I was trying to get everything togeather to make a small hang on the back refugium and was wondering where everyone gets their pluming supplies such as bulkheads and the such.  I saw some things at The Aquarium in Salt Lake but they wanted $10 for each bulkhead.  I was hoping there was something just as good but that costs a little less.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks -- Kevin

Wish I had made it to the barbecue earlier this month.  I believe adam was going to bring the fuge that he put together at the last DIY meeting.  He mentioned the locations he bought the plumbing supplies and also where he purchased the acryclic ( I REALLY wanna try making one like his one of these days.)

Think he may have posted somewhere on the board here where he got it.  May need to do a search.

Purchased acrylic from Regional Supply already cut (18x12x6) for $17.  Bought all pvc, washers, and bulkheads from Home Depot for $10.  I still have receipts if you care to see them.  Or, you can come by anytime and see the refugia. 

Hope this helps,

Adam

Adam, did you get REAL bulkheads from Home Depot?  Or did you just rig them from PVC fittings?  I have been to Home Depot hundreds of times and I used to work there and have never found any bulkheads there.  Do they carry them now.  I have had to buy mine from LFS.  Regional Supply is the best place to buy acrylic.  They have a scrap section where you can get already cut scraps for a dollar a pound. THAT"S CHEAP!!

Just a note about regional supply. If you're handy with tools, or have a table saw, you can buy scrap pieces of acrylic for only $1 a pound. That's like a sheet about 12" x 12" or so. Pretty cheap if you can cut it to size yourself.

Ryan

I just used a regular wood sawblade.

Just as an update, I went to home depot and didn't find anything like a bulkhead or anything that seemed like it would work.  I did go to a local pluming supply and found something that would sort of work.  It is a plastic drain for an air conditioner.  It is about 3/4" in size but in order for it to work you have to buy something that will screw into it, so it ends up being about a 1/2" hole for water to flow through.  I am going to try this with my 20 gallon and a small pump and see how it works out.  They were about 1.50 a piece. 

Quick question for those who have worked with acrylic.  I went to regional supply and bought some acrylic and I must say, that is an awsome price.  Well I went home and cut my pieces to size to make a small overflow / refugium like Adam made at the last meeting.  When I cut the acrylic it left some of the sides with not a very clean cut.  Do these edges need to be sanded down or anything?  Also when gluing the stuff togeather Adam said that you don't need to worry about using too much and it would just evaporate.  Well It does but it leaves streaks?  How do you glue it so it looks good -- aka  without streaks or little glue pools?   Since this is my first try I was not to worried about it, but in the future I would like to have it look good.

Thanks.

go to a LFS and buy a real bulkhead fitting, expect to pay around $6 - $10.  Or use threaded pvc fittings and tap the acrylic to accept the fitting.

The edges should be straight and fairly smooth.  A good woodworking crosscutting tablesaw blade (10" 60 - 80 tooth ATB) leaves a workable edge.  The edges can be jointed using a jointer too, but it's almost overkill.  There's a thread at reefcentral on using straight pins to hold the edges apart while wicking the weld-on #4 glue into the joint.  Read that thread, the pins method works great!  You can make a joint without any bubbles at all.  If you don't trust your joint, put a bead of weld-on #16 and/or silicone in the corners.

Regarding the streaks and pools:  leave most of the paper on the acrylic, just remove enough to glue the joint.  Any overspill will be on the paper and not leave a mark.

Marcus- I use the pvc fitting with flanges for bulkheads, and regular pvc fittings for the rest of the plumbing.  Thanks for clarifing that.

Kevin- don't remove the paper from the area not being glued, that will prevent the streaks or pools.  Feel free to have me help or come over to whenever you want.

As for cutting acrylic.  I use a carbide tip blade.  It is a cabinet makers blade and that works best for me.  But you don't need any special blade like many people think.  Sanding the edges CAN be a good idea.  Only if you can sand it straight and not affect the size of the piece you cut.  Sometimes I put acrylic glue (solvent) on the cut edge and smooth it out with my finger.  You don't need smooth edges in terms of gluing and seeling, smooth edges only help with the clarity and aesthetics of the corners. 

I bought my acrylic and Regional and it is cheap.  However, for a project this small it is just easier to have them cut the pieces for you as a regular order.  Remember I bought the acrylic for the demo from them, cut to fit, with nice edges for a total of $18. 

Hope I addressed everything.

Adam