I think my sump is about to burst!!!

[clamgal]

Ok. I was doing a water change to welcome my new anemone and I noticed the floor of my stand was wet! Not dripping, but damp and glistening in the front part of the stand (not on the house floor - inside the stand). I thought I spilled some water , so I dried it up. A few minutes later, I noticed the same wetness. I checked all around the inside of the stand (around the sump) and lo and behold it is wet all around. I can't find the leak, but I believe it is coming from the seam of the bottom plate. So my question is, should I completely replace the sump, or do I fix the leak? I don't have much money so I need a cheap practical solution before I have sea water all over my floor. I don't know how much longer it will last, I have no substitute at this moment. Any input would help. Thanks! Adriana

[Gilbert]

What i would do is drain the sump.
Make sure your power heads stay on.
Go buy some aquarium silicon and after drying the sump, just cover the seems with the silicon.
Give it a day or 2 then water test.
Thats what i did when a crack in the sump re-opened.

[txg8gxp]

If the sump is glass, fix it. If it is acrylic, im not sure you would be able to get it to reseal. Maybe someone with the acrylic know how will jump in soon.

[Europhyllia]

That stinks. Could you get a rubbermaid container and use that as a temporary sump while you get this one fixed?

[clamgal]

Yes its acrylic. I forgot to mention the fuge, what to do with the sand, rock and chaeto meanwhile? /will it affect the cycle?

[Big_Pun]

mighty putty time

[Gseclipse02]

Yes its acrylic. I forgot to mention the fuge, what to do with the sand, rock and chaeto meanwhile? /will it affect the cycle?


Get a rubber maid and put your water in there. Use that as a sump for the time being and put all your chaeto etc in there. Throw a small pump in with it so it can stay cycling. Try to reseal the sump maybe Ace/Jack can give you some advice with the acrylic. Let me know if you need anything.

[ErikH]

Weld on #40 seals acrylic. You will probably need to isolate exactly where it is, apply the weld on, then apply pressure to seal it. Acrylic superheats and melts to form a bond, or something like that.

[ErikH]

oh yeah, you have to wait 24 hours until you would use it again. Also, the part that gets the weld on needs to be DRY.

[ReefOne]

You also have to make sure it's 100% dry before trying to bond with any type of acrylic solvent or 2-part, which can take about a week to be on the safe side.

[carong]

I have #16 weld on cement let me know if you need some

[ErikH]

Dry it out with a hair dryer and towels. You should be alright.

[drunkenclam]

I think I am about to BURST!

[clamgal]

I bought a plastic(rubbermaid) container to replace my sump. I need to reconfigure the plumbing to make it fit. I will post pics. Wish me luck- Im not very good at this part of the hobby....

[ErikH]

You should be ok, just be careful!

[txav8r]

If you want to fix the sump let me know. I'd be glad to patch it for you.
No charge of course but you will have to bring it to me.