Three months into hobby. Had first catastrophe!

[Clovis]

My tank started leaking!!!

I ran to store and bought a 20 gallon to switch over fish and plants. That was not a fun task. I’ll just say this...Zebra Danios suck!

two questions. 

1) how long will my plants live floating like this? I hate to say it but I care more about the plants than the fish  eek!

2) I’m super paranoid about flooding.  Are there any good ideas for secondary containment if the next tank leaks? 
 

I live upstairs for a unit and don’t want to flood neighbours if I miss a leak. 

 

thanks 

[lefty o]

most plants seem to do pretty well just floating around. they should be okay until you get around to planting them.

[FrozenFins]

I had the same problem when starting in the hobby, I was also 3 months in when my entrie tank bursted. Lets just say 10 gallons doesn't look like a lot until its on your floor. 

To prevent this from happening again I purchased my new tank from a reliable seller, I did not get my aquarium from walmart again but this time from my lfs. I made sure the seams were good and everything. Unfortauntley there isn't a hole lot you can do from preventing this, make sure its on a strong a sturdy flat surface. 

There are some alarms that you can get that will either beep REALLY loud or send you notifactions on your phone. This way if a leak happend again you can fix it right away, therefore less water on the grounf.  I haven't used one so I can't recemend any in particular. If you search up water leak alarm on amazon, you'll find what I'm talking about. Heres a link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=water+leak+alarm&ref=nb_sb_noss

[CT_]

I used to use bioreactors that would leak if you set them up wrong.  I kept them in a tray that had a drain tube into a bucket that was bigger than the capacity of my reactor.

If your aquarium is on a stand you could maybe keep a big enough container to catch all the water underneath.  This assumes a non explosive leak.

If you're really lucky there's a drain near by but that doesn't sound like the case.

[ElTigre]

1) When it comes to the plants the stem looking plants should be fine floating as they can get enough nutrients from the water. However, one looks to be an amazon sword and they like to feed from their roots so i wouldn't recommend leaving that one uprooted for too long.

2)Idk anything about containment but sometimes it can help to use a piece of yoga mat cut to size of the tank to put underneath it. This will help it spread out the force of the water on the seams to not stress on side more than the other. Also always make sure your tanks on a level surface to prevent this as well. 

[PlaneFishGuy]

Are there any early warning signs to look for? I have been trying to watch my seams on a new tank but don't really know what specifically to look for to predict a failure. I try to give it a common sense look at the silicone but do the veterans out there know any tell-tell signs? 

Edited March 3, 2021 by PlaneFishGuy

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Floating plants should be fine probably even see more growth in them with the close proximity to the light source.. Not sure on the signs of imminent silicone failure but I would make sure there is a full solid bead of silicone on the inside corner of each pane, avoid scraping algae near it, and if I saw anything under the bead like algae I would not personally be comfortable with its integrity. I have not yet popped a seam and did have 4 x 40 breeders and 4 x 20 longs for a few years with no issues. Once cracked the bottom of a 10 gallon when I was 12 years old and still remember it vividly 38 years later. That is indeed alot of water on a floor. 

I decided to go with acrylic tanks in this version of the fish room since its a small amount of tanks and my main tanks are a 20, 3 50's and a 75. Large volume of water for a floor if any break so I decided to have no seams to bust and chose acrylic for my situation. Acrylic has its own problems scratches easy etc.

If I were trying to contain water in a situation like that, with a glass tank, I would add a 1 inch lip around the top of a stand and cut a hole in that lip to insert a python hose or two in that lip on each back corner. run those hoses down to a container in the bottom of the stand that would hold all the water of the main tank above. It would almost be like the wash systems of Arizona cities that direct heavy rains water flow to were you want it.  That hose deal would not work for a total catastrophic seam bust but if it were a slower leak that may contain all the water for you.  

[Clovis]

Acrylic tanks have no seems? would you say they are safer for leaks?

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Yes functionally acrylic has no seams in that the when assembled the panels are chemically bonded / welded together and form one continuous piece. There would not be a way for a leak to occur that I am aware of.

I wouldn't say safer exactly because there are many ways to get leaks from airline siphoning back water without check valves to filters and hoses leaking but I am confident the acrylic tanks themselves will not leak from seams because there are none. Primarily I wanted tanks I could move without help and the weight savings made acrylic the choice there.  I also seem to have more stable temperatures with the acrylic. They scratch easier than glass and are more upfront to purchase but for me but the it was worth the tradeoff.   

[David W]

What are you using for a stand? The tank looks level from the waterline. 

The picture looks like there is a seam in the middle or two surfaces slid together. 

If that the case the tank may not have been supported evenly leading to early failure.

[Clovis]

@David W

 

that is the rescue tank. It’s on two small tables. The main tank is on its own dedicated stand designed for it.