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If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

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If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

Fishnet

Help! The fish tank is leaking!!

28 replies

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 20:45

I could really do with some advice please. We have tropical freshwater fish, or rather DH has but he's out of the country in the wrong time zone and I'm now in the shit alone

My knowledge of fish keeping is confined to feeding and cleaning the tank I'm afraid.

Noticed a pool of water dripping onto the floor from the underside front of tank. The stand is made of chipboard I think, it's this one and the board has swollen and splitting. I've mopped it up and it seems to be a slow leak (I really, really hope), load of towels at the base. Tried to use something to direct flow into a bucket.

Tank is aqua one 300L tank with gravel filter. It's 8 years old. I've counted the fish and we have about 45 inches of fish of various sizes, some older than this tank (neons, glass catfish, clown loach, pleqs and others I don't know the name of).

So, tomorrow I need to go and buy an emergency tank. How small a tank can I get away with? We'll get another similar sized one once DH is home but I just need to keep the fish alive and my kitchen dry for a couple of weeks. I know ideally they would need a 200l tank, but would they be ok in say a 100L tank for a couple of weeks? We'd been talking about getting a temporary tank anyway because the section of floor under the tank needs retiling so wouldn't be totally wasteful.

How quickly can I get it up and running? What will I need to buy - do I need a new heater and filter (ours is external). Guessing I'd need to use water from the old tank.

Why did this happen now?!!!!

Any help gratefully received.

OP posts:

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YourBubzYourRulzHun · 14/10/2015 20:51

Hi! We had a very similar tank to yours and the glass supports at the top broke so we had to quickly evacuate the tank before the front popped off! Luckily we had a small tank handy and not many fish.
DH says you can always ask at your local fish place if they would look after them for you until your DH gets home? They may even come round and bag them up for you and take them to a temporary tank.
If that's not an option then I'd ask their advice in shop. Whereabouts are you based?

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 14/10/2015 20:52

You won't need a different filter for a smaller tank or heater. Your heater will cut out when the water is warm enough so it just won't need to be on as much.

Yes, you need to save as much water to transfer as possible as this will have all the good bacteria.

As for what size tank im not 100% sure. My gut feeling is that for a couple of weeks it should be ok. You might need to clean the filter out a bit earlier than normal. The tanks they keep fish in in aquatic shops can be tiny with lots of fish so they manage in there short term.

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 14/10/2015 20:54

I would get some of the water out and in a large bucket overnight incase it does go completely. Then at least you can put the fish and the heater in a bucket in a real emergency.

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 20:56

Thanks very much. Yourbubz I hadn't thought about asking the fish shop to babysit them - great idea. I'm in the north east. There a few suppliers around but most are part of garden centres so will have to have a look and ring around for advice I think.

Just hoping the whole thing doesn't collapse overnight....

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PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 20:57

Bucket also good idea thanks. I wasn't sure whether to half drain the tank but then I guess the heater won't work.

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pocketsized · 14/10/2015 20:57

Could you look on Gumtree or something for a biggish tank? All your filters heaters etc should be fine to transfer so you'd only need the actual tank and they are often v cheap secondhand. Don't forget to think about what you will stand the new tank on, needs to be sturdy!

pocketsized · 14/10/2015 20:59

Can you move the heater down at all? Then you could move some of the water out?

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 21:00

Gumtree might be an idea. Trouble is I'm worried if I buy second hand that I might end up with another leaking mess. I don't feel I know enough to be able to know a good tank from a dodgy one. Will look though, thanks.

And definitely something sturdier than I have at the moment!

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MrsPnut · 14/10/2015 21:00

I'd ask on your local Facebook pages for a temporary tank, or there is a page called JM Tropicals.

Put them in whatever tank you can get as a temporary measure but make sure to put as much water in from this tank and also the filter without cleaning it. All of the good bacteria you need is in the filter. If you are near Lincolnshire, I have a few tanks in my garage that I am supposed to be getting rid of.

