Finally fixed all the leaks!

AZBigJohn

Usually confused...
This may have been the most physically and emotionally trying week of my life!

I finally have the new tank up and running! :bounce2::celeb3:

Any tank I get in the future will have center overflows, no matter what looks better, works better in the room, or whatever! This tank is a six foot long bow front with corner overflows, and I have been fighting leaks for the past week. Luckily I leak-tested with plain water, because I had to drain and fill it completely twice, completely re-plumb and re-bulkhead it, and it took a grand total of five repairs before I have got it running without a single leak.

The leaks all were in the area where the PVC interfaced with the bulkheads, and everytime I fixed one leak, I seemed to cause a second one:angryfire:. One repair resulted in cracking a bulkhead, which resulted in the complete teardown and "re-bulkheading" a couple days ago. Every repair involved getting my 6'4" body on the floor, contorted into the stand, trying to reach into the back corner of the stand. I have gashes in my bald head, bruises on my knees, cuts in my hands and very little gas left in my (body's) tank!

So now the real fun begins. The salt water is in the tank, the sand, rock and live rock is in the tank, and once it hits temp, a couple of uncooked shrimp will hit the tank as well.

I took some pictures, and, once the water clears a little will take a "final" picture to post a build thread later tonight.

Let the cycle begin!
 
Definitely sounds like a trying week. I am sure it will be smooth sailing from here. Looking forward to your build thread.
 
I can sooo identify with you. I had a very similar experience recently with my build that culminated with a cracked fuge that was filled with water. I still have the scars on my hands from a month ago.
 
I am glad its up an running. One thing I will never do again is use a bulkhead with a threaded out put. On my old 125 I never really fixed the problem until I replaced them with a slip version and glued everything together.
 
I am glad its up an running. One thing I will never do again is use a bulkhead with a threaded out put. On my old 125 I never really fixed the problem until I replaced them with a slip version and glued everything together.

What do you use to glue the slip into the bulkhead with? That was one of my challenges! I switched to slipped bulkheads, and when I glued the pipe in, the bulkhead melted out. I wasn't using "hot" glue, but "medium" PVC glue. So I went back to threaded... And more teflon tape than I've ever used on a project before...
 
First, you shouldn't be using Teflon tape on pvc threads. Use the paste which is also a sealer. Second, there is a specific PVC cement that is used when going from PVC to ABS. Home Depot has it.
 
What do you use to glue the slip into the bulkhead with? That was one of my challenges! I switched to slipped bulkheads, and when I glued the pipe in, the bulkhead melted out. I wasn't using "hot" glue, but "medium" PVC glue. So I went back to threaded... And more teflon tape than I've ever used on a project before...

Christy's red hot will do the job.
 
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