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

DazzleDiscus · #1 01-07-2010, 11:54 PM

Hey all, I just did a test run of the waterfall in my 29gal palu setup that I've been working on... and *sad* found out that there are a couple of leaks. One I can easily fix because the water is just jumping over the barrier, but two are true leaks where the water is coming from "invisible" holes through the silicone. I can't see the hole unless the water is seeping through it.

EDIT: Build goes as follows: Greatstuff first, Silicone II coating all GS, then river rock/aquarium gravel/native soil/sand/etc added to wet silicone.

Anyways, both leaks are coming from the flat stream run, which I SMOTHERED in silicone and laid aquarium rock, sand, and dirt on top. Honestly, I have no idea how to fix this problem!

I have to plug at least one of the holes with silicone as the water is leaking into the plant area. Should I plug the place where the water comes from too? ... *shudder* this seems to point to stripping and re-siliconing.

Is it ok for the underlying GreatStuff to get wet?? I havn't found a clear answer as everything comes up when searching for wet greatstuff lol. Anyways... logically I think it will be fine for frogs as others have justed squirted GS under moss and such without fussing about waterproofing it.

Everything else works great, and the pond area looks really cool!

DazzleDiscus · #2 01-08-2010, 12:01 AM

*cries* I just peaked underneath the tank... and low and behold the bottom of the background has water in it. There is a log that was supposed to be sealed off from the water area, but that didn't happen. The bottom of the log is sitting in water. What do I do? This is rather frustrating.

EDIT: I'm working on posting pictures right now.

phoenixflames44 · #3 01-08-2010, 12:14 AM

Is their any access to the area? can you suck it/ soak it out?

DazzleDiscus · #4 01-08-2010, 12:35 AM

Ok, here are some pics:

Overview of tank (sorry it's a little blurry)

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Left side

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Right side

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Looking down unto left side - this is going to be the planted area. Most of the water is from a slow leak coming from under the rock near the bottom right. The leak is no longer dripping as the water came from the stream when the pump was running.

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Back of tank, showing silicone of left, log in middle, GS on right. The log is sitting in 1-2 inches of water. The pond itself is like 3inches deep. not sure where the leak is from...

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""but slightly bigger view.

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I'm slowly watching the water level of the pond sink lower and lower. Grr...

DazzleDiscus · #5 01-08-2010, 12:38 AM

Phoenix: yes, I think I can stuff a tube behind the log and suck up the water. However, not knowing where the leak is coming from just makes me want to go crazy.

I'm seriously wondering if I should ignore that leak and just drill holes into the background so that the water will flow better lol

phoenixflames44 · #6 01-08-2010, 12:57 AM

lol, well first drain the gosh darn tank! Then once it dries just smear the edges of the pond w/ silicone

I also like your idea of just letting the water flow through. It was my first impression that the plant area was another pond, but an easy fix might be to use extra LECA and just plant water plants there.

DazzleDiscus · #7 01-08-2010, 01:06 AM

So then it is ok for GS to be wet? (goarsh that sounds like a noob question! :P )

I used two cans of silicone when lining the pond. *shakes head* The only place I can think of that I might have missed would be inside the cave where the pump is hidden. I say that because I can't see very well in it. I used one whole can on the cave itself. Word of wisdom: when doing a palu, just save the trouble and do a complete false bottom or at least block off the planting areas with a glass divider or something!

The planting area is fine except for that slow leak coming from the steam. I think I can easily fix that though. I will lay down a drainage layer probably of river rock / leca or something.

froggsong · #8 01-08-2010, 04:34 AM

If you can get a tube behind that log, just empty the tank of water, let it dry out, then fill the gap with GS. It IS ok for GS to get wet, AS LONG as it is fully cured and NOT the windows and doors type (the flexible one). Drilling holes will let the water flow better, but unless you can get a pump or something to circulate the water back there, it will stagnate and cause problems. I think your best bet is to fill the gap. If you can't get the tube from the GS can back there, then use a piece of airline tubing for the tube instead. I haven't look to see if it fits properly, but I think it will. If it isn't tight enough, you can use an airline connector to connect the original tube to the airline tubing. In case you didn't notice, the GS tube pulls right off of the trigger, but don't do it with it connected to the can, most of the time you'll end up pulling the trigger when pulling the tube off, then you'll be covered in a huge mess, lol.

Epiphile · #9 01-08-2010, 07:05 AM

I hate to say it but I think you're going to have to get the drill out- in my experience you can use a bucket of silicone at this point and it's not going to solve the problem. Silicone doesn't really stick well to silicone, and you'll probably be fighting those leaks forever. Just open the whole thing up to the water.

As long as it's possible for the water to move freely and not become trapped in any of the pockets I don't think stagnation will be an issue if you're doing regular water changes.

I just hope you're still getting the desired effect otherwise from your water feature, because the rest of the tank looks great- I can't wait to see it planted.

DazzleDiscus · #10 01-08-2010, 11:08 AM

Thanks for your help guys! I think the leak is coming from the cave portion of the pond, and is only leaking on the right side of the tank. I've checked the back and underneath the left side of the tank and it is completely dry.

I'm going to go snooping about in the cave with a flashlight once the water dries a little more. The water hasn't leaked anywhere else (I left the water in the tank for the night), just in the log area. I'm thinking that I broke the silicone seal to the that side of the tank when I installed the pump. Since that will be relatively easy to fix, I'm going to attempt that first. If not, ... well I'm going to jump that bridge when I get to it lol

Thank you again for your replies!