Leak Test
I put the last of the water into the tank this morning. The sump was filled to a proper level, everything looked good (which probably means I should not have been doing this before coffee). I plug in the Snapper that is the return pump and.... discover that Chris had left some of the unions untightened. Like two on the returns. Water spraying out at high pressure. Quickly unplug pump. Tighten unions. Get towels.
Plug pump in again. No water spraying, but there is a puddle growing underneath the tank. Hmm. Something else is leaking. Unplug pump again. Wait. I hear something dripping, but I can't see it. Root around an find a flashlight. Ah, the true union on the line from the sump to the skimmer's pump is also loose. Tighten that up. Mop up more water. Replace the lost water, which is probably a gallon at this point.
I watch it for another half an hour or so, a relatively fresh towel is not getting soaked, so it looks like I caught the leaks. At least any big ones.
I have this tank roughly where I had the 125g for 2.5 years. From that I thought I knew that there was a slope to the floor, running from the wall down towards the center of the room, as that is the way water would run when I had a leak. The other direction, running along the wall, seemed to be level. Now with water in the tank, it appears that front to back is level, but the right side is higher than the left by about 3/8th of an inch. Hmph. No way to shim the tank now. Not sure I would have been able to shim it all that well when it was empty, either. Just seems odd that I had no indication of an uneven floor along the wall with the 125g, which is the same length as the 300DD. The tank is using an official Marineland stand, which otherwise looks to be nicely made (better than the AGA one that I had with the 125g). Something to ponder.
I left the pumps running when I left for work. I will see how things are when I get home. Or more likely if it is bad, when my wife gets home before me.
edit: Yep, wife came home to a puddle on the floor. The bulkhead in the sump that feeds the return pump was leaking. Chris assured me that was leak tested, so that's one I don't feel too bad about not catching earlier. Now we just need to wash about a dozen sopping wet towels...
Plug pump in again. No water spraying, but there is a puddle growing underneath the tank. Hmm. Something else is leaking. Unplug pump again. Wait. I hear something dripping, but I can't see it. Root around an find a flashlight. Ah, the true union on the line from the sump to the skimmer's pump is also loose. Tighten that up. Mop up more water. Replace the lost water, which is probably a gallon at this point.
I watch it for another half an hour or so, a relatively fresh towel is not getting soaked, so it looks like I caught the leaks. At least any big ones.
I have this tank roughly where I had the 125g for 2.5 years. From that I thought I knew that there was a slope to the floor, running from the wall down towards the center of the room, as that is the way water would run when I had a leak. The other direction, running along the wall, seemed to be level. Now with water in the tank, it appears that front to back is level, but the right side is higher than the left by about 3/8th of an inch. Hmph. No way to shim the tank now. Not sure I would have been able to shim it all that well when it was empty, either. Just seems odd that I had no indication of an uneven floor along the wall with the 125g, which is the same length as the 300DD. The tank is using an official Marineland stand, which otherwise looks to be nicely made (better than the AGA one that I had with the 125g). Something to ponder.
I left the pumps running when I left for work. I will see how things are when I get home. Or more likely if it is bad, when my wife gets home before me.
edit: Yep, wife came home to a puddle on the floor. The bulkhead in the sump that feeds the return pump was leaking. Chris assured me that was leak tested, so that's one I don't feel too bad about not catching earlier. Now we just need to wash about a dozen sopping wet towels...
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