Help! Bulkhead leaking and vacation tomorrow!

[Harrison Gordon]

Hi,
So today I had my LFS drill two holes in my tank for my Modular Marine overflow. Now, I think the holes are fine--they are definitely chipped a little around the edges, but nothing major. I just filled up my tank, and noticed a quick drip coming from the left bulkhead--too fast to fix itself, but not a spray or anything like that. With this I had the gaskets inside of the tank. I tried tightening the nuts more, but nothing changed. I loosened them, and nothing changed.
So I drained the tank below the holes, and put the gaskets on the outside of the tank between the box and the glass (this is what the instructions said, although the LFS said not to do it that way). I filled the tank up and, nothing changed. Still a slow drip (not that slow, though).

Well, normally I would say ok, try a few more things like silicone on the gaskets, and if that didn't work, call the LFS in the morning. HOWEVER, I leave tomorrow morning for a trip! Well, right now my fish are in a bucket, and I don't intend to keep them there all weekend. So I guess I can put them into the tank, but with out any filtration. And there is new sand too, so the water is absolutely gross--something that was going to be quickly fixed b y my filtration.

Any quick ideas to keep it running for the next few days? Silicone will take too long. I do have silicone grease, though, a lubricant I used on the uni-seals. Could that work? Thanks!

 

[Nate77]

Are you over tightening the nuts? Definitely would not leave with out any filtration.
What was you filtration before you had tank drilled? You said water is absolutely gross and new sand. Is tank cycled?

 

[Harrison Gordon]

Tanks been running since march. Yeah I tightened the nuts in all different ways to all different degrees. Before the tank was drilled I used a HOB overflow box.

New sand is because I redid aquas cape today when the holes were drilled and added more sand. But it leaves all that residue in the water and I don't want my fish swimming in that.

Yes, I did clean the glass where the gasket goes. I can clean again and try again, but I don't know if it will make a difference.

Might silicone grease be a good idea?

 

[JoshH]

Do you have a picture of the overflow installed atall?? As well as a picture of the holes that were drilled if possible? I find it interesting your LFS would advise you against Modular Marines installation instructions the gasket between the tank and the external overflow box is crucial and not optional. Ideally you have two sets of gaskets, one between the bulkhead flange and the inside of the tank and the other between the tank and the overflow box itself.

 

[Harrison Gordon]

 

[JoshH]

Do you have two sets of gaskets?

 

[leahfiish]

another set of gaskets would probably fix it

 

[Harrison Gordon]

It only comes with one gasket per bulkhead. It says put between tank and exterior box.

First time the LFS put the gaskets on the inside of the tank where the bulkhead flanges are. It leaked.
Second time I put the gaskets where the instructions say they should be, on the outside. It leaked.
Third time I tried the gaskets on the inside again, and it leaked.

Each of these tries, I tested at different tightnesses of the nuts. Each time, a looser nut meant more dripping.

The third time I actually tried running the filtration, and while the filtration worked, the dripping did not stop.

I will look at the BRS bulkhead gaskets that I've read about. Hopefully adding a second set of gaskets fixes it.

I set up my quarantine and put all the fish and corals in there for now--hope they all make it. No light for the corals, and the filtration is sucky at best. Wish me luck and I'd love to hear more ideas as I wait to get parts and troubleshoot!

Ahhhhhhh..........my 20 hour day of aquatic nightmares is finally over! This thread was only one of the problems I encountered today..........

 

[leahfiish]

Mine leaked like 1 drop per week with 1 gasket and eventually stopped but I have seen people use extra gaskets to fix the issue.

 

[Coralfuture]

I know my local menards and home depot have a make your own gasket kit if your in a real pinch its a 100% rubber gasket kit probably like 5-7$? Idk but I have used in past and it worked great in a pinch

 

[Harrison Gordon]

Ive heard about that on other threads--if BRS won't ship soon enough thats what ill probably end up doing.

 

[Redleg]

my local ace hardware has gaskets in stock. check out your local hardware store you may be surprised what they hay in all those small bins in the plumbing section. Lowes, Home Depot or a local farm and garden store may also have them.

 

[Harrison Gordon]

Fixed it for now!
Got four more gaskets: two regular and two DIY, so I put the regular ones on the inside of the tank and behind the nuts, and the DIY ones between the tank and the box. Hopefully it holds up!

 

[Harrison Gordon]

I actually found that the water was coming from a hairline chip running from the drill hole to beyond the washer, where water inevitably seeped out of.

 

[Rcpilot]

So now what? If it's cracked -- only gonna get worse. I'd be sick. This is awful.

So sorry this is happening to you.

 

[TheEngineer]

I actually found that the water was coming from a hairline chip running from the drill hole to beyond the washer, where water inevitably seeped out of.

A chip or a crack? A chip is no big deal. A crack and the tank is toast.

 

[Harrison Gordon]

It is a chip, nothing to worry about! Like frosted glass.

 

[lapin]

So everyone take note: Do not get your cars oil changed the day before you take it on a road trip.

 

[Harrison Gordon]

Yeah definitely couldve had a worse ending.
Well I wanted to do it a month before but something came up. I felt it quite necessary to get it done before vacation because the current setup was very delicate and unreliable. It would've been too easy for it to send 30gal of my tanks water somewhere on my floor.

But yes I do recommend to people in future not to do big projects right before a vacation.

 

[vetteguy53081]

As I had two others do with success...... Get water level below bulkheads and apply aquarium sealant all theway around on inside and outside. It will be a permanent NON-TOXIC fix and easy to scrape away if you ever have to remove bulkheads