Leaking Bulkhead

[dhardy]

I have a 90 gal reef tank with two bulkheads for return water from the sump.
The PVC piping running through the bulkhead was bumped from underneath and
the bulkheads both started leaking. The normal thing to do would be to try
and tighten the bullkhead nut from underneath, but because of the cabinet
design it is essentially inaccessible. An application of silicone almost
completely stopped the leak on one of the two bulkheads, but in trying to
complete the repair, the silicone refused to stick to the glass on the floor
of the tank (I need it to adhere to both the plastic of the bulkhead and the
glass of the tank).

Bottom line is that because I can't get it to stick where I need it, the
silicone is not doing the job of sealing the leak, so I'm wondering if there
is another material I can use. It needs to cure underwater, be nontoxic to
the fish and corals, and (ideally) be spreadable with my finger. Does
anyone have a suggestion on what to try?

Thanks in advance, Doug

[Wayne Sallee]

Don't use silcone ! it will bond to the glass,and make
proper seals hard to get.

Is your plumbing underneath glued to the bulkhead?
I always recommend using bulkheads with screw in threads
on both ends so that pipes can be easily screwed in and
out for work on.

If your plumbing is screwed in, then turn off the water,
and unscrew the plumbing, or disconnect it from the pump.

Now since you are not able to get to the nut to tighten
it, the trick is to turn the bulkhead to tighten the
fitting, instead of tightening the nut like you would
normally do. You might use plumbing inserted into the
bulkhead to give you access to turning the bulkhead.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



dhardy wrote on 1/2/2007 10:59 PM:
> I have a 90 gal reef tank with two bulkheads for return water from the sump.
> The PVC piping running through the bulkhead was bumped from underneath and
> the bulkheads both started leaking. The normal thing to do would be to try
> and tighten the bullkhead nut from underneath, but because of the cabinet
> design it is essentially inaccessible. An application of silicone almost
> completely stopped the leak on one of the two bulkheads, but in trying to
> complete the repair, the silicone refused to stick to the glass on the floor
> of the tank (I need it to adhere to both the plastic of the bulkhead and the
> glass of the tank).
>
> Bottom line is that because I can't get it to stick where I need it, the
> silicone is not doing the job of sealing the leak, so I'm wondering if there
> is another material I can use. It needs to cure underwater, be nontoxic to
> the fish and corals, and (ideally) be spreadable with my finger. Does
> anyone have a suggestion on what to try?
>
> Thanks in advance, Doug
>
>

[KurtG]

dhardy wrote:
> Bottom line is that because I can't get it to stick where I need it, the
> silicone is not doing the job of sealing the leak, so I'm wondering if there
> is another material I can use. It needs to cure underwater, be nontoxic to
> the fish and corals, and (ideally) be spreadable with my finger. Does
> anyone have a suggestion on what to try?

If you do get it to seal, it won't last long because the silicon is on
the outside and not the inside of the seal. The water pressure will
eventually break the the seal.

I'd schedule some time to break down the tank and get this fixed. Don't
forget a leak test before putting everything back together. Sorry.

I like plumbing paste to get a good seal and stand up to bumps. It's
safe for drinking water, so I assume it's safe for an aquarium. YMMV,
but just a dab will go along way.

--Kurt