Plumbing HELP

[thanhjenn]

I'm trying to put together a closed loop for my 135 gal at base of tank. I'm using mainly pvc flex to run the plumbing as i'm not very good with plumbing. When i run the flex to the bulkhead, there seem to be a lot of stress to the bulkhead causing leaks. Where the bulk heads are, there are little space. I tried to tighten as much I could by hand. Any suggestion with tools to tighten, or should i silicone the bulkheads? Thanks for reading.

thanh

[psteeleb]

silicone wont help much and may even cause more problems by creating an uneven seal

the standard bulkheads don't deal with much pressure, even the threads pop (or slip) if tightened to much. Consider replacing the bulkheads with heavy duty ones. They are usually grey (not black) have much better thread engagement, heavier body and can take a lot more tension and thread tightening. Only drawback is a sllight cost increase and they are a larger diameter then the standard, this may require going down a size to fit the hole in the tank.

[jmking33]

+1 get the heavy duty ones. Ive had the "cheaper" ones and ended up with leaks.