need help with a bulkhead problem

[B.rian]

so my problem is that i have a bulkhead built into the black overflow of my 125g rr tank. it is probably 5 inches off of the sand bed. the bulkhead doesn't make a perfect fit with the body of the overflow, and water will leak through to the other side of it. so constantly there is a small water flow going to my sump, even when my return is not on. i am very worried about a power outage occurring when i am not around, and thus a rather large flood in my apartment. the only thing i could come up with to fix it is draining my main display down past the bulkhead and siliconing it. the problem with that is that i have 3 fish, 1 zebra moray eel, and about 120 lbs of lr in the tank. does anyone have any suggestions as to how i can fix this problem? thanks everyone.

 

[wrassefan]

drain it and fix the problem....sounds like you need a new bulkhead or at the least a new gasket

 

[dedfish]

I'm a bit confused as to exactly where the bulkhead is. Is it through the back glass or just through the internal overflow box? Can you remove the bulhead underwater and not have water come draining out of your tank?

 

[B.rian]

basically the bulkhead is through the overflow box, not the glass. i have tried to stop flow through the bulkhead by capping it with pvc, but water still leaks through the seal that the bulkhead is supposed to make with the overflow. i am afraid that i am going to have to drain it, but i don't want to. catching the fish and removing the LR is going to be a serious pain.

 

[joefitz]

Well, I think all you need to do is add a standpipe to the overflow (which should also make it a heck of a lot quieter than it is now)...

If I'm understanding you properly, the leak is between the main tank and the overflow compartment. A standpipe is basically a tube that connects to your drain on the bottom of the overflow and it sticks straight up to maybe an inch or two below the waterline of your tank waterline. The result of this is that the overflow waterline will now only be an inch or two below the main tank waterline, thus reducing the "waterfall" effect since the overflow will be almost completely filled with water the whole time.

Well, that's what I'd recommend. There are tricks to making the standpipe completely silent too so you may want to look into that... Search for stockman standpipe on RC although there are several other options as well.

 

[NateHanson]

I'll second Joe on this one (like he needs it). A leaking overflow isn't a problem, as long as the overflow water level is maintained near the top of the tank with a standpipe.

If you put in a standpipe, or close your drain line temporarily, you should also be able to remove and replace that bulkhead through the overflow without draining the tank.

 

[denvig]

basically the bulkhead is through the overflow box, not the glass. i have tried to stop flow through the bulkhead by capping it with pvc, but water still leaks through the seal that the bulkhead is supposed to make with the overflow. i am afraid that i am going to have to drain it, but i don't want to. catching the fish and removing the LR is going to be a serious pain.

Why is there a bulkhead through an overflow box?? This is very confusing. Do you have a photo of this that you can post?

 

[dedfish]

Only reason I can think of is sometimes people plumb returns through the side of the overflow box. But if that was the case then you'd think it would be easy enough to replace with a new one or at least a new gasket.

 

[denvig]

Only reason I can think of is sometimes people plumb returns through the side of the overflow box. But if that was the case then you'd think it would be easy enough to replace with a new one or at least a new gasket.

If this were the case and his return pump stopped he would back siphon down to that level and a leaky gasket wouldn?t matter.

 

[B.rian]

thanks for the advice. i do have durso standpipes on both overflows. water seems to leak around the rubber seal that should be made with the wall of the overflow. the water just flows down into the sump slowly, but continually. will the water levels eventually even out, that of the overflow and the tank, if the power goes out, with minimal flooding? should i just drain it and silicone the bulkhead?

 

[B.rian]

oh yeah, i did not buy this tank new, so i do not know the purpose of this bulkhead.

 

[wrassefan]

I was understanding your issue to be a bulkhead with a a standpipe glued into it in your overflow....since it won't stop leaking, I figure you should replace it ...if I was mistaken, then please ignore the advise

 

[joefitz]

Ok, now I'm a bit confused. How long have you let it drain after power has been shut off? If you are correct, and the bulkhead between the overflow and the main tank is the only thing leaking, then you shouldn't have a problem. The tank will only drain until the top of the durso is no longer submerged; it may be lower than your overflow, but it won't go further than the height that water enters your durso.

