Leaking Bulkhead Please HELP OMG!!!! SDKJNKalksdn@!#UY#BIDQKD AHHH

Just because you have used it does not make it right.
I stick by my statement and say no silicone.
37+ years in the business tops your 15!

 

If you can just pull the bulkhead out and put some silicone on both sides. Once you put the bulkhead back in the hole, before you put the nut on, put a bead of silicone where the bulkhead comes through the glass and smooth it with your finger so theres no small holes then put the nut back on. Let it dry for a day or two before you use it. Home depot sells aquarium silicone. If it holds an aquarium together it will fix a leaky bulkhead.

 

My question to all of you is why cobble something up with silicone when you can do it right the first time and not have to go back and repair your screw up later?

Take your time, do it once, and sleep soundly at night with no leaks and no nagging doubt in your mind, after all, most of us are in this for the long haul. My current system is 9+ years old, the previous one was 13 years old and neither ever leaked a drop. The ones previuos to that did not have overflows but did have canister filters and no silicone there either.

 

I was wondering why you shouldn't have a valve on the overflow side? I needed one, because the overflow drained faster than the pump could keep up with and the valve corrected the problem. my pump is a 770gph and the overflow is 800gph, slowing down the flow out of the overflow box made a big difference.

 

If your overflow was rated higher than your return pump, then it will only overflow as fast as your pump is pumping up. Think about it, the water has to come from somewhere. I made this mistake originally too and thought too much about the overflow, but you only have to worry about the return. My t-valve was just for maintenance.. incase I ever had to mess with the piping I could turn that valve and not worry about the occasional splatter of water falling down my overflow when I bumped it. Then I realized that it is way too hard to turn.. which is scary when the stuff you are putting all that pressure on is glass...holding 90 gallons of water.