have you ever had a tank just drip slowly??? er maybe condensation???

[Magnum Man48 162]

in my built in tanks, in the basement, I have a low area in the floor, in one spot under the tanks... I still do occasionally over flow a tank once in a while, and that is the 1st area the water flows to... however it is always damp now / lately / as long as I remember noticing it... it's been at least several months, as I've looked a dozen times for dripping from an air line, or filter, but nothing I can see lately... it's not a floor drain, just a low area on an old cement floor... none of my tanks ( including my RO holding tank appear to be leaking, or any condensate. yet that approximately square foot of floor, always looks damp... in an overflow of tank, a fan can dry the floor in a half hour, yet that one spot remains damp... we have a sump pump under the floor, and that is dry right now, so it's not coming up, from under the floor, and short of an over flow, it's never wet on the surface, just damp enough, that it's a darker color than the surrounding floor... every week, I check for a drip from an accessory, but never find one, it's built in, boards between the bottom of the tank and the floor, but I don't witness anything else wet or damp, so unless that tank is seeping a very small amount, I'm out of ideas, short of removing the side boards under the tank to inspect it... which I suspect is my next option???

 

[Archerfish]

If you eventually rule out your tanks/plants (they can and do wick water) then I would look outdoors. When I was young, we lived in a home that had an underground spring running right under one side of the house and that kept a small area of the basement damp.

 

[gwand47 163]

I once had a subtle leak from wicking on airline tubing and then once from a pothos plant growing aquaponically on top of the tank.

 

[emeraldking27 78]

have you ever had a tank just drip slowly??? er maybe condensation???​

I sure had my moments overhere...

 

[Uberhoust2]

You have a lot of open tanks if I remember correctly, condensation from the warm tank water could be condensing on cooler surfaces outside the tank, or possibly on the cement itself but I believe that to be somewhat unlikely. I would check every contact to the cement floor for water, ie every stand leg etc. One last possibility is that you have some plants that are dripping water from their leaves, I have seen this happen before, it can be worse if the plants are suffering from scale, woolly, or other aphid like creatures. Don't envy the search.

 

[Magnum Man48 162]

I may have to double check the pothos vines in that area... those leaves do drip, but not normally concentrated to one area

 

[Uberhoust2]

I may have to double check the pothos vines in that area... those leaves do drip, but not normally concentrated to one area

Had a Monstera ruin a section of laminate flooring in my previous home, found the name of the process it is called guttation. Just found out that it had a name today, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttation.

 

[Gertrudae]

When the weather changes rapidly from cold to warmer conditions, the granite paving under my balcony, which never gets wet from the rain, becomes damp from condensation. Can you measure the ground temperature with a laser or similar device?

we have a sump pump under the floor

That could be the reason why there is a colder spot there

always looks damp

Or could it be that it only looks wet? Could it be that you spilled something like oil there?

 

[Magnum Man48 162]

 

[Magnum Man48 162]

sorry that one is too dark...

 

[Uberhoust2]

From your picture I would say you have a leak somewhere, have water coming up through the floor, or a lot of water has been spilled and there is a low spot accumulating it just under the boards. Another thought is that it is coming under the sill plate on an outside wall. My opinion is it is not from condensation or plants. Removing the tongue and grove from the lower section wouldn't be hard to do and would allow you to possibly find the source of the water. This might be a home issue as opposed to an aquarium issue. Good luck.

 

[Magnum Man48 162]

this s the other side of the tank... dirty, but dry... 2 tanks above this spot, no wet wood, and they don't need to be refilled earlier than the other tanks???

 

[GaryE8 6]

I have one spot in the room where I have resiliconed a tank in response to water on the floor. I did a lot of other things too, and I get less water, but still some. Since that corner has 3 tanks, I mark the level with a dry erase marker after I fill, and watch if I get a quicker drop in one than the others.
So far, I don't.

Luckily, my tanks are in a garage that probably would have come down in one of the storms if I hadn't worked on and fixed it up. I have come to suspect that it's related to the number of tanks I have, and is a humidity drip spot I see in winter. I use a dehumidifier and the room feels fine, but when it's very cold outside, the floor gets chilly, and I expect some condensation in corners where air circulation slips.

The truth will come out in Spring. My long experience with many tanks says they don't leak often, at least from the seams, and that most water escaping is wicking or dripping from the top, or from filters. Tracing a tank leak is like tracing a roof problem, although you can reseal a tank with less work and far far less cost, just in case.

 

[Magnum Man48 162]

well 30 years ago, when I put this together, I was even less of a finish carpenter... so this is all tongue and groove, and screwed together so It looks like I need to pull a couple boards from under the bottom tank, to explore a little more, for moisture... it's not enough to puddle, but something is causing the dampness... at minimum if it's the vines, maybe I can find the source...

 

[Kreps]

Had a Monstera ruin a section of laminate flooring in my previous home, found the name of the process it is called guttation. Just found out that it had a name today

Yep, monstera guttation can be surprisingly intense. People think it’s just “water droplets” until they realize the plant has basically been slow-dripping mineral-rich water onto furniture or flooring for months. A lot of aroids do it when the soil is very moist or humidity is high, especially overnight. This monstera deliciosa care guide explains the plant’s watering behavior and growth habits pretty well too https://botanapp.com/plant/monstera-deliciosa сause it’s one of those plant facts that sounds harmless until your floorboards start warping.