On the other hand, if you have a leak in your durso plubming, especially one towards the bottom of it, then these two leaks combined could cause the main tank to drain until it reaches the level of the overflow bulkhead level. In this case, you need to fix either of these leaks although not necessarily both.

I suspect the durso plumbing you have is actually the problem leak. I would try to find and repair that leak. If the durso is not leaking then water from the tank and overflow area will never drain below the level where water enters the top of the durso standpipe.

The overflow leak is really not a problem in and of itself.

Also, Dennis, I have four holes drilled in my overflow wall to my main tank. These are all returns at the moment (well, at the moment my tank is empty but that is what I used to use them for). They do not back-siphon on power-loss because they are plumbed together with other returns that are above the water line so the siphon is broken immediately by the air coming in from those returns... If you do use such a setup for a return though, you do have to set it up so to prevent a back-siphon or you are in for some big trouble.

 

[denvig]

I am still very confused. I am not sure of what you are calling a bulkhead and what you are calling an overflow. If there were a leak along the silicone joint between the overflow box and the glass this would only let water into the overflow box area not into your sump. The only way the water gets into your sump is to rise in your overflow box to the level of the standpipe. Then the water fowls over this standpipe and down to the sump. If power goes out the level in the tank would only drop to the level of the standpipe overflow or the level of the return pump outlet in the tank. (Whichever is lower). At this point (Providing there is a leak at the silicone joint) the level in the tank and in the overflow box would become the same. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[B.rian]

thanks for the advice everyone, and sorry about all the confusion. there is not a problem with the standpipe. my main concern is that my 20g sump can not handle the extra inch of water that may overflow in a power outage. tonight when i go home i am going to drain my sump as much as possible and let the overflow drain as much as it needs. i am going to see what happens and how many inches the water rises in the sump area. if the water overflows too much, i will add 2 or so inches to the pvc that makes up the standpipe, so that the water level in the overflow is raised. thanks.

 

[wrassefan]

include some pics so we know what you are talking about

 

[JohnK]

Is the overflow curved (like older AGA corner ones) where the bulkhead goes through? If so I think that someone makes bulkheads designed for round barrels that have a curved flange instead of a flat one (maybe usplastics.com or scavco sp?).

Otherwise you could also try removing the bulkhead and replacing the gasket with a thicker one to see if that stops the leak. You can get red uncut gasket material at HD or lowes in the plumbing section. I'm not totally confident that that would work but it would probablly be worth a try (before shutting off the pump, pull the standpipe and put a short peice of PVC with a cap on top to keep the overflow from draining, then stop the pump quick, if you need the space to get your hand in there to take the bulkhead out).

Also if the overflow box is one of those (stupid) aga dual wall designs that may be part of the problem. If there are dual plastic walls with the flange on one and the plastic nut on the other then you have a space between that would probablly prevent you from ever really being able to tighten the bulkhead. If this is the case you might just be stuck?

Like others said, a pic would make this a lot easier to understand.

jk

 

[MikeG]

If it is the overflow design with 2 layers of plastic, then you need a gasket on the inside and outside to keep it water tight.

 

[B.rian]

does anyone happen to know how to loosen a bulkhead? i am trying to remove it without draining the tank. i can not get the piece that screws on to budge. i can turn the entire bulkhead, but i can not budge that piece. i know it is not siliconed in or anything, because i had it off before i filled the tank. suggestions?

 

[jacqur]

There is the source of your leak. If you can't turn the back-up nut but you can turn the whole bulkhead, the nut isn't on tight enough to get a good seal with the gasket on the wet side. Perhaps you got some sand on the threads or something when you put it on?

There really isn't any secret to removing it, just need to put some muscle into it, lefty loosy - righty....you know the rest.

Good Luck.