bulkhead plumbing question

[Anonymous]

My tank has an overflow built into the back center. Four bulkheads in the bottom. 2-intake 2-outtake. The bulkheads are threaded x thread. These are fitted with half inchmale pump adaptors.

I've decided i want to increase my tanks turnover rate so i'm going to buy a couple of bigger (and quieter) pumps.

Could i fit these bulkheads with female pump adaptors instead of male ones? I'd like to replace my half inch plumbing with three/quarter but i don't want to redrill the bottom of my tank. The reason i ask if it's possible to put a female adaptor on a double threaded bulkhead is because i went and got one but it wouldn't fit. Has anyone dealt with this sort of problem before? Does anyone have a good plumbing link that explains why different fittings have different threads?

 

[Anonymous]

pojohnny,

I don't understand your terminology. What are "pump adapters"? I think you may be talking about hose barbs but not sure.
By the way, changing your piping and not your bulkheads will provide little benefit. A small reduction in friction, but no change in head. I would leave the plumbing alone and go with bigger pumps, unless you have your tank redrilled.

 

[Anonymous]

yes, i meant hose barbs. I'm thinking that if i had 3/4 inch plumbing instead of 1/2, then i'd be giving the bigger pumps more room to push water into the tank. (i'm wanting to create a Y off of my existing fan nozzles so that i can have a total of four inputs instead of 2). and i agree that the bulkheads will bottleneck the flow. but i'm thinking that by screwing my hose barb adaptor to the outside threads instead of the inside threads, then i can increase the inside diameter of the bulkheads a bit. But i don't really know. so i'm looking for advice from some of you folks who've been in the hobby longer.

Thanks in advance,
pojohnny

 

[Anonymous]

I got all of my hose barbs at home depot or lowes. I just dug through thier selection until I found what I needed. Also, check the plumbing section. They might have the correct size/thread in plastic that you will need.

B

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
Johnny want to put a female adoptor onto his bulkhead. This confuse me in the beginning, but I think I figure what exactly he want to do. See, a threaded (TxT) bulkhead has two threads on the outside end. A slip (SxS) had only one threads. Yes, one, since you need thread to put the nut on the bulkhead.

With that said, Johnny problem is that he want to use the nut thread to get a female hose barb adoptor to attach to. Well, the problem is that the nut thread is not standard size, and you can't get any thing to goes on it other than the nut that came with your bulkhead.

So what can be done? If you want to upgrade the pipe size, use a 1/2 MNPT to 3/4 hose adoptor on the bulkhead. The inside diameter of a 3/4 hose adoptor is about the same as a 1/2 pipe.

Hope this helps.

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: seven ephors ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>, the problem is that the nut thread is not standard size, and you can't get any thing to goes on it other than the nut that came with your bulkhead.
<hr></blockquote>
seven ephors, this is indeed my problem. I'm looking for some kind of adaptor that will screw onto the outside threads of the bulkhead and your saying that none of the standard adaptors will work because the threads along the outside diameter of a bulkhead are not standard.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>and you can't get any thing to goes on it other than the nut that came with your bulkhead.
<hr></blockquote>
Now, your suggestion to remedy this problem will work. But i'm hoping to cut out as many choke points as possible and if i screw an adaptor into the inside threads, than that's gonna be more friction. thanks for your reply 7ephors

Rover, i'm thinking i could take the bulkhead off of the remote waste container on my protein skimmer. maybe if i took this bulkhead to a plumbing parts house (i've already been to Lowe's...no luck) then i can match it up with the hose barb adaptor that i'm looking for. thanks

^bump^

Has anyone else tried to do this? any luck finding a non standard adaptor?