Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I purchased several couplings to plumb all of my totes together. The problem I'm having is getting a tight fit on the threads. Have I just no tightened it enough or am I missing something?

Thread tape... lots of thread tape.

I thought about that...will that work?

Is the problem that you can't get the threads tightened enough to squeeze against the liner? If so, add some washers.

No, I'm trying to use the valve on the IBC tote to plumb the totes together. I'm using a fernco coupling as the threads on the IBC aren't standard plumbing thread, but the threads are not allowing me to tighten the coupling enough to prevent leakage. I think, from what I'm finding on the internet, that the teflon tape will work.

You might be able to get the ferncos to work with teflon tape but I'd suggest finding the correct threaded parts. The teflon will make things slide easier and if this pops apart it's going to be a catastrophic failure. Check at TSC or another farm supply store for fittings that match.

Mine leaked - I put silicon in the inside of the tap thread then screwed it on.

The tote recycler I bought my totes from had the couplers that fit... The people who use the totes regularly obviously have a source. They would not be able to properly use the totes otherwise.

Here's a recent post that shows the couplings necessary between the IBC outlet... to 50mm pressure pipe...

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16463&p=390045

In this case it was then used for an external SLO.... but could just as easily been used to connect two IBC outlets together...

I'm also going to be trying to plumb 4 IBCs together using the outlet valves. Mine seem to be much larger than 50 mm, I'm guessing around 85 mm. I'd like to keep the connecting pipe work as large as possible.
Any ideas?

My mother always said, it is not paranoia if they really are after you.

Hey Ron,

I know I'm already paranoid. I only suspect they might be after me. How would your mother deal with that? LOL.

She would find out if she was in fact being truly followed. There are little tricks you can do to verify. For instance, if you look at your wrist to see what time it is, someone who is watching you can not help but look at the time too. There does not even need to be a watch on your wrist. That works for women at bars too.

I picked up a couple of IBC's a while ago with damaged taps. I cut the whole tap off and found that 50mm PVC pipe was a good tight fit over the outlet of the IBC.

I put silicone on the joints and shoved the pipe on and have never had a problem.

Thanks Blind Freddie!

My outlets are definitely larger than 50mm so I'll have to estimate if another size of PVC pipe could achieve a similar outcome.

Cheers