Big Problem!

[Jimyfloyd]

Hi all,

I've just come home to find a wet floor. Thought nothing of it and then looked closer. Looks like the tank is leaking out of the corner

It's a RIO 125.

How should I go about trying to fix it? I can't see the leak as the cover well covers it!

 

[AK77]

Hi Jimy,

The same thing happened on my Juwel Rio 180. The seal ruptured at the bottom of the tank at 3am one morning. The worst part was, my tank was in my bedroom upstairs. Good job I had a wooden floor and heard it dripping! All I could do was drain the thing down and house the fish in buckets, with live rock, heaters and powerheads. Unless you can get direct access to where the tank is leaking from, I'm afraid your pretty much up the proverbial without a paddle I'm afraid.

If you can see where its leaking from, you could try mixing up some milliput and try pluggin it that way until you can get to it proper. Silicone probably wouldn't work as the water would prolong the curing and by that time would have forced it out of the seal. If its ruptured at the bottom of the tank, then you aren't going to be able to access because of that plastic beech effect cover.

You'll most likely have to do what I did. Drain it down and then get some fish safe silicone and reseal the seams.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Thanks for the reply AK.

This is exactly what has happened and it's under the beech cover. I think i'll start taking it apart this evening.

Luckily i have a spare tank that i am just about to turn into a sump. I'll use this to hold as much as i can.

Question - now that this has happened and i have to drain the tank should i drill it - bear in mind i bought an overflow already...

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Sorry to hear that man, this is my biggest nightmare! I personally would say as its going to be empty anyway then drill it. If you can return the overflow then bonus if not see if you can sell/swop it for something else you need (or keep it for the next tank ).

Good luck with resealing the tank, hope it all goes well!

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Thanks Barney.

My next question is how do I do it all? I mean what size hole and then how do i make the Durso???

Also for the return do you drill for that as well?

 

[AK77]

Thanks Barney.

My next question is how do I do it all? I mean what size hole and then how do i make the Durso???

Also for the return do you drill for that as well?

Hi Jimy,

You can buy diamond grinding bits that are designed for drilling porcelain tiles. Its more of a bore that a drill. They are readily available from ebay. I think they are around £35-40 for two bores, plus a template that will stick to the glass to ensure you get a clean finish.

I'd either go for 32mm or 40mm waste pipe sizes. I've seen 35mm and 42mm size cutters on ebay which should be the correct size for the bulkheads to sit on the base of the glass and allow the waste pipe to pass through. The best thing to do would be to get one of the bulkheads and measure the diameter of the flange, then select an appropriate size cutter.

You'd then put a few mm of water in the base of the tank and using a cordless drill, slowly beging grinding. You could just use a mains powered one, but just be very careful. Use rubber gloves and eye protection too. Let the bore do the grinding, don't force it. If you use a mains drill, set the speed to low. This, combined with the water will help keep the bit cool and prolong the life of it. Once the hole is made you can install your bulkhead. Apply some silicone around the hole and also to the flange of the bulkhead. After that, you can beging to make your durso and install that. Check out www.dursostandpipes.com for a parts list as well has how to assemble it. Finally, with your tank drilled and durso fitted, I'd then build a weir around the durso. This will help prevent critters getting into the downpipe and also, if the seal should fail on the bulkhead in the future, only the contents of the weir will empty into the sump (once the sump pump is off).

 

[Jimyfloyd]

For those of you interested I emptied the tank last night. Went ok but took a while to get all the water out. No visible signs of a leak so i jsut pumped the area with silicone.

The fish and cleaner shrimp all seemed ok this morning in their new temporary home although I've lost my emerald crab - i assume he's hiding in the live rock somewhere.

AK - Am i right in thinking that for the weir it's jsut 2 pieces of glass siliconed in to make a box in the corner? Where do can you get a comb from?

I'm in 2 minds about drilling the tank as I have the overflow box already.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You don't have to drill for the return. I personally have mine going over the top of the tank as then I can put a hole in the tube just below the water level. This is because when the pump is turned off the return pipe turns into a syphon and starts draining the water into the sump, with the hole just below the water surface it only drains until it gets to the hole then it sucks in air and breaks the syphon.

With regards to the size of hole you need it depends on how much water you want to go through it (ie you need to match it to the flow rate from the return pump in the sump). Personally I wouldn't drill the bottom. I would drill the back near the top and have the pipework on the outside of the tank. This is personal preference really but it takes up less space in the tank. The weir basically just needs to cover the pipework/bulkheads in the tank. The top of the weir needs to be where you want the waterline to be.

For weir combs there are a few options. If you look in your local hardware store for plastic vents you might find something suitable (just cut them in half).

As already said on the drilling make sure you have a good drill that can be set to a low speed and take your time. If you are drilling on the back then have a hose with water trickling over where you are drilling to keep it cool and wash away the bits you grind out. Be very careful of using a drill around water though.

Edit: Forgot to say. There are websites out there that will work out what size holes you need depending on the flow rates. Also I would highly recommend having two holes. This way if one blocks you wont end up with a flooded display tank