Pipe work for bottom drilled tank

[stinger]

what do you guys normally use to fit the bulkhead fitting to the glass? Is the rubber enough to stop water leaking or do you have to rely on silicone glue as well? i know you shouldn't tighten it too much otherwise it will put pressure to the glass and break it. So how tight should it be?
Thanks guys

 

[Anonymous]

Hand tight should do the trick.

You want to leave yourself the ability to tighten it some more is case of a minor leak. Use handtools only of necessary after you spot a leak.

Silicone glue should not be used.

Louey

 

[stinger]

just to confirm that means just the rubber will do the trick right?
We've just started filling the tank with fresh water to test it. There's a tiny leak (water sipping through the bulk head). guess it's not tight enough? we've drain the tank completely and will refit the bulkhead. any suggestion to be extra sure? thanks again

 

[spaulr]

Yes, the rubber gasket that comes with the bulkhead should be enough. I just put 2 of them on my tank, hand tightened as Louey recommended, and no leaks. I don't think you need to drain the tank, just hand tighten the bulkhead and wipe away the water on the outside so you can see if its still leaking. Since I'm going through water testing right now...I'd test all your fittings with the pumps on AND with the pumps off. Wait overnight, and check them in the morning. Some leaks might not show up while pressure is in the pipes (IE the intake portions).

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with spaulr that you don't need to empty the tank. In fact you need water in the tank so that you know when to quit tightening.

I have had to bang on a bulkhead fitting using a screw driver/hammer to get it tight enough to stop leaking. Sometimes they can be a pain.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I needed to use a wrench to stop my leak. It began leaking after two weeks. Just tighten it very slowly. If you use tools you can either break the bulkhead or crack the glass.

 

[GSchiemer]

It's a bit late to offer this advice, but I would never drill holes and install bulkheads in the bottom of an aquarium unless that hole was in an overflow box. There's just no good reason to tempt fate. When you plumb through the bottom, any leak in the plumbing can potentially drain the entire tank. It also makes it very difficult to make changes to your plumbing down the road.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

I had 3 in my last tank and no big issue. All were hand tightened.

 

[stinger]

thanks for that guys
unfortunately we've already drain the tank, we will try again on the weekend because we also need to clean off some silicone on the outside rim of the bulkhead (i thought it would help, but next time no more silicone)
BTW i've gone with bottom drain because the tank is a divider for a room, hence i can't hide the pipework elsewhere.

 

[stinger]

forgot to ask.
still related to the bulkhead, would you use pvc + all the elbows (90degress) and glue them together for the pipework (pump and return to sump)? what we're using for pipe now is that same stuff for airline (but bigger diameter), but we're leaning towards pvc now. And would you tigthen the bulkhead first before you connected the rest of the pipework?

 

[Anonymous]

I like PVC. If you use PVC you need to glue it. Use PVC primer and glue. You can tighten the bulkhead after if you need to.

 

[stinger]

i've got stupid question, why do you need pvc primer as well? i thought just the glue would do the trick

 

[GSchiemer]

thanks for that guys
unfortunately we've already drain the tank, we will try again on the weekend because we also need to clean off some silicone on the outside rim of the bulkhead (i thought it would help, but next time no more silicone)
BTW i've gone with bottom drain because the tank is a divider for a room, hence i can't hide the pipework elsewhere.

Is the "drain" at the bottom of an overflow box, which would be the desirable setup? Many tanks are constructed with center overflow boxes for the exact reason you've stated.

Greg

 

[PeeJ]

As long as the drain is surrounded by an overflow, you are golden. I have reservations about drilling holes in the tank bottom for things such as closed loops. If THESE bulkheads fail, you are SOL. At least if your overflow bulkheads fail, you have the overflow to hold back your tank volume (unless an unlikely event occurs causing both a failure of both the overflow and bulkhead).

 

[stinger]

sorry, i meant bottom drilled tank not bottom drain. i've got no overflow at all, just pvc pipes for the water to flow back to sump and from pump in the sump back up the tank. (total of 3, 1 for pump, the other 2 is for the tank to sump)
btw i've found out what the primer for...

 

[Anonymous]

i've got stupid question, why do you need pvc primer as well? i thought just the glue would do the trick

It cleans the pipe so the glue works better.

 

[PeeJ]

sorry, i meant bottom drilled tank not bottom drain. i've got no overflow at all, just pvc pipes for the water to flow back to sump and from pump in the sump back up the tank. (total of 3, 1 for pump, the other 2 is for the tank to sump)
btw i've found out what the primer for...

Plenty of folks have done it. It is too risky for me.

 

[spaulr]

The purple primer not only cleans the pipe, but it actually starts disolving it. Meaning, the pipe starts getting reallllly soft. So when you add the glue the glue isn't the only thing holding the pipe together. The pipes actually bond a bit.

 

[stinger]

ok gotcha. will try the pipework sometime this afternoon, i hope all goes well. cheers guys

 

[Anonymous]

You could glue a piece of pipe in the bulkhead that leads to your sump. and use it like an overflow.

I like the flexable tubing for plumbing. (depending on what size tank) you can make shorter direct runs with the tubing. If you use PVC you have to do everything in straight lines. Adding more pipe and more head pressure.

Hope this helps
B