Leaking bulkead solution?

[Dreadful]

Alright, so I'm still somewhat of a novice here.. but I tried something most people wouldnt and thats building my own custom sized aquarium.

Learned a lot since I started the project and I finally filled the thing up the other night and I fear there may have been a slight but crucial mistake during construction.

One of the bulkheads leaked a bit. I'm not sure if it was how I had the thing tightened down or if the hole drilled may be a bit too big. If I push the bulkhead all the way to one side as far as possible you CAN slightly see the hole that has been drilled. Also, underneith the plywood isn't exactly flat its all chipped.. but I dont see how that would be a problem

That being said.. IF this is the issue how can I fix short of draining the whole 100G display tank and disassembling and getting a whole new peice of glass..

I KNOW I cant just silicone it as it wont adhere properly to the bulkhead.

Here's what I'm thinking:
If I can cut a small square of some type of material (which the silicone WILL adhere to) larger than the hole and then drill out the proper sized hole in that.. then silicone the tits out of that against the glass.. then install the bulkhead normally over that peice.

Thoughts?

[babnika]

if you are looking for a bit larger diameter bulk head with a thicker gasket.
You may want to look at the schedule 80 bulk heads at bulk reef supply.

[Dreadful]

not sure if changing the bulkead size is going to work they're pretty standard arent they?

[Dreadful]

i really dont think i can get a drill in there at this point and not only that i'd also have to drill through the tile and the plywood then.. its not gonna happen haha

[babnika]

The schedule 80 bulk heads are a couple of mm larger diameter then the abs ones commonly used & have a larger thicker gasket mite be what your looking for ?
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhe...-thread-2.html

[Dreadful]

they look great but.. i need extra long thread fittings because i'm going through 3/4 plywood as well as 3/8 tile and 1/2 glass lol

[Azzkr]

Is it possible to drill a bigger hole and just use a larger bulkhead? That would be the easiest and make sure to have the proper hole for the new bulkhead

[spit.fire]

You said you live in an apartment right?

Thinks to look at

1. Tightening the bulkhead to both the glass and wood is asking for failure, wood expands when it gets wet and even from humidity in the air, if it expands it could potentially break the bulkhead causing a major leak or worst case crack the glass (I've done it before from over tightening bulkheads)

2. The time and money needed to fix the issue properly (drill a larger hole for a larger bulkhead and drill the stand out more) would be WAY cheaper than repairing flood damage, especially in an apartment.

3. This tank hasn't been set up for long, I'm guessing it isn't even cycled yet, way easier to do it now than have to do an emergency repair job while its fully stocked

[lastlight]

definitely agree about draining and doing it right. this isn't a minor detail.

[Dreadful]

now that i finally have some free time im going to give it one more go before i go to all that trouble and see what i can make happen WITHOUT silicone or any of that.

i think i may have made some newb mistakes when it came to hooking up the bulkheads the first time.. ie gluing all the pvc underneith without having them tightened properly. all fingers and toes crossed guys.. here goes!