Finding a leak?? driving me crazy

agreeive?fish · 11/21/2012, 02:36 PM

Ok how do you find a leak when the only sign of a leak is the wet carpet and the water level in the sump keeps going down very slowly

nothing on the outside of anything, tank,plumbing(drain or return),sump shows any sign of even a drop of water..except the wet carpet

last night we had an earthquake a 100 miles or so away(as a crow flies), i dont know if it was felt in our area or not it was around 2 am ish and i was sound asleep but this morning my carpet was wet around my tank. i marked the water level in the sump....jump a head 5 hours rechecked water level in sump it dropped about 1/32-1/16 of an inch....rechecked everything and again the only thing wet is carpet(no water lines ect in/under this part of house and no water leaks anywhere in house or under house as i just checked to be sure).

just shut off the return pump, added more circulation pumps to display to keep O2ed and water movement, marked sump level again..will check again after dinner tonight if water level dropped then the leak has to be in the sump(cheapest and easiest fix since i have everything needed to replace sump including a sump), if not then its gotta be the plumbing somewhere or the tank but as i said NO WATER ANYWHERE EXCEPT the wet carpet (sump area so if it is the sump leaking its got to be on the bottom or bottom seam of the acrylic sump..whats driving me up the wall is i cannot find anyplace even slightly damp except the darn wet carpet

chrisfont23 · 11/21/2012, 02:45 PM

The only thing I can think of is to use soapy water on the outside...the air leak should make the soap bubble even more. Works for me on a flat tire. Assuming you have enough pressure from the water in the tank, it should work

agreeive?fish · 11/22/2012, 08:13 AM

WELL ITS NOT THE SUMP aprox 20 hours with sump isolated from system and no leakage..so its time to replace all the plumbing (2 systems on 1 common sump)

sleepydoc · 11/23/2012, 07:26 AM

What I always do when I'm looking for slow plumbing leaks under a sink is use a piece of paper towel or kleenex and touch the edge to the plumbing joints, since that's where virtually all of the leaks occur. Even if it's a really slow leak, there's usually enough water collection that it will wick into the paper and be visible.

If you're certain it's not sump, then it has to be part of the plumbing that is not above the sump - shouldn't be too many to check. Do you have ABS bulkheads? Those can be prone to cracking.

Conspiculatus · 11/23/2012, 11:49 AM

Did you consider the leak might be from an alternative source. If the tank did not have any inhabits you could use a tracing dye. Other then that keep looking for the cause.

11/21/2012, 02:36 PM	#1
agreeive?fish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 3,803	Finding a leak?? driving me crazy Ok how do you find a leak when the only sign of a leak is the wet carpet and the water level in the sump keeps going down very slowly nothing on the outside of anything, tank,plumbing(drain or return),sump shows any sign of even a drop of water..except the wet carpet last night we had an earthquake a 100 miles or so away(as a crow flies), i dont know if it was felt in our area or not it was around 2 am ish and i was sound asleep but this morning my carpet was wet around my tank. i marked the water level in the sump....jump a head 5 hours rechecked water level in sump it dropped about 1/32-1/16 of an inch....rechecked everything and again the only thing wet is carpet(no water lines ect in/under this part of house and no water leaks anywhere in house or under house as i just checked to be sure). just shut off the return pump, added more circulation pumps to display to keep O2ed and water movement, marked sump level again..will check again after dinner tonight if water level dropped then the leak has to be in the sump(cheapest and easiest fix since i have everything needed to replace sump including a sump), if not then its gotta be the plumbing somewhere or the tank but as i said NO WATER ANYWHERE EXCEPT the wet carpet (sump area so if it is the sump leaking its got to be on the bottom or bottom seam of the acrylic sump..whats driving me up the wall is i cannot find anyplace even slightly damp except the darn wet carpet Last edited by agreeive?fish; 11/21/2012 at 02:42 PM.

11/23/2012, 07:26 AM	#4
sleepydoc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 3,907	What I always do when I'm looking for slow plumbing leaks under a sink is use a piece of paper towel or kleenex and touch the edge to the plumbing joints, since that's where virtually all of the leaks occur. Even if it's a really slow leak, there's usually enough water collection that it will wick into the paper and be visible. If you're certain it's not sump, then it has to be part of the plumbing that is not above the sump - shouldn't be too many to check. Do you have ABS bulkheads? Those can be prone to cracking. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 120 gallon, coast to coast overflow w/beananimal overflow. Waveline DC 10000 II return pump, 40 gal sump, Octopus XS200 skimmer, T5 lighting

11/21/2012, 02:45 PM	#2
chrisfont23 Reef Monster Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Long Island Posts: 1,343	The only thing I can think of is to use soapy water on the outside...the air leak should make the soap bubble even more. Works for me on a flat tire. Assuming you have enough pressure from the water in the tank, it should work

11/22/2012, 08:13 AM	#3
agreeive?fish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 3,803	WELL ITS NOT THE SUMP aprox 20 hours with sump isolated from system and no leakage..so its time to replace all the plumbing (2 systems on 1 common sump)

11/23/2012, 11:49 AM	#5
Conspiculatus Registered Member. Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: USA Posts: 56	Did you consider the leak might be from an alternative source. If the tank did not have any inhabits you could use a tracing dye. Other then that keep looking for the cause.