200G IM EXT (First tank ever)

[UncommonSense]

My only gripe with IM's pre plumbing is that it doesn't really give a good explanation on how I will adjust the overflow, my guess its one of the valves but gonna have to see what I can find online for it! Hopefully filled completely tonight

The primary drain gate valve adjusts the water height in the overflow! — primary drain will be the lowest drain inside the overflow box!

 

[vittpsu21]

My only gripe with IM's pre plumbing is that it doesn't really give a good explanation on how I will adjust the overflow, my guess its one of the valves but gonna have to see what I can find online for it! Hopefully filled completely tonight

The primary drain gate valve adjusts the water height in the overflow! — primary drain will be the lowest drain inside the overflow box!

They only have one gate valve so I’m guessing it’s this one

 

[UncommonSense]

They only have one gate valve so I’m guessing it’s this one

Yup!

 

[vittpsu21]

Yup!

TY, was hoping it wasn't some manual thing in the back I wouldn't be able to reach lol! Hoping to be able to have it filled tonight and go grab some live rock to put in the sump. Big tank though takes a lot of water! Need to go get some power strips and some LEDS for in the sump also, I work in IT so I thought about using power bars from cages but not sure if they will be worth it or not, think I have a bunch of 1U ones laying around

 

[UncommonSense]

TY, was hoping it wasn't some manual thing in the back I wouldn't be able to reach lol! Hoping to be able to have it filled tonight and go grab some live rock to put in the sump. Big tank though takes a lot of water! Need to go get some power strips and some LEDS for in the sump also, I work in IT so I thought about using power bars from cages but not sure if they will be worth it or not, think I have a bunch of 1U ones laying around

As long as these power bars are rated for 15A of draw, I say go for it! Switchable power supplies are fantastic! — just be sure to label your switches!

 

[vittpsu21]

Well we are close, currently when I turn the return pump on the sump (which is sitting at 11 inches) barely runs dry before things come back down the overflow (though water did hit my overflow) so my guess here having never done this before is that I am just slightly off on total water volume in the display tank. That being said 11 inches in sump seems pretty high, but with the return pump off you have little control over this as water just flows back down

 

[vittpsu21]

 

[UncommonSense]

You’re having water from the display reverse directions and siphon back down the return line when the pump shuts off!

If the return nozzle sucks up enough air during this pump shutdown siphon, the siphon stops! — easiest way to do this is moving at least one return nozzle to be near or above the water’s surface!

 

[vittpsu21]

Makes sense! Figured this part out but I do have a slow drip / leak on the main overflow under the overflow box so trying to currently figure out if the oring or seal is not good. It only happens once the pressure gets going

Very slow drip but very hard to reach I drained the overflow and tried to reseat it but still got the same thing

 

[UncommonSense]

Makes sense! Figured this part out but I do have a slow drip / leak on the main overflow under the overflow box so trying to currently figure out if the oring or seal is not good. It only happens once the pressure gets going

Very slow drip but very hard to reach I drained the overflow and tried to reseat it but still got the same thing

This is likely from a bulkhead gasket on the overflow box! — there are several ways to fix this…

Is it possible to remove this bulkhead without cutting any plumbing?

 

[vittpsu21]

Makes sense! Figured this part out but I do have a slow drip / leak on the main overflow under the overflow box so trying to currently figure out if the oring or seal is not good. It only happens once the pressure gets going

Very slow drip but very hard to reach I drained the overflow and tried to reseat it but still got the same thing

This is likely from a bulkhead gasket on the overflow box! — there are several ways to fix this…

Is it possible to remove this bulkhead without cutting any plumbing?

Yeah I have it apart like this right now

I also just flipped the oring and tried to reseat it

 

[vittpsu21]

The problem is that this spot is soooo hard to reach lol but I’m wondering if reseating and then holding the bottom some how while I rescrew the top will work the top side looks to be good I’m fairly sure the drip is from the bottom side looks

 

[UncommonSense]

The problem is that this spot is soooo hard to reach lol but I’m wondering if reseating and then holding the bottom some how while I rescrew the top will work the top side looks to be good I’m fairly sure the drip is from the bottom side looks

So, I installed three of what I believe are the same bulkhead on a Fiji cube just last Friday; can you rotate the bottom of the bulkhead still? That works to tighten it many times!

Inspect both faces of the silicone gasket there for debris, ensure that it gets installed with grooves toward the glass… — wipe the area in the overflow box dry and clean before reinstallation too!

