Fish tank sprung a leak...where's the water?

Yesterday I got home from work (now regretting staying 2 hours longer than I needed to) and heard my fish tank making the noise that it makes when the water falls below the level of the filter outputs. It loses about a half inch per week to evaporation and I use that sound as my cue to to a partial water change. However, I knew it was well above those outputs and had no reason to, not just be low, but low enough to be making that much noise. I glanced over at it and it was probably 2 inches down. I looked around, the carpet wasn’t soaked, I opened the cabinet and it seemed okay…but the canister filter was at an odd angle, but everything seemed okay. After a few minutes of poking around I noticed my socks and the knees of my jeans were getting wet. Okay, time to get a better look. Grabbed a flashlight and really started looking. There was water pooled on the carpet behind the tank and the reason the canister was at an angle was because the shelf in the bottom of the cabinet had taken on water and sagged.

First thing to look for was a crack, nope, no cracks. No water dripping or pouring out. All the wires and hoses running down from the tank were dry. I finally found that the shutoff valve for the canister had a little drop of water on it. The culprit. I don’t know how long it was leaking for, it may have been over a few days, but it was about 5 gallons of water that I lost.

I sopped up what I could with a towel, but that was hardly anything. There just wasn’t 5 gallons of water to be found. Got a fan and dehumidifier on it. My fear was that the bulk of the water was under the cabinet, which I don’t have access to. This is the stand. That bottom ‘trim’, isn’t trim, it’s structural, so I can’t remove it. On top of that, my power tools were at work so I couldn’t cut the (non structural) shelf out. I did manage to put a small drill bit on a ratchet, make two holes, connect my air pump to some tubing and put that down one of the holes. I couldn’t see down the little tiny holes and the air pump doesn’t move enough air to blow out a match, but at least it got some air moving down there.

So, since yesterday I’ve had a fan and dehumidifier directed at/around the stand. I’m sure it’s helping, but you’ll still end up with wet socks if you spend more than a minute over there and it’s still pretty wet behind the tank.

Today, I grabbed a drill from work and popped a couple of 1.5" holes in the bottom. I was very surprised to find that the carpet under the tank was mostly dry. I figured it would by completely soaking wet. I mean, I understand the water probably got to the pad and subfloor, but still. Right now I’ve got the fan laying down over the holes and a couple buckets of damp-rid sitting under the cabinet. The dehumidifier isn’t running because it’s loud and annoying. I’ll turn it back on when I leave for work in the morning.

But after all this, I lost 5 gallons and probably recovered less than a half. And yes, I checked the basement. It’s finished in that area, but the drywall isn’t showing any signs of being wet.

Maybe I got lucky?

Maybe the first few gallons happened over a week and evaporated? Maybe most of it got sucked into the shelf in the cabinet, which is dry now.

Hey, as long as it doesn’t smell in a week or two, I’ll be thrilled. This carpet desperately needs to be replaced, but I’d like it to last a few more years. The roof is getting done first.

What probably bugs me the most is that someday when I get rid of this tank and stand (because I’m on a hiatus from the hobby), I’ll probably have a big black stain in the outline of the stand. Perhaps the next stand I get, I’ll attempt to find one that’s open on the bottom, but they are harder to find.
I was also thinking that I need to put a moisture alarm down there. Maybe that would have alerted me to the problem a few days ago, who knows.

water is in the carpet and (mostly) in the carpet pad. The carpet pad may be (probably is) wet in a larger area than you may discover just by putting pressure on it and trying to squeeze water out. You should run a fan over …uumm… say a 10 or 15 square foot area around the fish tank, meaning a 15sqft area that is centered on the fish tank. it will smell in a day or two if you missed any. Ideally, you should rent an air-mover. I would recommend one of this type as you lay it down on the 4 legs and the air blows directly down onto the floor and out covering a very large square footage. Air movers are LOUD though so running this in conjunction with a de-hu while you are at work is a good idea. You might also consider renting a higher drying capacity dehumidifier to help speed the process. drying the pad through the carpet is time intensive, as I recall from my days doing this professionally. It can be sped up if you get directed heat on the area (you will need a high capacity de-hu for this) and if you can find one to rent, the electric version require two 110v outlets each on a separate circuit(from my recollection)

