Will tank leak water without warning?

[BayHeli]

I had heard some people in RC mention about their tanks leaked water in the middle of the night or while they were away from home.

Is there any warnings before the tank leak? I am little worry about my tank. I have my tank running for almost two months. It's plexi glass tank. I got it used.

For those who have these diasaters happened before, please share your experiences and lessons learn. Thanks.

Raymond

 

[chrismunn]

does the tank ever tell you anything? if it could do that, i think we would have bigger problems on our hands.
a tank can start leaking at any given time with no warning. the best indication of a leak would simply be the condition of the tank prior to its use.
i heard alot worse than a small leake in the middle of the night. but a whole broken pain of glass.
anythnig can go wrong. have a backup plan in place and dont worry about it untill it happens, unless you think it is gonna happen. if so, then get a new tank?

 

[Hal]

"Helloooo. . . hellooo...Marty? This is your tank. Yup, just wanted to let you know that I plan on starting to leak next Thursday. Yes, I know you'll be out of town on business. That's the whole point. Oh, stop whining you big baby, I'm giving you advance notice, aren't I?"

Seriously, though, in some rare cases you'll notice that the glass seem is starting to pull apart. This is usually seen by seeing air bubbles appear in the silicon. However, for almost all other cases (99.999%), you don't get any warning. Keep in mind that the plastic rim around the tank bottom will usually preclude seeing this, so you're limited to the vertical seams. Plus, usually Murphy's law says the leak will be on one of the back corners where it's not readily visible.

 

[ACBlinky]

My three year old 65g started leaking recently (in the middle of the night, that's just Murphy's Law) and there was NO warning whatsoever. Sometimes these things just happen, there's not much you can do other than set up the tank dead level, be careful cleaning around the seams of glass tanks and hope for the best. Try not to worry about it, the chances of having a problem are slim. Just enjoy your tank and make sure you have enough bins and buckets around to house the rock and fish... just in case

 

[Sk8r]

Primary reasons for midnight catastrophes:

power outs and an improperly set sump level: many power companies do their maintenance at night and may glitch the power down for 5 minutes, long enough for a sump that's never been tested against a power-out to overflow or reverse-siphon.

a tank under stress, ie, set crooked, and glass bowing toward a crack or seam failure. Possibly a temperature change affects the glass, as the tank cools down from daylight; or possibly the owner is just lucky.

 

[Dubbin1]

Re: Will tank leak water without warning?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8067560#post8067560 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BayHeli
It's plexi glass tank.

I think you mean acrylic Anyway, don't worry about it and enjoy what you have. Chances for an acrylic tank blowing a seal is very low due to the panels being bonded together and not being held together with silicone.

 

[BayHeli]

dublin1: Yes, I mean "Acrylic" instead of "plexi"

It was late at night when I thought of this kind of problem.

I hope it won't happen before I upgrade to a bigger tank. I thought you guys will give me some reasons to tell my wife that I need a bigger tank.

 

[vijaym85]

might sound weird but my tank is a 150g but I only fill it to 130 to reduce water pressure, I figure if its made to handle 150 than keeping only 130 n it should be less stressfull, this causes other issues like how your drain system is built plus the ugly look of missing 20 gallons but I will take it if it means keeping my tank safe.