Acrylic Tank Leaking Help

[silentspidey]

So i have a small community Eclispe 12 in my kitchen. I have notice some water underneath and over about 5 days it will start to show around the tank so its fairly slow. The tank is only about 3 years old only ever been moved twice. I took water out and moved it around and wiped all the water up and under the tank so everything is dry. I looked everywhere. no cracks no nicks no nothing.
how do i find a leak if i cant see it. im sure its from the bottom.(educated guess)
i rubbed soap on the bottom and saw no bubbles.
Any help is appreciated.
-Spidey

[lilmissruffcountry]

So i have a small community Eclispe 12 in my kitchen. I have notice some water underneath and over about 5 days it will start to show around the tank so its fairly slow. The tank is only about 3 years old only ever been moved twice. I took water out and moved it around and wiped all the water up and under the tank so everything is dry. I looked everywhere. no cracks no nicks no nothing.
how do i find a leak if i cant see it. im sure its from the bottom.(educated guess)
i rubbed soap on the bottom and saw no bubbles.
Any help is appreciated.
-Spidey

not familar with these tanks...but what do you have as filtration? Is it possible the filter or something else is the cause? or splash back? or even fish splashing...I had a small tank I thought had a leak, until I noticed a very slow an small leak from a HOB filter.

[jarrodaden]

It should be light enough to lift, right? It would weigh about 100 pounds full. Thoroughly dry everything and then set it on some papertowels or a piece of cardboard for a few minutes and see where the wet stains are.

Maybe wait for a water change. You could drain it down to a little more reasonable weight before trying to move it around.

[silentspidey]

It should be light enough to lift, right? It would weigh about 100 pounds full. Thoroughly dry everything and then set it on some papertowels or a piece of cardboard for a few minutes and see where the wet stains are.

Maybe wait for a water change. You could drain it down to a little more reasonable weight before trying to move it around.

im gonna do that. cardboard sounds like a plan. it is monday and that means clean all my tanks today. so ill be back later with some more details.
thanks for the ideas.

[dblondfemme]

okay...it is like my 6 gallon...where the cords come out the back of the hinged top.. the water is either going down the cords or the front right corner if it is lightly over full. I have a wash cloth I kind of use to wedge the cords so they go up before they go down. I think I could prob rig zip ties or twist ties to hold them up. Try as an experiment to lop the cords up off the back of the tank with a towel..and make sure most of your water is cleaned up. You should know soon if more water comes out...or doesn't. Hope this helps.

[geoff_tropheus]

it is very uncommon to have a acrylic tank leak. They are welded together or once piece construction.

best of luck!

[76dragon]

If it is the tank, then u would have to re silicone it, most likely the filter though

[Complexity]

it is very uncommon to have a acrylic tank leak. They are welded together or once piece construction.

I disagree when it comes to the particular brand of tank in question. I have had 5 of the very same tank (smaller size) with 3 that have sprung leaks. All about the same age, as well.

The acrylic literally splinters with stress cracks. The tank starts leaking just a small amount of water at first. But the leaks just get bigger. Eventually, you have to do something about it.

Keep in mind that while Marineland may have marketed the Eclipse brand tanks very well to demand top dollar for them (considering what you actually get), they are still cheap plastic tanks. The process of bowing and flexing with every water change eventually creates stress cracks which begin leaking. Once that happens, the tank is toast.

Spidey, if your tank has a stress crack (tiny fissure in the actual acrylic), then the tank will need to be replaced. Call Marineland for a replacement. It won't be free, but it's less than buying a new one from scratch.