Let's build a trap door leading to a secret fish room under my porch!

[kenchilada]

I have never had good luck with uniseals, they always seem to leak. Even if it's not right away, they all eventually end up leaking.

Schedule 80 bulkheads have a thick enough gasket to "smoosh" into not flat surfaces.

At my previous house I had two installed in barrels that never leaked a drop in 8 years. They usually do fine for me and I've probably used a couple dozen of them over the decades. I was really surprised it leaked!

 

[Dierks]

Holy crap Ken that is wild!! You never contacted me...

They acclimated well, were doing great, schooling and eating fine, and on the third day I started noticing large red blotches, internally, affecting more than half of their body.

Do you have pictures?! I would love to see what you saw.

 

[kenchilada]

Holy crap Ken that is wild!! You never contacted me...

I was too disgusted and realized there was nothing I could do. I was going to try food soaking but the effected fish immediately stopped eating.

I tried to get pictures but they are not very good. The camera would only capture the darkest areas, so if you see a blotch there are 50% more not visible in the pictures.

Sick fish would have closed fins, if they did come out they would hover in the top corner, distressed breathing.

These are from 5/9:

As it got worse they got easier to see… these are 5/12, 5/14

After it covered 50% of their body for a day or so they would then hide constantly and disappeared one by one. Never saw a dead fish.

Never any external symptoms other than behavioral changes.

 

[kenchilada]

Day 33. Removed uniseal and put in a bulkhead. I was able to do this without taking the tank out. I fished a piece of RODI tubing up the hole and slid the bulkhead down into place, then pulled out through. Haven’t leak tested yet but will tomorrow.

Need to clean up but it looks really cool down here at night!!

 

[Dierks]

I was too disgusted and realized there was nothing I could do. I was going to try food soaking but the effected fish immediately stopped eating.

I tried to get pictures but they are not very good. The camera would only capture the darkest areas, so if you see a blotch there are 50% more not visible in the pictures.

Sick fish would have closed fins, if they did come out they would hover in the top corner, distressed breathing.

These are from 5/9:

As it got worse they got easier to see… these are 5/12, 5/14

After it covered 50% of their body for a day or so they would then hide constantly and disappeared one by one. Never saw a dead fish.

Never any external symptoms other than behavioral changes.

Well please send me a message, let me get you taken care of. It kinda looks like bruising...

We can come up with a plan to introduce any new fish from us as well if you like. I am happy to work with you to get the fish you want into your system. What a bummer that was the outcome but I am glad it doesn't look like uronema outside of the general description as you said.

 

[kenchilada]

Day 34.

Bulkhead worked. Leak seems fixed now.

I ran all the 1/4” RODI tubing under the house. All the tubing is run in 3/4" PVC pipe. I should NOT need to get under the house again!!

I cut a 2-gang hole in the wall for the tubing to pass through. I have plans to make this look nice. Waiting on some parts from Amazon.

Here’s all the tubing…

Then three of the lines come out inside my tank cabinet. When I put the tank in I put this access door in and also a 1.5” pipe going through the floor into the crawlspace. This is so I can easily pull tubing or wire through!! Really came in handy today. I’ll cap it later.

The gray plug is for my Stenner pumps. It will patch them though to Hydros as if I ran a long extension cord.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

it's looking great, your a good carpenter that's for sure.

 

[kenchilada]

it's looking great, your a good carpenter that's for sure.

Thanks! I'm not great at it, I just have lots of tools and many years of mistakes behind me.

 

[kenchilada]

Making a thing... wonder what this is for...?

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Making a thing... wonder what this is for...?

waterline Access cover?

 

[JGT]

Looks like a Lego

 

[kenchilada]

waterline Access cover?

Yes sir!

 

[kenchilada]

 

[JGT]

You’ve got some serious toolage.

 

[kenchilada]

 

[kenchilada]

Day 35.

The bulkhead is leaking very slowly. Maybe a spot the size of a silver dollar each 24 hours. I still have to fix it though. Never had so many problems with a leak like this.

Waiting on some parts so I worked on random things like making this wall plate for 1/4” bulkheads.

I will also be making a set for Hydros GX12 connectors. I’ll share all the files for this stuff in the 3D print thread after.

 

[Mschmidt]

Thanks! I'm not great at it, I just have lots of tools and many years of mistakes behind me.

The math checks out.

 

[kenchilada]

Printing a batch of tube holders and brackets while I’m at work.

 

[Projects with Sam]

Printing a batch of tube holders and brackets while I’m at work.

you may want to look into a PEI springsteel build surface; They're pretty inexpensive and they're transformative.

 

[kenchilada]

you may want to look into a PEI springsteel build surface; They're pretty inexpensive and they're transformative.

Thanks never seen those. I’m pretty bad at 3D printing, not really into it. I wish I had a cutter for sheet metal though!

The tape is just because I’m trying PETG, which probably isn’t going to end well.