Get the bulkhead fitting started, then spin the bottom while pulling down and/or sticking a finger inside to push the top half of the bulkhead against the glass overflow box hole, creating friction and making it resist spinning with the bottom half…

You can tighten the bottom of the bulkhead with a tool up to 1/4 turn past hand tight, but this shouldn’t be strictly necessary for the bulkhead to seal! — hand tight is usually fine!

 

[vittpsu21]

The problem is that this spot is soooo hard to reach lol but I’m wondering if reseating and then holding the bottom some how while I rescrew the top will work the top side looks to be good I’m fairly sure the drip is from the bottom side looks

So, I installed three of what I believe are the same bulkhead on a Fiji cube just last Friday; can you rotate the bottom of the bulkhead still? That works to tighten it many times!

Inspect both faces of the silicone gasket there for debris, ensure that it gets installed with grooves toward the glass… — wipe the area in the overflow box dry and clean before reinstallation too!

Get the bulkhead fitting started, then spin the bottom while pulling down and/or sticking a finger inside to push the top half of the bulkhead against the glass overflow box hole, creating friction and making it resist spinning with the bottom half…

You can tighten the bottom of the bulkhead with a tool up to 1/4 turn past hand tight, but this shouldn’t be strictly necessary for the bulkhead to seal! — hand tight is usually fine!

So sadly the bottom is already glued on the pipe end so impossible to twist and the gaskets look good to me though I don’t know that I see a side with ridges on it like you mentioned

 

[UncommonSense]

So sadly the bottom is already glued on the pipe end so impossible to twist and the gaskets look good to me though I don’t know that I see a side with ridges on it like you mentioned

Hmm… interesting, so it is not identical to the ones I worked with recently, but very similar!

It does look like the flat silicone washer (aka gasket) has some sort of raised groove from your photos, but it is hard to tell! — if it does, ensure that it is facing towards the glass!

I’m also wondering if the downstream plumbing is affecting tightening of the bulkhead… is it possible to unscrew a union or two associated with the downstream piping glued to that bulkhead fitting so you get a bit more “play” in the plumbing when reinstalling the bulkhead?

 

[vittpsu21]

So sadly the bottom is already glued on the pipe end so impossible to twist and the gaskets look good to me though I don’t know that I see a side with ridges on it like you mentioned

Hmm… interesting, so it is not identical to the ones I worked with recently, but very similar!

It does look like the flash silicone washer (aka gasket) has some sort of raised groove from your photos, but it is hard to tell! — if it does, ensure that it is facing towards the glass!

I’m also wondering if the downstream plumbing is affecting tightening of the bulkhead… is it possible to unscrew a union or two associated with the downstream piping glued to that bulkhead fitting so you get a bit more “play” in the plumbing when reinstalling the bulkhead?

Yeah I’m wondering if this might not be the answer also tbh I just retightened again and about to turn the pump on to test. It just sucks because if it is leaking have resoak up everything in the overflow again before testing. It looks to me like both ends of the gasket have ridges fwiw

 

[UncommonSense]

Yeah I’m wondering if this might not be the answer also tbh I just retightened again and about to turn the pump on to test. It just sucks because if it is leaking have resoak up everything in the overflow again before testing. It looks to me like both ends of the gasket have ridges fwiw

Hmm… a wed/dry shop vacuum does work well to slurp the majority of the water out!

Both faces of the gasket having ridges is a good thing! — If you have any tools you feel comfortable getting into the overflow box, you can try the 1/4 turn past hand tight too!

 

[vittpsu21]

Yeah I’m wondering if this might not be the answer also tbh I just retightened again and about to turn the pump on to test. It just sucks because if it is leaking have resoak up everything in the overflow again before testing. It looks to me like both ends of the gasket have ridges fwiw

Hmm… a wed/dry shop vacuum does work well to slurp the majority of the water out!

Both faces of the gasket having ridges is a good thing! — If you have any tools you feel comfortable getting into the overflow box, you can try the 1/4 turn past hand tight too!

Yeah I might try that with the wrench

 

[UncommonSense]

Yeah I might try that with the wrench

Silicone o-ring lubricant also works well in many cases between gasket and glass; but I assumed you don’t have any on-hand, and can’t get it at this hour!

 

[vittpsu21]

Yeah I’m wondering if this might not be the answer also tbh I just retightened again and about to turn the pump on to test. It just sucks because if it is leaking have resoak up everything in the overflow again before testing. It looks to me like both ends of the gasket have ridges fwiw

Hmm… a wed/dry shop vacuum does work well to slurp the majority of the water out!

Both faces of the gasket having ridges is a good thing! — If you have any tools you feel comfortable getting into the overflow box, you can try the 1/4 turn past hand tight too!

Yeah I might try that with the wrench

Looks like I might have got it