Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Howdy from Southeast Texas,

I am in the planning stage and I hope to get a little help.

Does anybody know how to make a good, easy and cheap bulkhead fitting that will work on a plastic drum?

I am wanting to connect PVC to it close to the bottom. I am afraid of making one that will leak and kill my fish while away.

I am setting up a small test system with a 20 gal. (75 liter) aquarium and a plastic tub I will mount above it. If it don't look too trashy, I will post a few pics.

Thanks,

Johnny MAX!
www.BrewCrAzY.com
The podcast for those of us who Brew Our Own Damn BEER!

Hey, Jonnymax! Welcome aboard!

I would suggest uniseals http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/. They seem to work really well and are darned easy and are far cheaper than standard bulkhead fittings. The limitations are that they really only work well with containers that have a 1/6" to 1/4" (maybe 3/8"?) wall. I've made up some bulkhead fittings with male and female threaded pvc and some big washers (made with hole saws and some scrap blue barrel) and some aquarium silicone and they have worked quite well, too.

If it's thin walled and flat, you can use electrical conduit fittings that they sell Home Depot or Lowes. Get the gray ones from the electrical dept since they are a straight thread. The white ones from plumbing are a tapered thread and you can't always tighten them down all the way.

The male would looks like this: . (Image stolen from McMaster.com ) I use the 1/2" fittings, but there are several sizes larger.

Also get a small tub of plummer's putty.... I bought one for 99 cents about 5 years ago....still have 99% of it left! The 2 fittings will probably cost another dollar.

Drill a hole barely bigger than the male threads in the bottom of your container. Make a small ring with the plummer's putty and stick it to the male adapter where the threads end in the middle. This will act as a seal. Put the adapter in your container so that the threads are sticking down through the hole. Tighten the female connector on the threads. Some of the putty will oose out...just remove it.

If you need a hole larger than an inch, I would recommend a realy bulkhead fitting or the uniseal.....

Enjoy!

I bought the electrical fittings and I will try to install them today.
I am going to try to make a silicon gasket, it is a trick I learned years ago to seal deck fittings.

1) Put a good thick even bead of silicon between the fitting and the tank wall.
2) Insert the fitting, but do not push it all the way in, stop it about 1/8" away allowing an 1/8" of silicon to remain between the fitting and the wall.
3) Let it dry completely.
4) You can then tighten it up and the silicon will have hardened forming a gasket.

I will keep you posted,

Johnny Max
www.BrewCrAzY.com
The Podcast for those of us who Brew Our Own Damn BEER!