4300 Gallon Plywood Build (3600+ Take 2)

[Conner]

let it drain by itself to see where it actually stops.... That might help...

+1. Just set up towels or other stuff to help keep the water from damaging anything, and let it drain til it stops. That will at least tell you what level in the tank the leak is at, even if you can't pinpoint it.

Can you not see on the outside of the tank where its leaking from? Or is it somewhere that's hidden from view?

 

[zennzzo]

+2, it will help you isolate the leak easier...

 

[TheFishGuy]

That sucks. I thought the pond coat was supposed to seal itself to prevent leaks. Or is that only if it gets punctured?

This is kind of what I was thinking but was afraid to say it. This product seemed to be "perfect". Something I should have used on my tank... The trouble with finding the leak on my tank was when the pressure was off the cracks closed. The way you have constructed this tank I'm thinking that movement should be minimal. That being said I can't help you here because it's usually movement that kills a tank. It seems that the only options that are left is the seal between the window or product failure somewhere. I'd immediatly goto the corners, but the corners on this tank are borderline insane. I find it hard to belive it is leaking at a certain height. It's got to be pressure creating a hole somewhere...

I more than feel you pain right now. I filled my tank seven times before siliconing all inside corners. I had mixed emotions when that solved it. Angry because my tank was moving and I could have just used dryloc for 1/8 the cost of pond armor but happy it didn't fail... A year later it did though which resulted in closing off the deep end. Very disappointing...

Not sure why I typed all that. LOL

Sorry dude, and good luck pin pointing it.

 

[greengiant]

I am thinking your leak will always appear to be at the bottom. you sheeted the interior with plywood inside tat beastly frame. any leak at any level would appear to be coming from the bottom as the water would just run down the backside of the plywood. did you overlap the PC over the acrylic or just over your custom seal you made? I cannot recall from memory. good luck Pete we are all rooting for this to be watertight soon.

ps note on the PC and its healing abilitys. PC heals when its warm. when cool it is less malliable and doesn't rebond very well. this is what I have found when playing with it here at home

 

[goestonemoa]

wow good luck man ....ill keep dreamin

 

[greenterra]

I am thinking your leak will always appear to be at the bottom. you sheeted the interior with plywood inside tat beastly frame. any leak at any level would appear to be coming from the bottom as the water would just run down the backside of the plywood. did you overlap the PC over the acrylic or just over your custom seal you made? I cannot recall from memory. good luck Pete we are all rooting for this to be watertight soon.

ps note on the PC and its healing abilitys. PC heals when its warm. when cool it is less malliable and doesn't rebond very well. this is what I have found when playing with it here at home

Good point about the water following the plywood greengiant.
I can only imagine how hard it would be to locate a leak with this style of build and truly feel for you Pete.

In regards to the point made about PCs ability to self heal. Personally, I could never bring myself to believe that claim, especially once fully cured and under water pressure.

 

[nolapete]

Decided against letting it drain down on its own. 180 gallons draining at a snail's pace would take weeks and evaporation would offset the accuracy. I didn't like the idea of the wood staying wet that long either. Drained it. Going to coat a 12" band from the base of the acrylic to the 30" mark around the entire tank, let it dry, then try again.

 

[greengiant]

I can't imagine what your going through having a leak and it being right in your main living area to remind you every day that its not filled. I would be pulling my hair out bigtime

 

[fishfeeder]

sounds like a dream tank besides the problems w/ the front

 

[nolapete]

sounds like a dream tank besides the problems w/ the front

There's no problem with the front. What are you referring to?