my pools keep leaking any advise
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Topic author
my pools keep leaking any advise
I put pools in my 20l and used plexi glass and silicole to seal them. I filled them with water and let sit for 24 hrs no leak. I put the sand subtraite in and it gets really wet so I think it is leaking. My Es love the sopping wet almost quick sand but my PP just stay an the EE side. I have one down under the EE ether destessing or molting so I dont want it to get flooded. I have my EE and send seperated by plexi grass but it is not waterproof. Help :roll:
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Scary Clam
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 9:28 am
- Location: PA
If your sand is wet, I recommend removing the leaking pool immediately. You may want to dig up your destresser/molter if you think they're at risk of drowning. I can't tell how wet your EE side is, so it's up to you whether or not to dig. I usually advise against it, but this may be an emergency. I'd say that depends on how wet the sand is on the bottom, next to where the pool was. If it's like quick sand, and a muddy mess sloshes over to where the pool was, you can bet it's wet on the EE side, if your divider wasn't water proof.
Many people have had a lot of success with using silicone on acrylic (Plexiglas). I wasn't one of them and it always leaked for me. You can take them out and try again, but silicone doesn't form a chemical bond. When I tried it and thought it was water tight, I would push on the sides a little (like the pressure of the substrate) and that's when it would leak. I made several attempts to make this work with silicone but it always felt like it was ready to fall apart. I also discovered that by just using my fingernails, I could pull a bead of it off. Imagine what my crabs could do!
If your pools are lift-out (not attached to the sides of the tank), you may want to try IPS Weld-On 16. You can get it on Ebay. Weld-On is acrylic cement and it forms a bond with acrylic. The sides of the pools would probably break before that seal will and it'd take a lot of work! Any acrylic cement will do, it's just that it's usually for industrial applications and I know you can get small tubes of 16 on Ebay. Plus, I know this stuff is safe for use on acrylic aquariums. I don't know of anywhere else you can get it because most companies won't ship it and most hardware stores don't carry it (all I tried didn't). On my first try with it, I had no leaks and overall the pool felt more structurally sound. I haven't had a leak since. Use it in a well ventilated area (like outside)- it's worse than aquarium sealant. Good news is that it dries 100% clear and not translucent like silicone, so I think it looks better. :)
If you attached your pools to the side of the tank, I don't know what to recommend other than using custom cut glass sheets and silicone next time. I know that doesn't help right now. There are cements/glues that will bond acrylic to glass, but I don't know anything about them. For now, I'd just drain the pool to prevent further flooding while you decide what you want to do next.
In a 20L you can also use bread dishes with some rocks. They're like bread pans, but made of glass. That's what I did as a temporary fix while I built the big tanks- guaranteed leakproof! I had to do that because I was mis-shipped larger crabs (who need to be able to submerge), but they did take up a lot of space. If you've got smaller crabs, you can probably go smaller than that too, like Tupperware. Quick fix, guaranteed leakproof, and a lot less of a headache.
Best of luck!
Many people have had a lot of success with using silicone on acrylic (Plexiglas). I wasn't one of them and it always leaked for me. You can take them out and try again, but silicone doesn't form a chemical bond. When I tried it and thought it was water tight, I would push on the sides a little (like the pressure of the substrate) and that's when it would leak. I made several attempts to make this work with silicone but it always felt like it was ready to fall apart. I also discovered that by just using my fingernails, I could pull a bead of it off. Imagine what my crabs could do!
If your pools are lift-out (not attached to the sides of the tank), you may want to try IPS Weld-On 16. You can get it on Ebay. Weld-On is acrylic cement and it forms a bond with acrylic. The sides of the pools would probably break before that seal will and it'd take a lot of work! Any acrylic cement will do, it's just that it's usually for industrial applications and I know you can get small tubes of 16 on Ebay. Plus, I know this stuff is safe for use on acrylic aquariums. I don't know of anywhere else you can get it because most companies won't ship it and most hardware stores don't carry it (all I tried didn't). On my first try with it, I had no leaks and overall the pool felt more structurally sound. I haven't had a leak since. Use it in a well ventilated area (like outside)- it's worse than aquarium sealant. Good news is that it dries 100% clear and not translucent like silicone, so I think it looks better. :)
If you attached your pools to the side of the tank, I don't know what to recommend other than using custom cut glass sheets and silicone next time. I know that doesn't help right now. There are cements/glues that will bond acrylic to glass, but I don't know anything about them. For now, I'd just drain the pool to prevent further flooding while you decide what you want to do next.
In a 20L you can also use bread dishes with some rocks. They're like bread pans, but made of glass. That's what I did as a temporary fix while I built the big tanks- guaranteed leakproof! I had to do that because I was mis-shipped larger crabs (who need to be able to submerge), but they did take up a lot of space. If you've got smaller crabs, you can probably go smaller than that too, like Tupperware. Quick fix, guaranteed leakproof, and a lot less of a headache.
Best of luck!
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Disgruntled Crab
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:08 pm
- Location: NC
As Scary mentioned IPS Weld-On 16 works well. I used pvc cement to cement my plexi pools together. Remember Silicone is just a sealant not a cement. Silicone doesn't seal good on glass to plexi combo. Either it needs to be aquarium silicone for glass to glass or GE silicone for acrylic plastics to seal good.
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sugarselections
- Posts: 360
- Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:59 pm
- Location: SW Ohio
I'm not sure that I really have any advice for you now except to do what you have to to make sure your crabs are safe and not living in flooded substrate.
I do have built in pools but I've never had a problem with leaks. I built a divider into the tank and then built pool inserts so if one fails the other should hold until I can fix the problem. I used the plexi that's around 1/4" thick and the GE silicone. I know one person whose pools leaked and she used the plexi that's about 1/8" thick. I'm not sure if that might have made a difference.
I did seal everything really, really well. In some spots it's not too pretty because of the gobs of sealant but it's held well for a while now. I also did a lot of water tests before I considered everything properly sealed. I filled the pools and inserts to capacity and then waited several days to make sure there were no leaks.
Good luck!
I do have built in pools but I've never had a problem with leaks. I built a divider into the tank and then built pool inserts so if one fails the other should hold until I can fix the problem. I used the plexi that's around 1/4" thick and the GE silicone. I know one person whose pools leaked and she used the plexi that's about 1/8" thick. I'm not sure if that might have made a difference.
I did seal everything really, really well. In some spots it's not too pretty because of the gobs of sealant but it's held well for a while now. I also did a lot of water tests before I considered everything properly sealed. I filled the pools and inserts to capacity and then waited several days to make sure there were no leaks.
Good luck!