I see from my own link that there have been some advances in the TES system but judging from the images, it still requires the two outlets for the electric version. TES(I believe TES is a proprietary or trademark name) isn’t the only directed heat system out there for this, just the one I am familiar with.

drilling the holes in the base of the cabinet and blowing air under there was exactly the right thing to do btw, and if (when) it begins to smell, that means the moisture in the pad has degraded to …grrr can’t remember…category III? Blackwater anyway or is now equivalent to raw sewage, the smell is bacterial growth, and I would recommend replacing the affected pad (under the cabinet also) and disinfecting the carpet and having it professionally cleaned.

So there ya go, probably more than you wanted to know and possibly not the answer you were looking for, but that’s the opinion of someone who used to do this stuff for a living.

additionally, carpet pad has a HUGE capacity for holding water 5 gallons is practically nothing

Time for an update:
For the last several days I’ve had a fan running, I’ve had damp rid buckets out (which don’t do anything with a fan running) and I’ve had a dehumidifier going at all times when I’m asleep or not home. I’ve had the dehumidifier’s output pointed under the tank. That should send dry air towards those holes I drilled as well as behind the tank where the wet spot was. I also set up some cardboard to direct the all (or most) of the output directly into the cabinet.

The dehumidifier’s tank fills up with a few quarts a day. Probably about the same amount it would fill up if it was anywhere else in the house. I don’t think it was pulling moisture out of the carpet. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to send dry air back to the wet areas (since it’s harder to suck air towards the unit then blow air to the problem spots).
Also, we have to keep in mind, I was running this near an aquarium that naturally evaporates, I’d estimate a gallon of water per week (and was was drying the air in the area, probably speeding up the process).

As of today, the wet area behind the tank is dry to the touch, crawling around on my hands and knees doesn’t leave me with wet jeans or socks and so far there’s no smell.

I’ve put away the dehumidifier but I’ve left out the Damp-Rid and a fan. That dehumidifier is so loud. It’s like having a lawn mower running in my living room.

I’ll probably let it run for another few days or a week. All I can do know is wait a few weeks and see if the carpet turns brown in that area.
Just for reference, a few years back I had a small flood in my basement, about an inch of water. I only have one finished room. I used my carpet cleaner to pull up as much water as I could and then let the dehumid. run after that. I’ll bet it pulled up 5+ gallons per day. No smell, but the carpet does have a brown tinge to it. Mostly near the (outside) walls. It’s clear something happened in that room.

But, I think I’m in the clear, hopefully. It would have been better if it was summer, along with the fans and dehumid, I would have cranked my AC way down as well. (For the non-HVAC people, your AC also acts as a very large, whole house, dehumidifier. That’s why there’s always water dripping out of it, but that’s a whole thread in and of itself).

sounds like you’re probably in the clear then. RE the brown tinge to the carpet, did you ever try having it professionally cleaned, what you are describing was fairly common in my experience while I was in that line of work, and usually a good cleaning after would get rid of it.

I had a very similar stand once, and was always paranoid about the filter springing a leak and causing problems, especially in a stand holding over 700 lbs of aquarium. I finally put the filter inside a 4-gallon plastic tub to catch any spills. I only had one leak one time, and it was minor.

I misread “Fish tank sprung a leak” as “Fish Tank Spring Break”.

Now I totally want to see a movie called Fish Tank Spring Break!

Never did, it’s just a ‘bonus room’ in the basement. Not really worth putting any money into. Maybe someday if I get the carpets cleaned on the main floor, I’ll have them take a look at that one as well. I’m only even in that room once a week or so.

I had a few people say ‘why don’t you just move the tank?’. Well, for one, it’s four or five hundred pounds, fully loaded. Don’t get me wrong. If I had a few strong friends, I’d consider taking out 75% of the water, or so, having them move the tank and then move it back later. But it’s not the case. Besides, my carpet is so trashed anyways, I’ll probably have to replace it someday anyways. I’m sure it’s original to the house ('98) and in the 10 years I’ve been here, I’ve raised a kid and two dogs on it. The people before me had, I think, two kids and two cats. It’s become pretty ugly over the years and I’m sure the pad tells quite a story.