Urgent Crap! Sprung a leak!

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011.

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  1. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I had built a false wall in a 10 gallon tank 2 weeks ago, and ran it with tap water for a week to check for leaks. After getting everything transferred and set up the false wall sprung a leak the next day!

    Any ideas for a fast fix? Aquaputty? :confused:
     
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    #1

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  2. 1.0reef

    1.0reef Giant Squid

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    how big? aqua putty might work! ask the experts about this because i don't know anything else!
     
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    #2
  3. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Don't think it will work. I can hear the seams of the false wall slowly coming apart
     
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    #3
  4. reefmonkey

    reefmonkey Giant Squid

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    The problem is you used a piece of acrylic and tried to bond it with silicone. Water weight and unequal pressures on either side of the wall is causes flex in the sheet of acrylic.
     
    reefmonkey, Apr 16, 2011
    reefmonkey, Apr 16, 2011
    #4
  5. 1.0reef

    1.0reef Giant Squid

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    another sheet of glass or plexi glass behind the wall that sprung a leak?
     
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    #5
  6. 1.0reef

    1.0reef Giant Squid

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    well i guess my brain got beat! i have no more ideas of how to fix this!
     
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    1.0reef, Apr 16, 2011
    #6

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  7. nc208082

    nc208082 Zoanthid

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    why not try and build a brace to hold it in place in the tank. secondly i built false walls in my sump using glass and acrylic and had no problem. did you let it dry for 48 hours to reach its full strength before you did it. secondly dont use aqua putty use a silicone sealent. reef safe stuff
     
    nc208082, Apr 16, 2011
    nc208082, Apr 16, 2011
    #7
  8. xmetalfan99

    xmetalfan99 Giant Squid

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    the 1/16 acrylic he used will flex and pull off of the silicone no matter what. he needs to use glass and silicone for what he wants to do. Also, the pressure between sections in your sump have equal or almost equal pressure on both sides of the baffles. Making your baffles not bend or be pushed out of position.
     
    xmetalfan99, Apr 16, 2011
    xmetalfan99, Apr 16, 2011
    #8
  9. duoc9119

    duoc9119 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I got everything moved into a big rubbermaid. So Now time to redo the tank. I'm going to get thicker acrylic this time. Thanks for the help! I did let it cure for 3 days so it must have been because I used really thin acrylic
     
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    duoc9119, Apr 16, 2011
    #9
  10. Raudrive

    Raudrive Astrea Snail

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    I piece of glass would be much better than the acrylic. The silicone adhesive will stick to glass, not acrylic.

    Good luck,
    Rick
     
    Raudrive, Apr 17, 2011
    Raudrive, Apr 17, 2011
    #10
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