help, tank is leaking....

[xskyzx]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/xskyzx/fishhh/leakkk.jpg

as you can see the water from the DT is leaking back to the return chamber (built in refugium). should i just you epoxy putty to stop it? or seal it with silicon(howlong do i have to wait to add water back in if i use this?)
thanks guys.

more info about my tank is here
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1449824&highlight=xskyzx

[woodiecrafts]

The silicone in my opinion, of your choices, would seal it better than the epoxy and i would give it at least 24 hours drying time as well.

[Whys]

Better to give it 48 if you can. You'll need to dig out the old glue before using new glue.

An unfortunate pain. Good luck with it.

[crvz]

Is it a glass tank? I'd use silicone as well, and allow it to cure as long as recommended by the silicone manufacturer.

[xskyzx]

Hi crvz, Its acrylic (made by minh @ BAA)
Would corals and fish do ok if I put them in 5 gals buckets? And does it make my tank cycle again if I take all the rocks and sand out to put silicon+epoxy and put them back in after I'm done?

Thanks guys in advance.

[Whys]

Ah acrylic. Likely the reason it started leaking. Silicone glue does not bond perfectly to polymers due to the inherent oils within them. It'll work for awhile, but this is something you might have to come back to again later. At least, this is what I've read.

[Everyones Hero]

If it's acrylic get Weldon #4 (or #3 if you can't find 4.)

Lower the water level & run a thin bead of Weldon on the seam. After about an hour or two it should be good to go. I built my sump using #3. It recommends 24 hours of drying time, but I was using mine in about 4.

[xskyzx]

is this what ar you talking about everyones hero? do htey have this at homedepo? thanks

thanks whys

[Everyones Hero]

I got mine from a glass/acrylic shop near my house. For the amount of time I had to wait for them to order it I would have been better off going online to get it.

[xskyzx]

i see, do you use it just like silicon? just put it on to seal the cracks?

thanks again....

[Everyones Hero]

It's so thin it's almost like water.

What you do is put it in an applicator & run a very thin bead along the joint. I guess you could say it's like silicone, but it goes between the pieces of acrylic & bonds them together.

[xskyzx]

thanks everyones hero, just bought #4 at eplastics for 15bucks shipped....ouch lol