SaraB's 268 Gallon Build¦ Try #3!

Spent some time fixing some minor leaks over the past week. They all were at threaded fittings and also on my bulkheads on the surges. Ended up ordering new gaskets from Savko for the bulkheads and that fixed the issues with those. Added more tape on some of the fittings and also tried the TFE Paste on others. I've pretty much given up on the leak on the return coming out of my Super Dart. I'm hoping salt creep will solve that one!

I had a crew over yesterday and another 1-1/2" drain hole was drilled into the 75G fuge since I was not happy with the water level with only a 1" drain. It's draining a whole lot better now with both holes.

We also cut out the 2" manifold and went with a new 3" one. I was moving more water than I wanted out of the emergency lines along with the secondary drain, so it made sense to upgrade now to be safe than sorry down the road.

I'm also in the process of adding a 300G bag of Tropic Marin salt tonight to help seal up that dreaded slow leak. My hubby suggested Friday night at dinner that the tank would make a nice rabbit hutch ... I was seriously considering it after this week!

Tomorrow is 1 year since the second tank cracked, so I'm pleased to have saltwater running 364 days later!

I'll post some new photos tomorrow of the changes that were made this weekend.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13944555#post13944555 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mpoletti
Congrats Sara. Welcome back to the world of insanity :p
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Thanks Mark ... I'm about to lose my mind! I'm just really thankful for helpful friends in the hobby!

And silly me, I'm going to be sending a deposit this week on a new shallow look-down tank to replace my 92G corner tank. That tank can be a nightmare to work in, so I'm actually looking forward to that change-out!
 
And silly me, I'm going to be sending a deposit this week on a new shallow look-down tank to replace my 92G corner tank. That tank can be a nightmare to work in, so I'm actually looking forward to that change-out! [/B]
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Now that's ambition! After setting up a new tank and battling leaks, the last thing I would want to be thinking about would be starting all over again setting up another one.

As far as the threaded fittings, what about using silicon on the threads instead of Teflon tape. It would make it harder to ever get the threaded fitting off, but if you gooped it up before threading it together, you would be pretty much guaranteed of not having a leak.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13946098#post13946098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ryan009
As far as the threaded fittings, what about using silicon on the threads instead of Teflon tape. It would make it harder to ever get the threaded fitting off, but if you gooped it up before threading it together, you would be pretty much guaranteed of not having a leak.
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I'll try that next on the last leak if salt creep does not do the job!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13946098#post13946098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ryan009
Now that's ambition! After setting up a new tank and battling leaks, the last thing I would want to be thinking about would be starting all over again setting up another one.

As far as the threaded fittings, what about using silicon on the threads instead of Teflon tape. It would make it harder to ever get the threaded fitting off, but if you gooped it up before threading it together, you would be pretty much guaranteed of not having a leak.
Click to expand...
I use teflon tape and silicone on all threaded fittings. They are not hard to disassemble when necessary.
 
Silicone, to me, is a lubricant. You apply silicone to the threads then wrap tape? Or wrap the tape and then apply silicone? Or are you using tape and applying silicone based sealant to basically glue the joint? If so, is it the presence of the tape that allows you to remove the fitting? This connection is into the pump housing and I think the problem is that the fiberglass-based housing threads and the PVC threads don't match up very well. We've tried 4 or 5 layers of tape and that leaked, then tried a thick PVC pipe joint compound, without tape, and that leaked. The leak is very slow, but it's at the exit fitting from the main drive pump at the bottom of all of the water and it would be real nice if that thing was dry.

Thanks for your help/suggestions,
Gary
 
I don't have personal experience (yet), but I was speaking with an LFS owner up an Minneapolis and he is the one who suggested to me that I should use the Aquarium Silicon instead of the teflon tape.

He said the advantage is that you don't have to crank the fitting down as tight. You basically stop threading the fitting whenever you want and the silicon caulk would seal the fitting wherever it is at.

In his opinion, teflon WILL leak over time (I disagree with that) but that the silicon, if done properly, was guaranteed not to leak. His only warning was that it made the fittings more difficult (but not impossible) to remove later on.

Silicon AND teflon is an interesting idea.
 
Thanks for the feedback and good to see you refer to silicon, as opposed to silicone, which is a lubricant. I was very confused by that. So you're basically talking about applying aquarium seam/sealant caulk to a plumbing fitting?
Gary
 
I've used silicone lubricant and tape on threaded fittings before with great success. I've never used silicon sealant on threaded fittings. To the best of my knowledge, silicon doesn't stick to plastic so eventually it just peels off and you're back to leaky plumbing. :( I used to think it did until I got an MTC PROCAL reactor and peeled the old silicon off of the pipe after it leaked all over my tank stand!

Here's what I normally use for threaded fittings. This and a little tape works wonders. Just make sure you're putting the tape on the right way. I used to make that mistake all the time. :lol:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...ROD&Product_Code=LG-ARP172036X&Category_Code=
 
Seems like an odd combination, but all previous attempts have sucked and you folks have infinitely more knowledge and experience. We'll give it a whirl tomorrow night. Thanks to all for the help. Watch this space for future reports of leak stoppage.
Gary
 
Sounds good Gary, we will move on to the possible fix!

Anyone know how to remove TFE Paste? That will be the next fun task!
 
Is there any possibility that you have a piece of plumbing with some bad threads? It could be that one of the sides is defective and it's going to leak no matter what. I know it's a PITA but have you considered just changing out the couplers and such? (If possible)
 
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