droyal1110

I have the aqua gloves and I rarely use them. However they are great if you are aquascaping because the rocks tear up pruned hands and I also have sensitive hands (on and off I guess it depends on how frequent my hands are in the tank) and sometimes my skin will break out from the salt. But if I need to do delicate work I have an endless supply of EMS latex gloves.

Whatever it is, its beautiful. I even made a post on RC trying to get the drop on people =D So far everyone thinks its a toadstool sarcophyton sp.

Its probably in your best interest to just purchase your own. You can get them at blue ribbon koi for like 15+ bucks a piece. 1 drill bit will be good enough for 2 holes. The reason being is if you borrow someones bit, unless its the really expensive ones they get dull and make it more difficult to make perfect cuts on your tank. Last think you want to do is screw up a hole on your tank. Just my .02

Thanks. So far with this build I've needed as much as I can get =/

It is in the correct order. Flange, gasket, glass, then nut. If it is cracked it must have been before hand because I only did a light hand tight at first when it first displayed the leak, then I wrenched down with my hands, then I did about an 1/8th of a turn with the wrench. I'm thinking maybe the gasket is upside down, if there are two sides on it. Thanks.

No I'm not sure of that. Like I said tomorrow night I'm rolling out there with a dremel and see if I can get this putty off and possibly salvage the bulkhead. It could be something as stupid as some sand under the gasket, even though I vacuumed and wiped the chamber out, knowing my luck it will look perfectly normal. Worse comes to worse, I'm doubling up on teflon, hand tightening (have to remove with a wrench, I've got a decent grip), and if it still leaks I'm just going to silicone on the bottom of the tank. I figure silicone is less permanent in the sense that when cured its still a rubbery form which can be pealed off or removed by dremel. Either way I don't think it would be cracked, I know for sure its not the glass because its tempered, I'm still leaning towards the gasket. Won't know till tomorrow night =/ Tank is so behind schedule...

Sounds like you've got the tank cycling but you're still working on the sump, either way good call on starting the cycle. Be sure not to add any fish or any living things (including corals) until your tank has cycled, so probably a week or two after your nitrites and ammonia drop to 0. As far as the aquascaping goes, its not easy. Plenty of people use aqua putty to hold the rocks together, others just balance the rocks. Either way unless you have something teetering to where a turbo snail can knock it over, chances are you're going to be the one who knocks it over, not anything in your tank. When adjusting the skimmer its more for preference. Most people prefer the drier, nastier skimmate. On the HOB Remora skimmer this is achieved by adjusting the collection cup upward, not necessarily all the way up, you just have to play with it. Now on my 55g I own this skimmer, some days it works amazingly, other days it sucks. The skimmer almost has feelings and has its good days and its bad days, and this is a broken in skimmer I'm talking about. Your skimmer will need time to adjust and "break in" before it starts working more consistently. You'll find that every time you clean out the collection cup your skimmer will take a while before it starts producing skimmate again. My advice to you: upgrade the pump on your skimmer, set the collection height and leave it alone, and don't expect great results until after you add livestock. The skimmer will pull some nasty stuff off of the live rock that had die off but it can only pull so much. Once you start adding a bioload (living things that produce waste) you will see an increase in skimmate and what not. The skimmer works off of dissolved organics in the water, essentially fish poop and left over rotting food, and it used the bubbles to attract the nasties in the water and put it in the collection cup. A 5 gallon bucket works great, I would go a step further if you have enough tubing, drill a hole in a lid and put it over the bucket to cut down on the smell coming from the skimmate. I don't know how your skimmer flooded because on mine I don't have a dump tube, I have to empty the cup every other day or so and even if I went away for a month, the skimmate can only go as high as the neck of the collection cup, everything else just drains back into the skimmer and back into the tank if the cup is full. Now if your dump tube was open and you started to skim stuff out and you didn't have the dump tube going to a container, then yea I guess I can see how you had a "flood." Like I said, 5 gallon bucket works great but if you wait a long time to empty it you're in for a nasty treat when you go to dump it. Most people just use a milk jug depending on space allowance. Another thing to keep in mind, the wetter the skimmate, the more saltwater you waste. If you are pulling a lot of clear skimmate in your collection cup, its more than likely mostly saltwater because your skimming too wet. The level in your tank will lower, especially with a 5g bucket as a collection cup, and your salinity will fluctuate if you are just adding freshwater to control the level of your tank, just something to keep in mind. Also, you don't need to tilt the cup, it will make its way into the drain tube, if you want just empty the cup once a week to keep it clean.

No they are the same type of bulkheads. They are both black (I know color doesn't make a difference) and designed the same, the threads and nuts are the same, flange is the same, even gasket the same, but they appear different sizes. Once I get this bulkhead off I will measure and see if maybe this is why I have large amounts of leaking. Both are leaking but the 1" is the serious one. The 3/4" bulkhead is leaking down the threads, I think by just putting more teflon tape on the threads that should fix that problem, but that isn't the big issue. The 1" bulkhead is leaking not only down the threads but around the nut which is probably due to the gasket being damaged or not sealing properly. The silicone grease sounds plausible, I assume it is reef safe. Any special one to be used? Thanks.

I didn't know there are 2 sides to the gasket, never noticed it, something I'll have to check into. Last night my soak was complete and the tank is clean(ish) so I drained it and broke the plumbing down. I lifted the tank with some plumbing still attached and turned the tank a bit so I had room to work with under the tank. Assessing the damage, there is actually none. The stand was a bit moist which is why I went down the putty road but doesn't appear to be damaged just yet, the putty didn't actually adhere to the glass of the tank, but it is in the threads of the bulkhead. I happened to have a drill with a small bit on hand so I decided to see how hard this stuff was... because of the moisture its actually solid but its a soft enough substance to cut away with a knife with some elbow grease. Long story short, tomorrow night I'm gonna grab my brothers dremel and see if I can salvage the bulkhead, if not I'll be heading over to BRK Thursday to pick up a new one and go for round 2 then. Also, can someone please explain this. It appears the old bulkhead the previous owner used is a 1" slip bulkhead that is about 2" wide, my 1" bulkhead is threaded on both sides but it looks like its maybe 1 1/2" wide. Could this be the issue? Maybe threaded vs slip is a different girth size? Thanks for your help guys!

