Here are the main causes of loss of water from the aquarium. We have added proven methods to fix a leaking fish tank without draining it.
Why is My Aquarium Losing Water? If your aquarium losing water, it can because of evaporation, loss of sealant, excessive lighting, increased humidity, and cracks in the glass walls of an aquarium. When aquarium water levels down, you need to maintain it frequently. While there are chances of water loss, take precautionary measures to avoid these problems.
Contents
Why is My Aquarium Losing Water?
It is your responsibility to safeguard the fish by maintaining water quality and water levels in the aquarium. Always ensure that your aquarium water is clean, free of nitrous waste and residues of fish.
You should maintain the equilibrium between gases with the atmosphere that is harmful to aquarium fish. The recirculation system is the best one that provides clarity and free of toxic constituents in water.
Causes of water loss in the aquarium
Evaporation
Evaporation depends on the type of aquarium you use for your fish. There are some key points responsible for this process includes hot weather when the atmospheric temperature increases.
If the aquarium contains an open system, then the possibility of water leakage is maximum in the summer. You can overcome this problem using the evaporation tray.
If you observe the large drops at the bottom, you must check the leakage, keep ensure that any water loss occurs on the walls, cabinet, or floor of the aquarium. In an open system, water flows through the aquarium fluently and then throws away.
Flaw or failure of sealant
This problem usually arises in the glass aquarium type, then chances of leakage are high or due to the breakage of glass. First, you need to find out yourself how it happens and what the reasons behind it are.
These flaws or sealant failure occur during construction of the tank, or with time it becomes weak and flakes off from the glass. It can cause the small pinhole size or the seal burst leads to the leak of water from the aquarium.
You can fix it by sealing the small pinhole from the outside without any harm to the aquarium. This solution is easy for the small defect, and if the damage is major, you should repair your aquarium by the reconstruction of the tank.
You use the appropriate non-toxic silicone sealant for the aquarium. You should observe the damage not only at the bottom side but also around the top or sides of the wall.
More humidity in your room
In an open-type fish container, the chances of humidity in your room increases. You should check the size of the aquarium and the number of aquarium you use.
You can first figure out the problem if there is excess moisture in your room by the condensation process, moldy smell, and the severity of the allergies is high.
You take remedial measures to avoid these problems and manage them for further complications. The use of a tight lid helps to prevent the evaporation process and lowers the moisture level in the fish tank.
The best cover you use is the thermal twin coated with a polycarbonate sheet. The room must be properly ventilated, and it also reduces the chances of humidity. A mold and mildew issue causes breathing problems, which is also caused by moisture.
Excessive lightning
Excessive lighting or low light is not suitable for the aquarium. You must concentrate on the quality of light that also is a factor to consider during aquarium buying.
The high-quality lights look beautiful but exhaust a lot of heat that warms the container water, which leads to cause the evaporation of water from the aquarium.
The use of LED lights is best for your fish tank as it releases low heat that does not heat the water in the tank than the fluorescent bulbs.
An adequate amount of heat is also beneficial for the aquatic oxygen that produces from the aquatic plants. Due to this reason, you need to take precautions that overcome this problem.
Increase in toxicity of water
Water evaporates in both the freshwater tanks or saltwater tanks and causes severe issues for your aquarium. The recirculation system is an imperative attribute for aquarium water and metabolic waste flushed out from the container continuously.
Due to evaporation, the water level becomes low in the tank, and it is insufficient for the ammonia waste dilution. There are more chances that your fish engulfs these toxins at any time.
Nitrates and other metabolic waste levels high after evaporation, which dangerous for your aquarium organisms. This will turn your fish tank green very fast.
In saltwater tanks, during evaporation, the freshwater evaporates and leaves behind the salts and minerals. You need to remove them from a saltwater tank with fresh water so that collected salts do not cause any harm to your fish. You can use a saltwater tank for freshwater for better results.
Leak test of your aquarium
Before buying the aquarium, you need to check what type of aquarium you buy for your fish.
The water tank leak test indicates that the silicone sealant is fixed or loose due to glass breakage. If the container remains unused or without water, its integrity and seal loss cause the leakage.
You need to test the fish tank before buying it. For this purpose, fill the container with water and check whether leakage happens along the sides. Wipe the spillage on the sides so that you can observe the leakage.
You dry the sides, surface, and also the seal of the container. You monitor it for 24 hours to ensure that the aquarium is healthy and no leaks or breaks in the glass walls. It is mandatory to put the container on a smooth surface during this test.
How do I fix a leaking fish tank without draining it?
You can fix a leaking fish tank without draining it by topping off the tank, keeping the aquarium cool, and by using a tank lid.
Topping off the tank
Top off is the preferable solution for the evaporation of water then the replacement of the water. Topping off is defined as after evaporation water adds to keep the required water level. For your aquarium, change the water to nearly 10% every week or double it every two weeks.
Keep an aquarium cool
You must maintain the temperature of your aquarium regularly by fixing a thermometer with it. There are some reasonable ways to keep the aquarium cool and stable the temperature of the container.
Use cold packs and ice cube to protect from the warm atmosphere, but it is not a permanent solution. You ensure that ice melt and mix thoroughly with tank water. Proper care for this process requires to minimize any side effects.
You can cool the aquarium water by cooling the room by lower the room temperature. The room is well ventilated, and an air conditioner use during the summer climate.
Use a tank lid
You can prevent the leakage of water with the use of a lid or cover for the aquarium so that it can stop evaporation. It covers the top of the tank that reduces the chances of evaporation, and the topping off phenomena with water, less frequent use humidity level also reduces.
The glass lid is best, beneficial, durable, and easy to clean and adjust tightly with the aquarium. The plastic cover has some drawbacks as it is not tightly fixed chance of evaporation also occurs. You need to make sure during purchasing that it is light in weight and the type of glass you use.
How to repair the seal of a leaking aquarium?
With the help of a scraper, remove the old seal from the area where leakage occurs. You keep ensuring to remove the silicon from the leakage part. If the point of leak is at the high position on the sides of a wall, you don’t need to remove water from the aquarium to prevent mixing of sealant with water.
Another way is to remove most of the silicon from the inside of the aquarium and join the whole seam right away.
Wipe out the area with the white cloth with acetone and then dry this with the dry towel. It helps for the removal of the residue and any spill. It serves you to check that either the new silicon seal is effective and properly fixed or not.
Sealing the leak
Silicon seal is effective, non-toxic, 100% in quality, and use the caulking gun to smooth the silicon and apply it on the leaky joint portion.
Your preference should be to seal the interior sides of the tank instead of the exterior of the aquarium. It stabilizes and tightly fixes the glass walls with the water pressure. This will help to fix a cracked aquarium bottom.
Dry the sealing
A suitable temperature to dry in excessive heat and humid environment affect the dryness timing. You should check that the seal is set and attached properly, and it will reduce the chance of leakage. Acrylic aquariums are better than glass, and many people prefer them.
Inspection of the leaks
To check that the silicon seal fixes the leakage smoothly or not, for this purpose, refill the aquarium with some water for some hours and then refill further and observe the leakage. Make a vivid observation that the water pressure damages the sealant or it remains firmly in place.
When repairing the portion of the leaking aquarium, you need to put back the fish and other aquatic species. You keep ensuring that before places everything back into its position must be neat and clean.
Related Articles:
