leak testing new aquarium

Cloudburst2000

Active member
Hey all,

I am not a new aquariust. I already have had a couple marine tanks but they were full set-ups given to me by other people (one from my brother-in-law and one from a friend). So they basically 'set' the tanks up for me...came with tank, stand, equipment, rocks, fish, etc. So I have never had to leak test a tank myself. I took down one of my tanks to upgrade it slightly in size and footprint. The old tank was a 12g nanocube (one of the early nanocubes). The hood is on the fritz and I don't want to put money into a really old tank so it's going to be downgraded to a quarantine tank. I have purchased a rimless 16g Nuvo aquarium. I should be getting the stand I had made either today or tomorrow. How should I go about leak testing it? I know I need to fill it with water (no salt). But how long should I leave it sitting with water before deciding it's good to go? And what should I look for as a red flag while it's filled with water? I know I might not see a leak immediately either, but that there are things to look for that might be problematic in the future (possibly causing future leaks or even worse a busted tank). What should I really concentrate on looking for? Water spreading into the seams for sure (which I would guess means the seams aren't airtight and might fail in the future) but what else should I look for? I definitely don't want the tank to fail in the future. That would be major suckage. Thanks for any tips!
 
I put newspaper under my tank when I leak test them. If the paper makes it easy to see if water is coming out.
 
Forsure put something under that you can tell is wet. Leave for a couple days and look for bowing but not likely going to see anything with a leak test unless it's actually leaking.
 
So besides actual leaks and water seeping into silicone when the tank is full, is there anything else that I need to be looking for? Any indications that a tank might not hold water in the future even if it holds water now? Thanks!
 
One thing that you may not see now but will effect your tank down the line is if it isn't sitting flush with the stand. If it isnt sitting nicely on the stand I can stress the bottom payne of glass.
 
One thing that you may not see now but will effect your tank down the line is if it isn't sitting flush with the stand. If it isnt sitting nicely on the stand I can stress the bottom payne of glass.

I'm going to use padding to make up for any minor imperfections in the stand. So the padding will be between the stand and the glass bottom of the tank. I was told to use the foam that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot.
 
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