Resolved Skimmer Leaking - Central Aquatics Responds...

Heading off to school, I notice the floor behind my aquarium as wet. It's hardwood flor - looks like the finished is pretty badly messed up. :-/ We are renting the house...

I first noticed the spot yesterday and I thought it was just a spill so I wiped it up. It's there again this morning!

Not sure if it is form my protein skimmer or a leak in the silicone/glass from the tank. Here are some pictures of the floor.

this morning after I wiped up the puddle...


Obviously water has gotten under the stand too...


How do I tell if it is my tank or skimmer? What should I do?

 

Disconnect the skimmer, top off your tank and give it some time then you will know more. While you have time to monitor your tank, I would also disconnect your filter system to see what's really going on... I understand where you're coming from, I've had a tank shatter on me before dumping 30g of cycled water throughout my living room, thank god I had a steam cleaner to suck up the water....

But when you are done with school just sit down turn off all the equipment and see what happens.... Home Depot sells aquarium non toxic water proof sealant, (i know cuz i work there) so if you need to go to home depot, and tell them lowes has it for 3-6dollars cheaper, they will mark it down so you get a good price, then u have some ready just in case

 

Judging by the spatter on the wall id guess skimmer.but as others said turn the skimmer off and keep an eye on the level in the aquarium and the skimmer if its a hob

 

I would turn off the skimmer for now as well. Once it is off I would wipe it dry to see if it is cracked. From there I would check the back/sides of the tank and piping.

 

Invest in some sponge scrubs

 

I completely missed the wall splatter. It's not really noticeable in the room.

I just got home from school. The water had leaked again so just I cleaned it up. I will check it again in an hour. I marked the skimmer water level with masking tape and on the opposite side, I noticed salt creep about 3/4" up the skimmer body and also toward the bottom of it.


Looking more closely, the entire back (bottom) of my stand has mildewed. ...and so is the actual hardwood floor.

 

The skimmer is a Coralife 125 SS, running HOB; I have no other filtration on the tank at the moment...just powerheds for water movement.

Because the mildew runs the whole length of the back of the tank stand, it is difficult to tell whether the water is from the tank or the skimmer. The tank is not level; the right side by about 3/8" higher than the left (meaning protein skimmer is on low end of slope/incline).

What are those?

 

Where there's salt creep there's leak.

 

I agree! I have a HOB skimmer also, and there is never salt creep on the actual body of the skimmer. I would take the entire skimmer off and see if you clean it and run water through it where it is coming from.

I doubt its the tank, but do you see any water around the edge of your tank? look for salt creep there too.

 

i would take the protein skimmer and mount it on the front of the tank for a day. if its wet on the ground in front of the tank then you know its the skimmer.