If you need it quick you can do next day shipping. In order to get the full effect most places you have to order before 1pm to get it shipped that day. I have had good luck with marinedepot.com, bulkreefsupply.com, and airwaterice.com Marinedepot.com prices can be a bit high but they will price match to any other website. Depending on what you order next day shipping will be like $30+

Yea the bulkheads and gaskets were new from BRK. I just don't understand, I'm really contemplating just siliconing around the work I've already done and just calling it a day. The leak has slowed down but its still enough to saturate the stand, which is not good, and enough to irritate me.

I have the old gaskets and bulkheads from the previous setup. Would it be worse to double up on the gastkets?

It doesn't need to be centered, its a perfect fit. The gasket was on the inside of the tank between the flange. I think I need to assess the situation because I used the putty and I need to see if I can either just seal around it are cut it. If I can cut it I will just buy a new bulkhead and replumb it. Man it is so disheartening =(

Thanks guys. Yea I inspected the seal and made sure it was free of debris. Most instructions say you need to make it hand tight, I knew I should use a wrench but I figured it was an awkward position trying to tighten it maybe it would help me out just a little. I suppose its possible its not centered, maybe I should look into that. Thanks again.

Ok I'm ready to rip my hair out. I worked for 4+ hours on these bulkheads in my built in overflow. No matter what I do, I cannot stop them from leaking. The seal is on the inside of the tank (portion where water sits), I have made them hand tight, used teflon tape, I even wrenched them down a bit. I made sure the seals were clean and new and still they leak. I have no idea what to do. I have already made a mistake that I'm going to pay for this sunday... I used putty to stop the leak but it didn't quite get it, I was thinking of just siliconing the rest and being done with it. I realize its going to suck they day that I move again but I'm not worried about it right now. If anyone has any suggestions on setting a bulkhead in I may cut it out and try that. Otherwise I may have just shot myself in the foot =/ Thanks for any help.

I use the Garlic extreme and the Aminomega as well. Depending on the amount I make I usually soak the food in tank water to defrost and drain. I then add enough aminomega (usually 3-5 drops) to saturate nicely along with 3-5 drops of the Garlic. I used the garlic at first for the picky eaters but now everyone is happy and its just a habit. I do feel that the combination of the two additives makes the food go bad quicker, then again it could just be the smell over a few days, I try to make enough food for about a weeks worth of feeding so who knows. Oh and the skimmer will tend to stop producing bubbles because of the oils from the food are stuff in the aminomega, you could turn the skimmer off during this time if you felt like it, mine just gets cranky for a bit then 15 mins later back to normal and I'm using an "ok" aqua c remora HOT.

Oh wow I thought it was a definite 24 hour cure again. My biggest concern was the leak to and from the fuge, I didn't want sand blowing around (although I don't think the leak was strong enough) and I didn't want sand leaking out into the return area.

Yea like I said I decided to just roll with it and hope for the best. Never thought of using the aqua putty as a quick fix, good idea. However since the fitting I had for my return pipe for some reason doesn't fit the PVC pipe enough though it says its supposed to, I get set back anyways. So I tried the sump and re-siliconed everything just about. No way its going to leak now =D

Haha cool thanks. I bought a little kit that comes with primer and glue, I supposed it will suffice. My new issue is figuring out which pieces to glue first and when to attach them to certain other pieces. Its like doing a jigsaw puzzle... except nothing like it.... bad analogy. Thanks guys!

Congrats!

True true. I'm just under so much pressure trying to coordinate a million things. This move is killing me and not to mention I still haven't heard back from the now job I'm supposed to be getting I may be commuting an extra 30 minutes until I find a new one. But I do agree and I'm not trying to rush things, its just I have a deadline unfortunately and its all I can swing in order to move into my new place and move the fish tank as well.

Thanks for your help guys. For some reason my 3/4 inch slip to threaded doesn't fit the 3/4 inch PVC pipe, even though it says its supposed to on the fitting so I couldn't finish the system tonight anyways. I ended up just draining the sump and drying the seals and used up almost the other half of the tube of aquarium silicone I have, no way its going to leak now. Again thanks so much, I'm just going to be a day behind now =/

I plan on putting sand in the fuge area and the reason why its a big deal is because I don't really have time to let it cure for another 24 hours. The entire system was supposed to soak by tonight =/ So sand going in the fuge, its not pouring out but its a leak none the less. Just take my chances?

So I glued my baffles in on Sunday, it is now 48 hours later and they are more than dry. Did a leak test and I have 3 leaks. The red circles indicate where the leaks are... unfortunately they are all on the side that I was working from, probably why they leak in the corners. They are slow leaks but leaks none the less. The DT drains in the the drain section, overflows into the fuge section, overflows into the return section. How important is it to seal these leaks? Like I said they are slow leaks, the strength of the baffles appear to be good because I pulled on them quite a bit with water filled in that particular section. My reasoning being since water is flowing and is filling the following chambers, why do they have to be absolutely sealed? Any help is greatly appreciated, looking for an answer tonight! Under a huge time constraint and I have a busy schedule for the next 2 weeks.

Is there a noticeable difference between primer and cleaner? Other than the color of course. And cool thanks, looks like I will hopefully be filling my system with water tonight (cross your fingers for the test.)