Palu's not 100% waterproof! HELP! :(

[DazzleDiscus]

Ok, well good news! I found the leak- and there is only one! :: Cheers ::
I used a natural dye to help me find the leak and will now flush out the dye with water. After that, then I shall bring out the silicone. The leak is rather slow, and after filling up the water level behind the log to about 3inches, the rest of the tank stayed at one inch. So I don't think it'll be too hard to close up the leak. I've made a hole through the GS behind the log, and will position a fan over it to help evaporate all the extra water (after flushing the dye out of course).

The wood had leached a good amount of tannins into the water (which was dusty anyway from the background). But now that I know where the leaks are coming from, I should be able to seal up the area again.

[Epiphile]

That is good news- I hope you'll able to seal that leak.

What kind of dye did you use? I'm curious now.

[beckdg]

sweet... i thought i was going to have to use my super professional water leak testing abilities on this one... good job with the dye!

was it food dye btw?

[froggsong]

I'm glad you found the leak. It makes things so much easier when you use dye, doesn't it?

[DazzleDiscus]

Oh yes, leaks are so much easier to find when the water is colored! My family has changed diets due to us being prone to upper-respiratory illnesses and such. (horray for no more asthma! :cheers: ) Also, "normal" food dye is NOT good for your body at all and can increase risks for a number of reactions. One of my friends is highly reactive to yellow food dye, and a couple of guy friends with Red dye #40. Thus, we tend to stay away from colored foods. Anyways, here are some ideas for making natural dyes/buying natural dyes (I am not affiliated with any company listed here).


make-natural-food-coloring

wildflavors.com - color_types

seelecttea.com

Granted, these natural dyes may be fine for humans, but as I don't know if they are ok for herps/amphibians I am making sure to flush out as much as I can.

[beckdg]

diy food dye... gotcha. annato is awesome i gotta say. anyone who enjoys spanish rice has to confess to that.

[DazzleDiscus]

ALRIGHT!! Alright! I CONFESS!!!

[beckdg]

how's everything working out dazzle?

[DazzleDiscus]

:P doing great so far! I've been attaching moss to the background while waiting for everything to dry completely. So far so good- pillow moss on the log and surrounding area, and some ferny-looking moss around the pond and stream.

I've mentally marked where the cave's leak is coming from, and will be able to get to that later on in the day. The waterfall has been taken care of as now it doesn't run into the planting area (technically wasn't one of the leaks). The leak from the top waterfall is fixed, but I want to shave the waterway down a bit as the water isn't flowing as well as I wanted. I'll see about taking pictures later on in the day...

Thanks for asking beck!

[momerath]

I love the DYE idea to find leaks! And homeade dye at that, nifty!
That should go in a tips and tricks thread or something....

Dazzle: Glad you were able to fix it! Those leaks can be a nightmare!