Leaking bulkheads

[FishWife]

So, after two months of gathering data, advice, etc. we FINALLY plumbed our display tank to our sump last night, ran tap water thru the system and.... (drum roll, please) our BRAND NEW, finger tightened bulkheads leaked. :( Yes, there is a gasket; yes we did put it tank-side. Yes, they are the right size for the holes drilled in our tanks. We bought them brand new from our LFS.

 

What's the solution? I've heard before:

 

1. Add a thin layer of silicone to the contact surface... INSIDE?... the overflow box

 

2. Add a new washer?

 

(Why are they leaking???)

[flowerseller]

 

(Why are they leaking???)

They need need "strong" finger tightend.

They also should be wetted both sides before tighting and the water will squeeze out.

Is the gasket on the bulkhead side or the nut side?

It must be on the bulkhead flange side, regardless if that it in the water or not.

It will always leak if it is on the nut side.

 

Always remember, if you need silicone, it's not done correctly.

[jnguyen4007]

I had the same problem with mine, and needless to say, it was quite frustrating. Even after I replaced my bulkheadd with two heavy duty, they still leaked. As it turned out, the advice people so often give about how you're supposed to tighten the bulkhead with your hands only is not altogether accurate. The reason why they suggested that was so to keep you from over tighten to a point where you would crack your tank. I used something similar to a monkey wrench to tightened mine and I made sure I did it a bit at a time and not put so much force into it. The leak went from a trickle down to a drop or two per minute. I learned from Dan that that was fine because salt creep would fill the gap and stopped the leak altogether. A couple of days after I tightened mine, the slow drip stopped altogether.

 

James

[Brian Ward]

Definitely do NOT use silicone. I just finished cleaning up a bulkhead mess where that was done. Make sure the surfaces are clean of all debris, wet the gasket before installing and use a bulkhead wrench - hand tight isn't quite tight enough, but do not overdo it. The MegaFlow kits ship with a small bulkhead wrench that will work and still keep you from over tightening. Home Depot also sells a bulkhead wrench for $7.50:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...ocStoreNum=2583

 

Don't crank down on it with this, but if the bulkhead nuts are in good shape, this should do it for you.

~Brian

 

In case the link doesn't work, this is the description:

T162 x , 1-3/4 In. 2 In. 2-1/2 In. Capacity Plumbers Wrench

Model T162 X

Edited October 11, 2007 by Brian Ward

[dandy7200]

How I learned to correctly tighten a bulkhead:

 

Bought 2.

 

Tightened one until it broke (nut broke not tank).

 

Tightened second one just slightly less.

 

Finger tight is cool if you got strong fingers. Most people don't have that strong of fingers so a 1/2 turn with a wrench is usually best.

 

So go ahead and break one. They are pretty cheap compared to a flood and it is a good way to learn.

[FishWife]

WE GOT IT!!!

 

REJOICE with us! Our tank is full of water and NOT leaking, and our refugium is connected and flowing water into and out of it after two full months of research and gathering data and equipment from many fine folks on this list. Our RO/DI unit is putting forth our last trash can of water as I type, and tonight we plan hook up our brand new Standard 8 skimmer and start adding sand.

 

IF all goes well, we'll have our clownfish out of her holding tank by Monday night.

 

I just need to say "thanks" again for all the patient answers to my many questions.

 

Here are our assembly pic's:

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2007 by FishWife

[EBR]

Cool! So the manifold -- is that connected to the return, or part of a closed loop?

Matt

 

Oh, and congratulations :-)

[Brian Ward]

Looks great, I really like that manifold design. I'm also wondering if that's the return from your filter or if it's a closed loop? I'm sure you thought of this, but if it's the return be sure there's a siphon break.

[jnguyen4007]

WOW. That looks really nice. What size pump will you be using in that?

 

James

[zotzer]

So can we presume that the man in the pictures is "FishHusband"? LOL

 

Nice job! You should start a new thread that you can load up with pics!!

