even begin to try to catch him.

Should I move skimmer back over for some air and movement? Or powerhead sufficient? The water is moving good but not going thru anything else at the moment.

And as I am typing and checking that, I was watching my yellow tang and he is hanging with the clowns right now and seems to be a bit happier. I feel a bit better!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can this much stress cause ich on the tang? I just checked on everything.

I couldn't photo. Low level lighting and tang appeared a little less frantic, but he was out , and on the side nearest the light by coral. I thought a flash will spook him all over again. I'll photo in daylight on the AM.

The tank should hold up, it is just in such disarray and I caused so much commotion that the stress on corals and fish has been bad. Thanks again everyone.

Only good out of this will be I have every reason now to get a brand new tank asap and go larger finally.

Should not but a few tangs prone to ich regardless of stress

 

[ReefingDreams]

So I moved most things, as i intend to get a new tank, I have had this one for a while, so in that sense, no biggie.

But yes, most equipment moved already for fear of tank totally going.

Kessil lighting so I don't want that falling into tank or something. I am just imagining this thing bursting, so I panicked.

I have ran out of time, and am exhausted after hours of this already, and have to be up for k9 walk thru at the school here. So I have to be up early.

I have a powerhead going at the moment that is keeping water circulating but I can move it up to cause some disruption in the water, and bubbles. Is that sufficient?

The problem moving tang tonight is, I still have rock and other corals to move out before I can even begin to try to catch him.

Should I move skimmer back over for some air and movement? Or powerhead sufficient? The water is moving good but not going thru anything else at the moment.

And as I am typing and checking that, I was watching my yellow tang and he is hanging with the clowns right now and seems to be a bit happier. I feel a bit better!

If I were you, I'd put the leftover rock and coral in a tote with the powerhead and move the tang and other fish over to your temp tank. An extra hour for the peace of mind. I know I wouldnt sleep well otherwise. If not, add an airstone.

 

[iReefer12]

Breathe!! As long as the tank seam doesn’t burst, catch the drips for the night and tackle it tomorrow.

I wouldn’t worry about moving the skimmer back over, the powerhead should do the trick for aeration tonight, and thankfully you didn’t remove all the rock, initially I was concerned that you removed all the rock and could risk aN ammonia spike, but reading on, seems like you have left some rock in there.

As someone already posted, any of the rubbermaids work well for holding tanks. I once housed fish in a Rubbermaid 40 gallon trash can, just a bunch of rock, an air-stone and a powerhead and the fish did fine for over a month before going into a new tank.

Good luck! But remember to breathe

 

[reefsaver]

100L Quarantine Tubs can be repurposed for something like this. Acetone will melt away any residual silicone for a very clean surface if you do decide to strip away the silicone with a razor, and remember to cut away from yourself because I drove an exacto knife into my upper-arm once by accident and dang near passed out overthinking how I'd just driven some fine silicone particles deep into my muscle tissue while doing a similar home repair lol.

 

[TalkinTangie]

Appreciate the posts and info. I was just talking to my mom and didn't want to rush her off the phone, but was wanting to get back and check the posts!

Okay so I made add an air stone just to be safe. I didn't even think about the fact that removing all the rocks could/ would affect my other levels. As noted, there is still a good amount of water and rock in there, so should be okay, but I am glad you even mentioned it cause for all the things I was thinking, I never even considered that!

Going to add airstone now. I think the powerhead is stirring things, but I should add one just to be safe.

As for the totes and putting the extra rock and water in there....I swear I am losing my mind. Again, not even something I thought of!

I must have went into panic overdrive, cause I didn't even think of totes and things like this. Okay, good to know, cause I would rather do that and take time getting the right replacement tank versus just whatever I can find.

Sincerely you guys are helping more than you know. Taking a breathe

 

[TalkinTangie]

Update: airstone added, powerhead keeping good flow.

Only the clowns were visible. Yellow tang was hiding and not visible. As I added the airstone he did eventually pop out, so my guess is he was in a good hiding spot and doing okay.

