Marineland eclipse 12 leaking

[Totenkampf]

I got a used one for my moms betta and she noticed a small puddle under it after a day. After some research it appears the water may be splashing from the bio wheel and traveling down the back. Any creative solutions?

[eklikewhoa]

Lower the water level.

[Complexity]

Check the tank carefully for cracks. I have several of the 5g tanks, and over time, they give out and leak. It appears that they form stress cracks. You can get replacement tanks, if needed.

[Totenkampf]

Lower the water level.

I was wondering if it was possible that the rim was wicking water over the edge

[Totenkampf]

Check the tank carefully for cracks. I have several of the 5g tanks, and over time, they give out and leak. It appears that they form stress cracks. You can get replacement tanks, if needed.

I checked it outside and no leaks unless it happened when bringing it in. I thought the bonding was pretty good even on cheap tanks

[Complexity]

It takes several years for them to fail, but that's how mine always showed the first signs of failing. I'd get just a little water under the tank without knowing where it came from. Since I had always had the tank, I knew it wasn't from water coming from the top. After a while, more water would start to show up. I eventually figured it out. So I switched out the tank with another one I had (I bought 5 of them around the same time), only for it to start leaking soon after. I switched to a 3rd tank, and its been holding for several months now. So that makes 2 tanks that leaked due to stress fractures. The tanks are several years old (5 maybe?), but I thought it's something you should know about.

[eklikewhoa]

Have you seen it yourself?

Not knocking on your moms but some don't relate the message well and a little water coming out of the trim might seem like a leak but was just releasing trapped water from cleaning or something.

[Totenkampf]

Yeah I stopped by this morning and saw some water trapped under it. I didn't think to check if it was running down the cord or back wall. The bio wheel is new so it's spinning like crazy so that may be it too.

I will keep the leaking in mind complexity, this is a 2009 model so maybe that's the case. I am stopping by tonight to put more ammonia in it anyways.

[eklikewhoa]

For just a betta?

Just use distilled water for the betta.

[Complexity]

What I did to figure out where the leak was coming from was to dry it off and then put paper towels all around the tank so I could see what got wet first. That clued me in to the general location of where the water was coming from. At that point, it was just a matter of inspecting that area.

If the water is coming from the rim, that should be easy enough to fix. Do a full water change so you can remove the rim and wipe things dry. Replace the rim and refill, making sure to not get water in the rim. Wait and see if you get more water leakage.

To check for water coming down the cord, just wipe it off and wrap a paper towel around the top of the cord, about an inch from where it exits the filter. If that gets wet while everything else remains dry, then you have your answer.

In my case, the leaks generally came from one of the bottom back corners which was hidden from view by the substrate. I could not see them until I tore everything apart, and only then could I see them when I knew where and what to look for. With magnification, I could see tiny fissures which apparently opened up due to the pressure of the water which caused the leaks.

[Totenkampf]

it turns out that the airstones were causing moisture to collect on the lid and this was running down the back wall. i was only using them to drive off CL2 since i still havent made a carbon snake. i can see how the rim would wick water over the lip so i lowered the level just in case. so far i am happy with this 40$ investment for 'mom' (although her betta gets a new home i get a new scape and a place to put shrimp lol)

[Complexity]

That's wonderful! I'm so happy it was something simple and easily corrected. I have shrimp in my little 5g eclipse tank. Believe it or not, I even have it planted without any mods to the lighting. I only did a quick mod to the filtration, but otherwise, just use it as it came. They're nice little tanks.

[Totenkampf]

how did you mod the filter? I am keeping the biowheel for now since the tank sits where it gets a 360 view and i dont want stuff hanging off the back. I am planning on a sponge prefilter but other than that its stock. i am considering a small canister in the hood at some point if i can fit it up there. maybe a zoomed 501 wouldnt be too intrusve looking on the side tho. I will mod the lighting with two of the 11 watt T2VHO fixtures sold by AAP since I have been wanting to try those out. No CO2 since the biowheel will drive it off so this will be a medium light excel fertilized planted setup.

[Complexity]

I can't say that I did a mod to the filter as much as I just packed it differently. Of course, I used a prefilter sponge (I have shrimp in the tank). Then, instead of using those flimsy carbon cartridges, I just made my own packing sort of like a canister.

When you take the carbon cartridge out, there is a good sized compartment in which you can pack filter media. I first placed about a fist-full of ceramic rings in a net bag, followed by a course sponge, followed by a very fine polishing pad. The ceramic rings and course sponge maintain a heavy amount of beneficial bacteria (far more than the biowheel). Then I can thoroughly clean the sponge prefilter and polishing pad without having to worry about harming the tank's cycling.

For the ceramic rings, all I did was grab a fist-full of the Fluval pre-filter media and tied it in a net bag. I used this media because it's so small. This is probably unnecessary since I use a prefilter, but I see no reason to change it now.

The course sponge I use came from an aquaclear mini. It fits in the space perfectly.

For the polishing pad, all I did was cut a Rena progressive micro-filtration pad in half, fold it over 3x, and placed that at the very end, just before the water left the main compartment and entered the biowheel compartment. That way the water is polished of even the tiniest of particles.

When it's time for maintenance, I just clean the prefilter sponge and the polishing floss. I leave the rest untouched. It's very simple and easy, and the water flow is excellent (if anything, it's too much flow).

[Totenkampf]

i was wondering if i could layer things like a classic eheim, but was guessing that the water would not flow through the media fast enough and just spill over the sides of the trough. Did you remove the biowheel too?