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 21:01

The heater is stood upright in the corner. Will it be ok lying flat? Will the gravel filter still work if the bit the water comes out of after filtering is above the waterline?

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PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 21:02

Thanks MrsP but I'm in Northumberland so a bit far.

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YourBubzYourRulzHun · 14/10/2015 21:03

Yes the heater will be ok laying flat if you drain some water out. We did this for a few hours as DH had to go to work and we noticed the tank was leaking just as he left and he didn't have time to sort it until the afternoon.

pocketsized · 14/10/2015 21:06

I would imagine the filter would be fine with the outlet above the waterline, just a bit noisy.

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 21:07

Ok, will just go and bucket and drain some water and come back...

Thanks all

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bigsnugglebunny · 14/10/2015 21:12

Am in northumberland and have an empty fluval Roma 90 you could borrow if you need it.

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 21:51

Thank you bigsnugglebunny, that's extremely kind. As we were thinking of getting an interim tank anyway I'll have a look around and see if I can sort tomorrow, but if not I'll send you a PM. Really appreciate the offer.

Well, I've siphoned off over a third of the tank and the filter and heater still work, but as pocketsized thought it is very noisy! I've kept a big bucket full of tank water in case. Just hoping the stand will cope with the water over night and not collapse as it gets wet.

Fingers crossed for the night. Thank you all so much - feel a bit less alone with the panic.

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pocketsized · 14/10/2015 21:58

If you have a brand new one, you could put a sponge under the water output, to make it a bit quieter. Obviously done use one that's been used for anything else.good luck over night!

PiccalilliSandwiches · 14/10/2015 22:03

Thanks, don't think I have anything unused. It's closest to DS room though fortunately as he'll sleep through an earthquake!

Hopefully the people at the fish suppliers will be able to help tomorrow. Am going to remain positive and not think about the flood we had in the kitchen a few years ago (non fish related). Definitely not thinking about the flood.

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TreeSparrow · 14/10/2015 23:27

Don't buy a temporary tank. Go to a large DIY centre or hardware store and buy a large bin or vat. Water, filters, heater can all be transferred (50% fresh dechlorinated water) and the fish will be fine for a few weeks. Then you can break down the old, leaking tank before you buy a new one.

pocketsized · 15/10/2015 06:10

Morning OP. Did your floor survive the night?

PiccalilliSandwiches · 15/10/2015 06:44

Hi pocket , I'm delighted to report that fish and floor are fine this morning. I think it's still leaking but there's so little water this morning I'm starting to wonder if DH had some water incident when he cleaned the fish on Sunday before he left and didn't tell me. But logically I guess there's no reason it would suddenly have started dripping yesterday,many either way the chipboard is destroyed.

Thanks for the idea treesparrow but I'm afraid my toddler might find that a bit too much fun! Would have to be an enclosed tank.

Anyway, fish are fine which is the main thing.

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pocketsized · 15/10/2015 07:05

Excellent news! Sounds like you might well have a bit of time to short out a more permanent solution if the leaking has more or less stopped. Perhaps the leak is more or less above the waterline now.

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PiccalilliSandwiches · 15/10/2015 07:14

Ah yes, that would make sense. Thanks for all your help.

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YourBubzYourRulzHun · 15/10/2015 11:29

Glad the fish and tank and you survived the night

PiccalilliSandwiches · 15/10/2015 20:36

Quick update and thanks again everyone.

Local fish place didn't have any empty space to babysit our fish so had to get a tank and stand. Got a decent offer though. Spent the day setting up the tank, transferring water and then fish, and completely emptying old tank. While my 2 yo "helped".

All alive so far. Hoping that it'll help that they're in the same water at least. Chipboard looks v dodgy now but think it'll cope with just the tank til the weekend when I'll find some help to lift it.

Am going to sleep sooo well tonight or at least til DD wakes

A catastrophe averted! Thanks

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