Operation "Find the Leak" underway...

[Conesus_Kid]

I began the daunting task of finding the leak in the classroom display today by removing about 90% of the rock, the SPS corals, some fish and the anemone. They are currently residing in the Rubbermaid sump under 400W SE MH lighting. I temporarily created a recirculating loop off of the main pump manifold so I can take the display completely offline. I also put a Koralia 4 in there for some extra circulation.

I set up a temporary 55 gallon aquarium in the classroom for the remainder of the rock, corals, and fish. I've got an Octopus NW-150 right in the tank along with a heater and an MP40 for circulation. I'll be suspending the dual 150W HQI fixture from the ceiling over the this aquarium. It'll house the LPS and most of the softies.

Right now, there's a huge rock still in the display that's headed for the 55 along with the rest of the fish and coral. My plan is to empty the tank, clean it up and refill it to the top with tap. If it leaks, I'll try to track down where it's coming from and see if it's repairable. If it doesn't leak, I can infer that it's a plumbing issue and I can replumb the system from scratch.

My biggest concern is that I don't want my Tennenti tang to get too stressed from being stuck in a 55 gallon tank. I was originally going to put him in the Rubbermaid, but there's so much rock in there, there isn't much swimming room.

Regardless, this totally sucks. My patience is super low and my stress level is through the roof. I just hope I'm able to find this leak and get things back on track.:wildone:

 

[NirvanaFan]

Scott, I'll be sanding and applying polyurethane my floors this weekend, but if you're going to be doing this over the weekend, I'd be more than willing to lend a hand.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Thanks for the offer, Joe.

Unfortunately, we're not allowed to come in on the weekends, so I've had to do this in pieces and parts all day. I decided to start today b/c it seemed as if the leak was getting progressively worse this week.

The good news: Phase I is complete. I managed to capture all of the fish and have relocated everything. (I had a yellow watchman goby show up that I thought I lost two years ago!!!) I'll finish draining the display after work today.

Tomorrow, I'll be cleaning out the display tank, then refilling with tap. I'm then going to leave it at least over the weekend, if not longer, to see if it's the tank that's leaking. If there's no leaks, I'll drain then fix the plumbing. I there's a leak in the tank, that's when I lose it.

 

[Jacwil]

Ugh...keep us updated Scott, I feel for ya. Let us know if we can aid in anyway.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Display drained:

New digs in the sump:

Cramped 55G in the classroom:

 

[Capt_Cully]

This totally blows Scott! I think the tenneti will be ok. Think about what they go throughout when bagged and shipped and kept in store tanks. If its out of the way and low traffic, I'd think he'd be ok for a while right? ABC reefs has had a huge panther grouper and another big tang in a 90 for like a year.

What/where did you see/notice the leak to begin with?

 

[Conesus_Kid]

I noticed a small puddle at the end of summer after I had jammed a rubber stopper in one of the return jets. I figured it had to do with added pressure to the plumbing and perhaps a weak joint was leaking. After removing the stopper a few weeks ago, the leak stopped.

Monday of this week greeted me with a couple of sizable puddles.

I can't see where it's coming from. It doesn't seem to be dripping down the back of the tank. Further complicating things is the fact that there's these weird chambers in the back of the tank:

They were originally designed to serve as a sump/bioball holder, but I just took them out of the equation (They're normally dry.). I noticed that the center rear chamber has water in it (and has during the course of this leak adventure.) I'm pretty sure that water is collecting there from some leak, but I can't see where it's leaving the tank.

For my sanity's sake, I'm just looking at this project methodically and tackling one phase at a time. When I first noticed the leak, my mind started racing and I didn't know where to begin. After it went away, I breathed a big sigh of relief and helped myself to a big ol' serving of denial. Yesterday, I basically resolved that I have to face this head on, and I need to do it on my own terms so I don't get overwhelmed or frustrated.

The good thing is that I can keep fish and coral in the current temporary setups indefinitely, preventing any rash, hurried decision-making on my part.

I'll keep this thread updated as the investigation continues. Thanks for the well-wishes, gang!

 

[Capt_Cully]

Godspeed good sir.

Vlamingi tang is the other tang ABC has in the 90 with the panther. I TOTALLY blanks on what type of tang it was. Anyway....its doing fine. But it does remind me of Grossberger from "Stir Crazy". I sure yours will be fine in the 55. Good on ya mate.

 

[GMaquarium]

Had to deal with this a number of times and can sympathize. Let me know if there is anything I could help with.

 

[belgian_waffleman]

Good luck with the hunt for the leak.

At least you have someone to keep an eye on things over the weekend:

Waffleman

 

[mr86mister]

Eeek, this sounds like a mess. Sorry to hear and during the school year.

 

[jfl14609]

not sure if this would work but could you possibly put some food coloring in the chamber where you think the leak is then wherever its making it through the acrylic would show the color might be easier than trying to see where clear water is going through clear acrylic. although I cant tell how large the chamber is you may need alott of food coloring haha

 

[redreef85]

good luck finding the leak! This would be a good time to make any upgrades you may wanted to do.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Progress made...

Progress made...

I'm 99% sure I found the source of the leak. Remember this first started happening when I put a one-hole rubber stopper on one of the return jets to increase flow to the chiller.

I remember that the top of the aquarium was pretty wet when I removed the hood. Check out the salt creep around the top of the other return line:

The joint at the bottom of that elbow is bad. I'm able to wiggle the pipe around.

I then poured water in the location I thought the leak was happening. It trickled down the back of the aquarium into the center chamber. Here's a shot from above:

That center pipe is for the closed loop. The water level in that chamber would climb until it reached the bottom of the outer hole I drilled and would then exit the aquarium.

The water I poured today caused the leak in the exact same locations and way that it was leaking before.

I'm still going to clean out the display, but I think I can bypass the tapwater fill. I'm also planning to totally re-do the plumbing. I'm going to 86 those two big returns and run the return through the closed loop return jets (the loc-lines in this photo):

As part of this, I'll re-route the closed loop to go directly through the chiller.

Cross your fingers that this'll be it. Plumbing work will begin sometime next week.:bounce1:

 

[Capt_Cully]

What's that pipe opening dead center?

 

[Conesus_Kid]

In both pics, its the closed loop intake. After the plumbing revamp, that'll feed the chiller.

 

[Jacwil]

Status update Scott?

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Tank is filled with tap and I've been doing some scrubbing. I'll be bringing my Sawzall in tomorrow to do some plumbing demo and will hopefully be back online next week.

All critters are doing well so I haven't been in a huge hurry.

 

[Jacwil]

Cool! Glad things are "under control!"

 

[tent boy]

That tank could use a good scrubbing while your at it. Maybe you can grab a detention kid to do the work.