Need advice, not so slow leak in sump

[christyf5]

24h it is then. Thanks for the quick reply!

Sadly Nanaimo isn't exactly a reefing friendly town for those sorts of things. If its not anything I have stocked up on at J&L or what I can find out of town and brought home, its not accessable without going the mail order route (and for one bulkhead, that ain't happening). The one spare bulkhead I have here isn't the right size, and I'm not interested in redoing my plumbing (another nightmare in this town..*sigh*).

[Myka]

What size do you need Christy?

Originally Posted by christyf5

Hey guys, I'm not sure whether to be ticked off or relieved or a bit embarassed.

Celebrate!!

Originally Posted by gregzz4

So, if it were me, I'd buy a new bulkhead and install it without any silicone

Me too. Bulkheads shouldn't have silicone on them to begin with.

[paddyob]

Silicon must be removed before fixing. For a reason I don't know, it just does not bond to the old silicon for a proper fix.


Don't putty it. As someone said, you might not sleep wondering if it is good enough.

Drain. Fix or replace. Fix is cheaper, but may take more time. I don't mess around. If its broke I replace. Period.

If its a mystery leak... Maybe the silicon is substandard. Maybe you will have another leak next week.

Know what I mean? How old is the sump?
Silicon breaks down over time like everything else.

[Lampshade]

As posted earlier, the Orca Reef Glue is amazing. I've used it on a few leaks, some very bad through different tanks and swear by that stuff now. I had my overflow separate from my tank and fixed it in water with the Orca glue and it's held for years now and can handle my overflow completely drained with full tank on the other side. I also fixed a sump leak that was really bad and that's been fine for a couple years now as well, without a drop leaking. It works right in the tank. It's is a bit ugly to work with and you'll have black fingers for a couple days, but it holds together GREAT. Would highly recommend for stuff like this were you need a quick fix before a replacement, but I've come to trust it enough to leave it as the main seal. It bonds to silicone it seems, and without cleaning I've had no problems. Much easier than draining, scraping, polishing and re applying silicone.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Lampshade

As posted earlier, the Orca Reef Glue is amazing.

That's what I used to fix my leak.

[christyf5]

well I've siliconed the bulkhead and will fill the sump later on. If its still leaking I'll replace the bulkhead. Theres nothing in town for bulkheads so I don't know where the hell I'm going to get one. Either that or I'll try to retrofit the one I have and see what I can do. The bulkhead I'm currently using is kind of flimsy anyways compared to the heavier duty (sch80?) ones. I suspect I bought it locally from a pet store or something as they always seem to carry cheaper ones.