Please help. Tank leaking

[illmatik]

I bought a JBJ 28 Gallon nano cube second hand. Along with leak testing it after purchase, I cycled my rock in tank for over 3 weeks before adding livestock.

It's been about 2 weeks since adding fish and corals, and I've developed a leak on one of the bottom corners. It's slowly gotten worse as the day has gone on.

I need a replacement tank ASAP. I've sent an email to JBJ already. Does anyone know where I can source a replacement tank only? I'm worried about having to transfer everything to a new tank and hurting my fish and corals. What's the best way to do this?

Edit: Does anyone know if the JBJ 30 gallon rimless would be a suitable replacement?

 

[reefbroao]

What I would do is go grab a cheap 20 g for $20 at petco. fill with ro/di bare bottom to at least hold the livestock. create a drainage plan for the tanks water and progressively drop the LR into the bb holding tank so it doesn't dry out. You may want to try to accept that this isn't gonna be salvageable.

BUT get some super glue and pop it in there to try and clog up the leak, and use tank sealant over that. Ive done it before and it worked. But in the end, do you want a ticking time bomb? A leaking tank is doing the one thing it was designed not to do.

 

[illmatik]

Thanks for your help.

I've got some good news...

The tank is actually leaking from the top. I'm told this can happen when the nanocube is overfilled, which leads me to my next question.

When running both return pumps on my nanocube, it seems like I need to overfill the tank for there to be enough water flowing through the tank and the rear filtration chambers. With one return pump running the water levels seem normal.

My tank has always looked overfilled. I'm hoodless with a custom mesh top, and with both return pumps running, the mesh top is submerged in the water a little bit.

This seems to be my problem, but I can't understand why I'm not able to run both return pumps at a reasonable water level.

Edit:

It looks like what's in my media basket is affecting my flow. I do have an upgraded InTank Media Basket, but until I removed the bag of chemi pure elite it was clogging my flow. I always thought the water overflowing out the sides of the media basket didn't look right.

At this point I've got both pumps running, water flowing through the media basket and no leak on the top as the tank is no longer overfilled.

Hopefully I figured it out here

 

[reefbroao]

What pumps are you using? pictures?

 

[illmatik]

I'm running two Marineland ML90512 Maxi-Jet 1200 PRO, 295/1300GPH.

Do these pumps put out too much flow for the JBJ 28?

I've got filter floss and a small bag of purigen in my media basket right now, and there's just a tiny bit of water flowing out the sides of the media basket so I know I can't add anything else without it clogging up the flow.

By removing the chemi pure elite I was able to remove a couple quarts of tank water and stop the leak. I would like to figure out this problem for good though.

 

[toothybugs]

They might be too much. How do you have them set up - powerhead, etc? (If you posted pics, sorry for the question - work blocks links to Photobucket, etc) In a 28 cube I personally would have gone with at most 1 of the 1200s, probably 2 of the 900s set up as powerheads with the cage over the impeller and kinda pointing toward each other for chaos.

 

[illmatik]

I can take pictures this evening, but I've got them set up how I imagine the JBJ comes configured out of the box. One pump on each side of the rear filtration compartment, pushing water out of their respective outlets on the tops of the tank.

No powerhead in the tank right now.

 

[reefbroao]

I would get one unit that will provide the flow rather than 2 that stack. It's true a 1200 would be your best bet. it's more controllable that having 2 separate.

 

[illmatik]

So it's recommended to only run one of the two return pumps, and maybe put a powerhead or two in the tank to increase flow?

It just seems strange as the tank was designed to run both return pumps, and I have read of other folks being able to run both pumps without issue.

Edit: Digging around more and more, it seems that the MaxiJet 900 is the best pump to use when running both return pumps on the JBJ 28. The 1200s are just putting out too much flow for the tank to handle.

I ordered a pair of MJ 900s and I'll swap em in when I get them. Hopefully I can bring the water level of the tank down a couple inches, and be able to run the rotating hydor heads without waves overflowing the top of my tank and my mesh screen being submerged.

 

[Coelli]

So it's recommended to only run one of the two return pumps, and maybe put a powerhead or two in the tank to increase flow?

It just seems strange as the tank was designed to run both return pumps, and I have read of other folks being able to run both pumps without issue.

A single MJ1200 is plenty for that size tank (I used one on my Biocube 29). At 2x 295 gallons you're turning the tank water over 20x an hour. Half of that is definitely sufficient, pick up a circulation pump (Koralia etc) for more flow in the tank itself.

Edit: You were editing when I was posting! Not fair!

 

[illmatik]

A single MJ1200 is plenty for that size tank (I used one on my Biocube 29). At 2x 295 gallons you're turning the tank water over 20x an hour. Half of that is definitely sufficient, pick up a circulation pump (Koralia etc) for more flow in the tank itself.

Edit: You were editing when I was posting! Not fair!

Oops!

I'm happy to have a good idea of my options now. It's good to know that only one return pump will do the job, and I may just do that with a circulation pump in the tank.

But I'm gonna give the dual MJ 900's a shot first. I think having both pumps running with a good water level would be ideal as to minimize clutter in the tank, but it's good to know that 1 MJ 1200 and a powerhead will do the job.

 

[bruindave]

A single MJ1200 is plenty for that size tank (I used one on my Biocube 29). At 2x 295 gallons you're turning the tank water over 20x an hour. Half of that is definitely sufficient, pick up a circulation pump (Koralia etc) for more flow in the tank itself.

Edit: You were editing when I was posting! Not fair!

this is also what i encountered and now have only 1 on at a time. If i run both then my tank overflows. If I run one at a time with a koralia wavemaker then that seems to be a happy medium.

 

[xxsevxx]

I have a jbj 28 and got 2 of the same pumps and its just too strong for that tank. The over flow isnt big enough. I ended up using 1 of the maxi and 1 of the original pumps (266 gph) and it was fine. With both maxi's running i had the same problem as you plus micro bubbles like crazy. Swap one out with a weaker pump and you should be ok.