I got my 125 in place and started filling it, when I heard a strange pitter patter. I opened up the cabinet to find water EVERYWHERE! As it turns out, where it's pre-drilled, the fitting had come loose. I tightened it down and the leak stopped, but I don't know how much I should tighten it down to prevent it from happening again. I cleared all the sand that was in there from the area and wobbled it around to make sure none was between the rubber seal and the glass, first.

My question is, how tight should I tighten it down? It's plastic, and I don't want to strip the threads, because that would be bad. But I want to sure that there's a good seal on it so it doesn't have even a slow leak. Can anyone advise?

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125gal - 10" bala, 10" irridescent, 6 gourami's, 2 blood parrots, 1 common pleco, 1 Blue Lobster, & 1 Morimo Ball - Rena XP3
75gal - 5 balas, 2 firemouths, 2 albino oscars, 1 common pleco, 6" firemouth - Rena XP3

I don't have a 125 but I know about fittings and fastners. I was a quality assurance inspector for nuclear submarine repair, years ago. Plastic fittings should be hand tight. Keep in mind, that's MY hand (old mechanic) which makes it pretty tight. If you used all the strength in you hand and fingers and it is not leaking, it is not likely to leak again. I would never use tools, ie adjustable wrench, on plastic fittings as it is too easy to apply too much torque. The exception to that is very small ones which cannot be gripped by human fingers. Then, I would be very, very careful and once I felt the fastner tighten, I would not go much past that point.

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.

My hands are pretty tight, my problem is it's up in the corner, very awkward position for me to be grabbing to be able to get a good hold, as the bulkhead is about 1/2" from both the back and side wall, and the plastic piece to grab is now a) wet and b) about 1/8" tall, on top of being in corner. I finger tightened it but it was still wobbly(didn't slide very smoothly on plastic to be able to get it up closer) and dripping, so I got my biggest cressant wrench and layed it on the top piece in the top and went under and used my biggest channel locks and gently gave it about 1/4 turn past where I could tighten it with my fingers (which had impaired grabbing ability to be able to get as tight as they should have), and hte leak stopped. I just wanted to make sure it shouldn't go a bit more, or a bit less. And the leak didn't start until I was 1/4 full, so it was fine all that time. It has a donut gasket on it, and it's soft, so it crushes as it's tightened, i guess to give generous ability to over-torque without causing damage, but I'm not sure.

I appreciate your insight, I don't deal with plastic pipe very much, typically metal.

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125gal - 10" bala, 10" irridescent, 6 gourami's, 2 blood parrots, 1 common pleco, 1 Blue Lobster, & 1 Morimo Ball - Rena XP3
75gal - 5 balas, 2 firemouths, 2 albino oscars, 1 common pleco, 6" firemouth - Rena XP3

Yeah, I had not considered the cramped space and having worked on submarines I should have! Nothing I've ever encounter since has been as crowded and cramped as that. Well, maybe the right rear spark plug on a Mustang GT. (Losen motor mount, jack engine over, change plug!)

You probably did well enough with what you did. If the seal is compressed, it should stay compressed.

Dang Dude, two 75g's and a 125g and no live fish? All in cycle?

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.

My mind would have said tighten with hand as tight as possible, then turn 1/8 with a wrench. Maybe I would have broken it, lol? But as long as you got it where it is not leaking, why go further?

If it's no longer leaking it is tight enuf.

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Do fish get thirsty?
How to fishless cycle your aquarium http://www.aquariumforum.com/f66/fis...cle-15036.html

Information on API FW test kit http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/api-...ion-15347.html

Ha, you should try the rear plug of a ford v-10, they are a full 1.5' under the cowl, and have caps that have to be unbolted before you can even get to the plug, AND due to their ingenius design, they retain water causing the caps to go bad and need replaced more often than normal.

It's not leaking anymore, I am pretty sure the problem is solved.

I need to update signature, I got rid of the 72gal in favor of the 125gal, 75gal is ready, just haven't had time.

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125gal - 10" bala, 10" irridescent, 6 gourami's, 2 blood parrots, 1 common pleco, 1 Blue Lobster, & 1 Morimo Ball - Rena XP3
75gal - 5 balas, 2 firemouths, 2 albino oscars, 1 common pleco, 6" firemouth - Rena XP3