LEAK! What a nightmare..

cwegescheide · 09/26/2010, 09:44 AM

Last night I went upstairs to dose some stuff in my tank. I was barefoot and felt the carpet was damp. I felt around and noticed my carpet was damp all the way around my sump. This was about midnight I think. I laid on the couch for a while and couldn't sleep thinking about why it was wet and ended up draining my sump and tore it all down to figure out where the leak was coming from.

I took out everything. Skimmers, heater, chiller etc and when I removed the sump the carpet was SOAKED underneath!!! I figured out I had somehow had a bulkhead to my chiller come loose. I could smell a little musty smell the last few days and knew something wasn't right. I'm paranoid about mold so I got all the clean towels in the house and soaked up all the water (Cindy was asleep

) and plugged in some fans blowing on the carpet. By the time I had everything cleaned up it was about 5:30am. I woke up and checked the carpet and it was very close to dry. I just removed the bulkhead and re-sealed it and put everything back together. What a nightmare..

On the bright side I soaked my skimmers and pumps in vinegar and pressure washed my sump this morning when I woke up. My sump is spotless

Ya gotta love this hobby... SO RELAXING!

Nwest · 09/26/2010, 09:51 AM

I hope this never happens to me, But I am sure it will one day.. Glad you got it figured out and got it figured out.

CMcNeil · 09/26/2010, 09:53 AM

At least you were able to figure out where the water came from and fix it.sorry to hear you had to work all night to fix it.

cwegescheide · 09/26/2010, 10:00 AM

Its alright... All is well that ends well. I feel fortunate to have found it and fixed it while I was home. I can always catch up on my sleep. No biggie. I know how i did it (I think)

I was changing out my Rowa and draining the dusty crap into a 5 gallon bucket out of my reactor. I had the bucket kindof resting on the pipe coming out of the bulkhead. Hard to explain but that is how i had to do it. Pretty bone-head move I guess. Anyways I fixed it and WONT be doing that again!!

screamincamaro · 09/26/2010, 10:06 AM

I feel for you. You need to get a wet sensor on the floor and hook it up to your controller. I'm going to be doing the same.

barfish · 09/26/2010, 10:39 AM

you need to get some microban and spray everything. it is a mildicide it will stop the growth of mold spores. if you are able to pull back the carpet and spray it underneath that would be best but if not spray the top and just really saturate it.

GotSopranos? · 09/26/2010, 10:55 AM

At least it wasnt your tank leaking

SwampyBill · 09/26/2010, 11:29 AM

I know the feeling...My last tank sprung a seam leak about 3"s from bottom. What a nightmare! Glad I was sitting at 'puter 2 feet away & saw when it started. & REAL glad I'd just bought a 65 gal that was resting on my balcony waiting for me to get off my a** & clean/set it up...Anyway, it was still a nightmare with fish/corals in plastic tubs for wks while new tank cycled. Sleep is highly over-rated...

09/26/2010, 09:44 AM	#1
cwegescheide YOU have been ignored! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 5,302	LEAK! What a nightmare.. Last night I went upstairs to dose some stuff in my tank. I was barefoot and felt the carpet was damp. I felt around and noticed my carpet was damp all the way around my sump. This was about midnight I think. I laid on the couch for a while and couldn't sleep thinking about why it was wet and ended up draining my sump and tore it all down to figure out where the leak was coming from. I took out everything. Skimmers, heater, chiller etc and when I removed the sump the carpet was SOAKED underneath!!! I figured out I had somehow had a bulkhead to my chiller come loose. I could smell a little musty smell the last few days and knew something wasn't right. I'm paranoid about mold so I got all the clean towels in the house and soaked up all the water (Cindy was asleep ) and plugged in some fans blowing on the carpet. By the time I had everything cleaned up it was about 5:30am. I woke up and checked the carpet and it was very close to dry. I just removed the bulkhead and re-sealed it and put everything back together. What a nightmare.. On the bright side I soaked my skimmers and pumps in vinegar and pressure washed my sump this morning when I woke up. My sump is spotless Ya gotta love this hobby... SO RELAXING!

09/26/2010, 09:51 AM	#2
Nwest President of TBRC Join Date: May 2010 Location: Palm Harbor Posts: 2,003	I hope this never happens to me, But I am sure it will one day.. Glad you got it figured out and got it figured out. __________________ Current Member and President of the NEW Tampa Bay Reef Club! Current Tank 80 rimless Deep Blue, 2 Radion LEDs, custom sump, mp10's will sps and palys..

09/26/2010, 09:53 AM	#3
CMcNeil Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: St.Petersburg,Florida Posts: 7,133	At least you were able to figure out where the water came from and fix it.sorry to hear you had to work all night to fix it. __________________ Chris Reef Savvy 50g build slowly getting going again :)

09/26/2010, 10:06 AM	#5
screamincamaro Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,510	I feel for you. You need to get a wet sensor on the floor and hook it up to your controller. I'm going to be doing the same. Last edited by screamincamaro; 09/26/2010 at 10:27 AM.

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09/26/2010, 10:00 AM	#4
cwegescheide YOU have been ignored! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 5,302	Its alright... All is well that ends well. I feel fortunate to have found it and fixed it while I was home. I can always catch up on my sleep. No biggie. I know how i did it (I think) I was changing out my Rowa and draining the dusty crap into a 5 gallon bucket out of my reactor. I had the bucket kindof resting on the pipe coming out of the bulkhead. Hard to explain but that is how i had to do it. Pretty bone-head move I guess. Anyways I fixed it and WONT be doing that again!!

09/26/2010, 10:39 AM	#6
barfish Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bradenton Fl. Posts: 1,226	you need to get some microban and spray everything. it is a mildicide it will stop the growth of mold spores. if you are able to pull back the carpet and spray it underneath that would be best but if not spray the top and just really saturate it.

09/26/2010, 10:55 AM	#7
GotSopranos? Registered Member. Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 293	At least it wasnt your tank leaking

09/26/2010, 11:29 AM	#8
SwampyBill Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: St. Pete, FL. Posts: 1,519	I know the feeling...My last tank sprung a seam leak about 3"s from bottom. What a nightmare! Glad I was sitting at 'puter 2 feet away & saw when it started. & REAL glad I'd just bought a 65 gal that was resting on my balcony waiting for me to get off my a** & clean/set it up...Anyway, it was still a nightmare with fish/corals in plastic tubs for wks while new tank cycled. Sleep is highly over-rated...