 

Not to answer on your behalf, but for those who were asking, I am 99.9999% sure it's a closed loop.

 

Tracy

[BeltwayBandit]

One other neat trick you can do to help hide the PVC, if its not too late. Paint the entire piece with purple primer and let it cure. It will blend in with the corraline algae, once that kicks in, and it will 'weather in' and disappear much quicker.

 

By the way, I love the idea for the return manifold like that. I am designing my next tank and was a bit leery of drilling the bottom of the tank. I just might do something like that for mine.

 

 

BB

[FishWife]

OK; I'm back from a busy weekend!

 

Here is the REST of the story!

 

Sorry Tracy, you lose... ... it's our return. Our bow had two drilled bulkheads: 1" and 3/4" that we chose to use for outflow. The above manifold (featuring the Fisherman, Scott) is our return (and yes, we did put a siphon break).

 

Behind the black wall (daring, let me tell you to pain my den black!) there's our engine room.

 

To answer above questions, the return is part of a two-part tank system to be. We have the den, backing up to our mudroom, backing up to our kitchen. This "engine room" has now taken over our mudroom. So, go with me behind the wall...

 

 

Above is the mag 24 driving up into a T. One end is capped. It will eventually drive the return to our kitchen tank. The T goes off to the bow above (left) after passing thru a ball valve so we can dial it down, 'cause, of course, the mag 24 is way to much inflow for our 900gph outflow thru the two drains.

 

Below is Scott putting live sand from Steve's old tank into our refugium. STINKY and GROSS!

 

 

Then, we hooked up Dan's Standard 8 and let it go to work on that green sludge:

 

 

Eight hours later, voila:

 

 

And here is a wider view so you can see the handy shelf for the future calcium reactors, kalk stirrers, etc. of the future...

 

 

To finish off this series, we added a UV sterilizer above the skimmer compartment: (just takes it in and then puts it back into the fuge) and organized our plugs and such with two labeled gfi strip plugs. All VERY tidy:

 

 

Meanwhile, back at the bowfront display:

 

1. Add sand... wait....

 

 

2. Aquascaping, and our one clownfish (hard to see):

 

SO NOW WE HAVE A NEW QUESTION: we're thinking of how to get strong flow to the upper half of the tank, where we plan for corals to live. We're thinking a closed loop with outlets in the back two corners, pointing 45 degrees down and in at 45 degree angles, and then a center outlet. If our goal is turbulence, and we want to avoid a wavemaker, how strong should our driving pump be for outlets two feet apart for colliding flows. (And, I guess, what diameter pipe? The manifold above is 1" pipe, just to give you an idea of scale.)

 

TIA!

Edited October 15, 2007 by FishWife

[jason the filter freak]

One other neat trick you can do to help hide the PVC, if its not too late. Paint the entire piece with purple primer and let it cure. It will blend in with the corraline algae, once that kicks in, and it will 'weather in' and disappear much quicker.

 

By the way, I love the idea for the return manifold like that. I am designing my next tank and was a bit leery of drilling the bottom of the tank. I just might do something like that for mine.

BB

 

To expand on this, I think I discussed this with you guys. Pain with purple primer then you can pain them black with Krylon fusion spray paint, which if and when it scratches will scratch to the purple, no biggie just looks like coraline.

[zotzer]

Looks gorgeous!

 

And I don't mind being wrong. It happens more often than I'd like to admit. ROFL

 

Tracy

[FishWife]

To expand on this, I think I discussed this with you guys. Pain with purple primer then you can pain them black with Krylon fusion spray paint, which if and when it scratches will scratch to the purple, no biggie just looks like coraline.

 

Dang; we forgot that. Too late for the return, but vis our NEW QUESTION above about adding flow via a closed loop to the upper half of our water column, how long does it take for the primer to "cure"... and then likewise with the black paint... oh, and where do you buy said paint? TIA!

[jason the filter freak]

Primer cures as fast as it says on the bottle, IMHO less than a minute. Buy said paint at a craft store, lets get a pic of that light, i want to see what color your stained it.