Hi all,
I'm looking for advice on what could be a leak, I may have narrowed down the problem but always looking for outside opinions.
I have an Aqueon 20g long set on a granite worktop. Its been set up for about 3 months and is stocked with plants and fish.
This morning I noticed a puddle and water trail on my floor in front of the tank. The puddle was maybe half a cup's worth and the trail was partly dried. There was evidence of a drip on the cabinet and water was found around the base of the tank on three sides. There is also evidence of a drip in side the cabinet at the back left, not significant, but enough to make one wooden spar a different colour. I also noted I was able to slide tissue paper under the middle of the tank (Its rimed so this is "ok"? The corners remain flush).
Two days ago I did a water change and the siphon slipped for perhaps 5 seconds, (Perhaps 1/2 cups of water?) water landed around the outside of the tank and I believed I got it all. The filter has not overflowed.
Pictured is the tank, with the red line showing where I found water this morning and the blue line showing where I spilled the other day. (Photo is from pre-stocking a few weeks ago)
I was already 40 minutes late for work so I drained about 20% of the water to ease possible pressure and left hoping for the best.
Could this just be residual water from the spill taking a while to seep out and drip? The dried up trail on the ground implied it wasn't active but I wasn't able to wait for an hour to reassess
Thankyou!
Posted by TheTragedy0fPlagueis
5 Comments
Haven’t heard good things about the newer Aqueon aquariums, could have been residual only way to find out is check it later and see if there’s more water around the base. If there is I’d drain it, move it, water test it and if I found it leaking I’d be looking for a new one from petco
Check carefully around HOB and all the cords – make sure nothing is wicking water out of the tank and on the counter.
Most times is just some attachment wicking water tbh
I had a similar problem on a 5g and ended up having to replace the aquarium. It was a slow leak i never located. All i know is that i’d wipe up water and sure as anything there would be more the next day. About the only thing you should try to take off the table is water wicking/siphoning down some random structure/wire in your aquarium. Look for water trails running down the glass or generally things that are wet that aren’t on the counter. Once i convinced myself it was a leak I kinda figured locating the leak was pointless. I wasn’t confident enough to fix it, and frankly even if i did locate and fix the leak i’d still be worried about the rest of the seals in the tank. You might still be able to warranty it since you’ve only had it three months, but personally with aquariums i’m not really a big believer in second chances.
Generally speaking aqueon and most brands you’d find at a big box store like petco are hit and miss in terms of quality. I ended up getting a rimless UNS tank that i think is way better constructed and i haven’t had issue with.
The tank looks way over filled. Idealy for a rimmed tank you fill it to the rim level on the outside of the tank just in case because the seal at the top of the glass and the plastic is rarely ever sealed, just set in place with a few globs of silicone. Leave it lower and see if it still leaks. If not then fill it back up to about an inch from the ledge of plastic inside the rim (even with the black rim from the outside view if that makes sense) and no higher.
https://preview.redd.it/fn3t20vaie7g1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=690d3e2b241455618296bbe16ab789081bf7643a
Idealy like this.