# Leaking tank scare / background paper



## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Wow did I just have one heck of a scare. I finally got home to check up on the tank and saw HALF A TANK EMPTY!  I saw water leading to the drain in the ground (basement laundry room is where my tank is) and thought the 10gal burst a seam or the hot/cold exchange caused the seals or heater and glass to shock up or something as the area is colder due to the dryer aluminum air ducting venting outside.

I checked around the tank and didn't see any excessive dripping. Then I checked the filter and the water mark as high in the filter so I turned the flow rate down on the AC20. I noticed the cardboard I used as a back drop turned out to play a big part in why the tank was half drained.

Isuspect the filter was slightly overflowing perhaps due to the sponges not sitting too wellin the media basket or got compacted and restricted water flow. I cleaned the sponges and floss out a week ago and normally such a cleaning is needed about every 2-3 weeks. I suspect the cardboard wicked all the water down the back of the tank as it was close to the filter and the filter leveler fell as well. 

So the thing I'm taking from this is check the filter leveler from time to time and use some laminated backdrop then cardboard which will wick the water out. 

After I refilled the tank I checked around for any leaks and checked 2 hrs later. The water level is solid and not dropping. Phew!


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

I've had an AC leak due to improper leveling before, but never half a tank overnight. That's pretty scary, good thing you had it in the basement where there was a drain though.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Just got home and checked the tank from a few days ago. Yup, the tanks not leaking a drip (evaporation is another story ). Yah!  I cleaned out the filter material just to be on the safe side. The sponges didn't have much gunk but the filter floss that I reused a few times did build up about 1/2 a pad of fine gunk on it. Cleaned the floss out and put the media basket back in and the water flow was a little lower then before. I run my filter on the low flow setting most of the time.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I've had a similar problem where not cleaning the filter media on my Red Sea Nano led to the filter overflowing and water dripping all over my carpet. 

I thought my ADA Mini-S had sprung a leak


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I once left the string of a media bag hanging out of the AC and water wicked out and over the edge...thought it was a leak, too, but no...


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

carmenh said:


> I once left the string of a media bag hanging out of the AC and water wicked out and over the edge...thought it was a leak, too, but no...


Did the same, media bag string hanging out of my Marine AIO Pico reef... the salt water pool up on the desk around my iPhone. The ONE night I didnt put my iphone in its charging dock.

Saltwater doesn't agree with iPhones... if it had been FW I could have dried it out, but the salt corroded the circitry. What an aweful morning that was.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Oh that SUCKS!!!


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Just had my AC lose its hold with its clip thing, and it slid backwards. It slowly dripped probably a gallon or two out of the tank overnight until I noticed tonight. Had to vacuum suction the hardwood floor to get the water out, what a PITA! Sadly... exactly what happened at my parent's place like 10 years ago... silly that the exact same thing happened again.

So double check your HOBs!!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I'm glad to have read this, seeing as I am fairly new to HOB filters. I noticed my AC 70 was pouring water out the side that's supposed to be the intake as well as the usual side. Fortunately, no leak outside, but I found it needed cleaning. The sponge was pretty dirty.. so now I check more often to make sure it's ok. The big 'shelf' I have the tank on is actually water tight, having been designed as a plant shelf, so I wanted any overflow to be caught before it hit the books underneath or the floor, but it's only about an inch deep and it would not take all that much water to overflow. THAT would make me very unpopular with the people below, not to mention the landlord.


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Home depot sells a leak alarm. $10, and it sounds like a smoke detector. I put it on a piece of napkin. That way it wicks up, instead of waiting for it to rise up to the level of the sensors. 

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

I had this happen a couple of times in the basement thank goodness whenever I have a HOB now I always make sure I I put a bracket , or a rock or something behind the filter so it tipped up that way it all flow to the front even if the side get a little to much water. Frankly I like canisters better never have that problem and you can pick up eheims pretty cheap, the older the better as they were made in Germany not the cheap ones now from China .I just picked up one must be 20 years old runs like a charm.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

pat3612 said:


> I had this happen a couple of times in the basement thank goodness whenever I have a HOB now I always make sure I I put a bracket , or a rock or something behind the filter so it tipped up that way it all flow to the front even if the side get a little to much water. Frankly I like canisters better never have that problem and you can pick up eheims pretty cheap, the older the better as they were made in Germany not the cheap ones now from China .I just picked up one must be 20 years old runs like a charm.


Yeah, I slipped in some styrofoam in between all my HOBs with the tank, even the ones that never gave me trouble. All the HOBs I have were meant to be redundant filters, as I have canister filters for all my tanks (I love eheim too!) Who would've thought the first leak would've happened from the HOB though.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

You just never know do you


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## MattyB (Dec 8, 2010)

Had a similiar issue with my tank. Came down to my 55 gallon only have 3 inches of water still in the tank. Turns out that the air line from my air pump disconnected and good ole gravity took over. Slow trickle of water created a huge mess in living room, basement and almost lost the fish. Near/ semi disasters are fun.


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