*ACK* - Leaky Tank

[Vandur]

Nano-Reefers,

 

Well, I went down stairs this morning to see that my 20 gallon nano is now at about 14 gallons. I had noticed a little bit of water on the counter last night, but didn't think anything of it since I had just done a water change… (I am sometimes not the most cautious person when handling my water changes).

 

So this has brought up the major and immediate concern of: "What do I do?!"!!

 

I have a smaller 10 gal that can take my two fish (a Fairy Goby and a small Yellow-Tailed Blue Damsel) as well as my shrimp. So I believe they will be safe (There are probably 4 million pods in that tank to, so they will be fat and happy there).

 

But I don't want to throw any corals in the 10, as my 20 gallon has been battling green hair algae in it for the last 6 months. I would really prefer to keep that hideousness away from my perfect little 10.

 

So ... What can I do? I was thinking about just going out and buying a rubber-maid container to throw the LR and corals into and then throwing the sand into a separate tank so that it will decrease the chances of a really major cycle (I have had.. incidents with moving a sand bed into a new tank and having the resulting cycle stun a tank before)...

 

Can anyone give me some suggestions on what to do here? Please let me know ASAP, as this is definitely a spreading (across my counter top) concern for me this morning.

 

~V

[surfy]

I say get a big rubbermaid, or another 10 g for 8 bucks at petsmart.

Set it up with heater and everything else you need to keep the corals happy from your 20. Mix the new saltwater and airrate heavely with a powerhead or two for atleast a few hours.

Make sure salinity is the same as the 20 of course and then when temp and salinity are right, put the corals in. Do put the sand in another container for now.

The corals can go for a couple days without light if you have to, or you can put them in indirect sun light, that way the water dosn't heat up to much.

Sorry to hear about this.

[surfy]

For now put them in the ten so you don't loose your corals.

[Dennis_said]

Hope it all works out for you it seems like it will though!

[Vandur]

Surfy & Dennis,

 

Thanks for the suggestions and the condolences. Hopefully, everything will be OK. The leak has appeared to slow down significantly this morning (It is about 3/4 filled right now - after I added a few gallons of RO/DI this morning).

 

It appears I will be going with the "Rubber-Maid" solution for a bit. Hopefully I can get most of my corals & feather dusters off of the rocks and put them in a temporary home until the sand can cycle. I ran out and bought some aquarium silicon, so hopefully I can get the tank back into shape over the next few months... Now all I have to do is keep my 130 lb nosy Mastiff from opening and dipping her head in the rubber-maid container (I had to set it next to my TV in the den).

 

Thanks again!

 

~V

[Littleoceans]

Van- Why don't you buy another 20gal tank and put the LR&sand,coral and keep the fish and critters in the 10.. I don't think you will have much if any problems... (IMO) Good luck

[Mondo]

My 20 cracked last week so I had to buy a new tank and move everything in one day. Its fowlr at the moment so I didnt have to worry about moving the corals. I used 3 rubbermaid containers, one to hold all the live rock, one for the live stock, and one to mix fresh water in. The sand I just scooped out with a plastic cup from one tank to the other. I'm having a very small cycle but its hardly showing up.

[Vandur]

Group,

 

Thanks again for the suggestions, sounds like you ahd a pretty minor cycle Mondo, hopefully I will experience the same.

 

BTW, All of my corals are happy in their new rubber-maid home.

 

~V