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About to blow a seam (I think) Help

Joined
Oct 2, 2009
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I think I am about to blow a seam in Spikes tank... what should I do, how should I handle this? I have noticed salt creep on this seam for about a month or so but never noticed the bubbles till today. They looks kind of bad to me but I am afraid of changing tanks out with this little guy.

 

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Hmm. Can you confirm the salt creep is coming from the seam and not dripping down? If you are worried you can get a strap that you can ratchet tight around the tank to hold the glass in place for a while. If the seam is failing, sadly, you most likely have to take down the tank to repair or replace it.
 
I think the salt creep is coming from the seam but I cant be sure yet. I wiped it down yesterday and havent been in the tank since. Later tonight I will check to see if there is any salt on the edge before I go into the tank to feed Spike.

I have been looking for a new tank on line but other than glass cage I am having a hard time located a 60 gallon cube thats RR and available for shipping. All of the local fish stores are closed today and my local fish forum is down because they are implementing a new website to ring in the new year. All in all I am feeling very cut off from everyone fish related.

My husband will be putting a strap on the tank later today to hopefully slow down any potential failure of the tank. If the tank fails the only tank I have to put him in will be a 14 gallon cube and that isnt enough room.
 
Its been less than 12 hours since I cleaned all the salt creep off the side and when I went to go check it there was enough that I could see it on the side of the tank from about 15 feet away.

My husband is on his way to home depot to get some clamps so we can protect the seam until we can find a replacement tank.
 
Window clamps are the way to go to buy some time. I came into the lab a couple of months ago and found a 200 gal tank failing. Fortunately, I had a couple of window clamps with a 30 inch gape that I could clamp down the tank. It gave me time to eventually drain the tank and set up a new one. No animals lost - just some sleep.

Roy
 
Thats a relief Roy, and really gives me peace of mind. Right now we have 2 pieces of wood on both sides of the tank seams and clamps holding the seams together. I have a local reefer who is an avid DIY'er (I am not) and he only asks that I buy the RTV for the job.

So my question now becomes, what would be the minimum size tank I could keep Spike in for just a few weeks (maybe 2 and the most). I have a 14 gallon tank that I think is to small even for one week. But I was thinking that maybe a 20 or 25 gallon tank would be ok for a short time. I would be taking rock and water from this tank along with cheato. I will also be ordering some one and only for any possible ammonia/nitrite spike.
 
What species and how big is Spike?

Is the 14 cycled?

Minimum size tank recommendations are just guidelines. Bigger is better as is well cycled tank and/or filtration (from the current system).
 
No, I dont have any tanks that up and running avalable. I would have to set one up no matter which way I go. Spike is an unknown sp right now. Hes small. mantel about the size of a pecan shell. To me, the 50 gallon cube suits him perfectly. Its not to big and not to small. I would say size wise his arms are about 3-5 inches and total length (total guess) is about 6-7 inches.
 
The 14 should be OK for now in terms of size as long as you can keep the water quality good. Water quality may be your biggest issue irregardless of how big or small a tank you use. How much of your filtration can you transfer over? Can you slave the 14 or whatever you use off the current tank for now to get the bacteria going? I'd also advise feeding less once you break down the current tank.

If you go for the 50, you have your bases covered if he turns out to grow into a "larger" species such as a day or common octopus.
 
That slave idea is a great thought for the 14 gallon. I can take everything I need from the 50, rock, water algae, everything. I think what I can do is set the 14 gallon tank up next to the 50 gallon tank. Leave the sump and everything set up and take the return hose from the 50 gallon tank and put it in the 14 gallon. That way its already pre-seeded and I don't have to worry about to much (if any) cycle. The flow wont be to bad because I was the return is slow and I just use power heads for circulation in the tank.

This could actually be a comfortable (for me) idea. I hadnt thought of this before but it would be the easiest way to control any nitrite/ammonia problems.

Do yall see any down sides here?
 
Is the 14 drilled? If not you will need to be very careful of potential overflow issues if the siphon breaks. You may want to raise you pump in the sump so that it will not overflow the tank and very carefully watch your evaporation to protect the pump.
 
oh poop... I didnt think about returning the flow back to the sump. Grr... kind of an important deal. I will have to think about this some more....

I think I will use the CPR over flow I have for the overflow. Its way over rated for the tank but it will only pull as much water and the return will put out. The set up will be a bit difficult to set up I think but I should be able to manage it. Since this is only a temp set up it should be ok. Worst case I will simply set up the tank with out the overflow and will need to do 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon water changes daily until I make the switch back to the main tank.
 
Right, you have got to watch and secure all hoses including the return as well as keep a close eye on you Nitrogen levels, especially once you decouple the main tank for repairs. And you will need to keep it all octo proof.
 
The plus side is that all of my tanks have been octoproof'ed except the 14 gallon that is.

The overflow has a gutter screen which blocks octopuses from going in it, then the return only has small 1/4" holes drilled. The truth however is that Spike is so small, I am pretty sure he could fit through it all. I will probably buy some screen lay it over the top, cut the portions open from the top and just tape it down. It wont be pretty but it will only be for a few weeks at the most so hopefully it wont be a problem.
 
I found where hes keeping his den. Hes inside one of the good sized rocks I have. This will help a great deal when I need to move him to the 14 gallon tank. I am thinking that I can just pick up the rock and put it in a large transport bag then drain some of the water from the tank and put it in the smaller tank. This should help lower stress and make for a much easier time moving. I will be able to put the overflow in place before I move him and the return after to prevent as much freak out as possible.

This I should be able to do either today or tomorrow.
 

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