No additional leakage for now that I can tell. I have work in the morning, but hope to get all rock in a tote and fish in other tank by tomorrow at some point.

So bottom of tank is currently sand... thoughts on strategies, planning, guidance on keeping versus replacing? 4 years established sand in tank.

Thanks everyone!

 

[TalkinTangie]

Side note: every post i read of mine i cannot seem to spell correctly. I typically pride myself in proper grammar and spelling.

I apologize for the numerous misspelled words, or any grammatical errors. I have been trying to multi-task!

I will try to clean up my mistakes!

 

[ReefingDreams]

Update: airstone added, powerhead keeping good flow.

Only the clowns were visible. Yellow tang was hiding and not visible. As I added the airstone he did eventually pop out, so my guess is he was in a good hiding spot and doing okay.

No additional leakage for now that I can tell. I have work in the morning, but hope to get all rock in a tote and fish in other tank by tomorrow at some point.

So bottom of tank is currently sand... thoughts on strategies, planning, guidance on keeping versus replacing? 4 years established sand in tank.

Thanks everyone!

Replace the sand. No question. Stir it up as little as possible moving forward. Don't need to add any more problems to your list.

Not sure exactly how/where it's leaking, but it sounds like the bottom side seam. I'd be concerned of it travelling up and separating. Maybe ratchet strap the top to help with pressure relief. Just a thought.

 

[iReefer12]

FWIW not all totes are made equal, a lot will bow and fail with the weight of the water and some contain harsh chemicals that could potentially leak. I use the brute trash can, it doesn’t bow even when full, and on their website list them NSF.

BRUTE® Vented Containers | RCP

Innovative venting channels make lifting out liners up to 50% easier, improving productivity and reducing the risk of injury.

www.rubbermaidcommercial.com

Should be able to find at Walmart or Target or just Amazon it.

I wouldn’t mind taking a bit of sand, but just a small amount from the top layer, it’s just me but they’ll be good beneficial bacteria and microfauna that is nice to transfer, but as stated above, try to disturb the sandbed as little as possible during the move process, and not worth transferring any dirt sand, so if it gets stirred up then forget about it, easy to replace.

 

[cdemoss01]

Updates? @TalkinTangie

 

[TalkinTangie]

Update: sorry guys yesterday was busy.

So, the leak has held so far, so that slowed my panic down.

@ReefingDreams yes my biggest fear initially and even now is that the tank will burst for that reason, going up the seam. Because it still has rock and water in it and a few fish.
I have one more tank to throw the last bit of rock in there and from there it will be a take down of the main display.

I needed to go bigger, so this is not entirely bad. I have a couple younger fish that will only get bigger and need the room..but it is a reminder of what can happen.

I have read so many stories but never thought it would be me. Water sensor wouldn't have caught this, the leak went straight down the front and out on the floor, tank was dry underneath and behind thankfully.

I'll try to get a little sand at the end. Otherwise yes too disruptive.

Fish.... tang is doing okay. The whole group was spooked, because my initial response of pulling out my corals and taking down the lights , pulling rock and taking away their hiding spots caused chaos. It was very disruptive and I think that was not good.
I haven't seen my purple firefish, or the gramma. My Purple hides alot and I hadn't seen him in a week leading up to this, so that is actually normal.
Gramma is probably hiding in a rock in the other tank. I know he made it over and I haven't found him on the ground.

Understood on not all totes being equal, and the ones I had were not sturdy, so I've used the few tanks I had for now. I am just out of room though, so I will be getting at least one tote for the rest of the rock. It will help when trying to move stuff around anyways.

Gotta do all new aquascaping now too. Sounds fun, but not in this situation.

I am looking at tanks, there is a place in the Chicago burbs I am hoping to get to, but just wasn't planning on buying a new tank just yet.

Okay I am rambling, but wanted to get out an update. I will get photos of all the tanks and post later. Luckily I had a few extra tanks in the basement.

Thanks everyone!