I'm on septic and I have a small area (1 sq ft) of squishy ground around where the tank connects to the drain line. Tank was pumped 6 months ago and I was told our leach field was fine. There's no smell and the leach field is failry far away (30ft). I see a very small amount of clear liquid on the surface that does not smell either. My initial thought is that it is a leak in the feeder pipe. Is this something I can check and/or fix myself? What do I look for?

To check it out the septic tank inspection ports must be opened up and the tank level checked. Let us know what you find/. Good luck, Tom

Depending on its age the tank could be piped with clay tiles or any other tile which can break, be crushed or simply separate. You need to dig down in the soft area to see where the leak is and to repair it. Its going to be a lot larger than 1 s/f as you dig down so start a larger hole.

Is this something that I could at least start? Money's tight and I'd like to do what I can myself. Also, what do I look for to tell me if it's a bigger issue than just a leak?

Could cost alm,ost nothing. Digging the hole is the biggest labor savings. If you can't fix the pipe then you won't pay a plumber $90 per hour to dig. Repairing or replacing a section of pipe is not difficult so give it a try, we will be here to help if you can back later to this same post

Dug up the hole last night. At about 18 inches down, I see a trickle of water coming downhill from where I think the pipe goes to the leach field. It's a trickle, and water is clear and does not smell, strangely enough. Any tips on how to try and find the source?

Keep digging more uphill until you have the source and clean out all around the diameter of the pipe. It is either cracked, separated at a joint or separated from the tank, all easy fixes