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Hi

I am in the process of pre-designing a new large tank - 550 litres. I wanted to have it pre-drilled (50m) to flow to a 100L sump, purely to remove heaters, powerheads etc from view (it will pump through 2 Fluidised bed filters.)

However, with the absurd price of overflow weirs and bulkhead fittings I was wanting to know if the following would work:

You can buy regular 50mm pvc plumbing from any old hardware store relatively cheaply. I was thinking of buying an end piece - it kind of ends in a plate like this:
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Can any one see why just siliconing this through the hole in the tank wall (and covering with rainguard mesh) won't function as well as the expensive bulkhead fitting? I know it would be siliconed, but as the tank is designed with the hole there anyway, it is irrellevant that it is "permanent." Besides, silicone isn't that hard to remove in the future if necessary for any kind of reason.

Any advice - especially if any one can think of reasons why this would be a bad idea - would be appreciated.

Ps, to our American friends - I know you have "Home Depot" and the likes that allow acces to cheap ways of throwing together the equivalent to a bulkhead, but here in Oz if you start trying anything just a little bit obscure, the costs mount up quickly enough to not justify anything but the simplest of DIYs.

Thanks.

Sounds like it'll work, just be sure to drill properly and seal 'er up nice