Rubbermaid totes

[fishdudein]

I've been thinking on using some of these for raising fish in. Read a mag. article about keeping fish outdoors over the summer in tubs,sounds like maybe a good idea,maybe use them indoors in my fishroom year-round also. My question is , when these are filled with water,won't the sides bow out eventually and possibly split or crack. I plan on using the heavier Rubbermaid brand, not Sterilite. I'd hate to lose fish trying this. I could always build a wooden frame to reinforce the sides, but don't know if this is even necessary....surely some of you out there have tried this. Any other options for outdoor tubs?

 

[Auratus]

The plastic on them usually turns yellow and you wouldn't be able to see your fish.

The horse water feeds are a good choice. Sometimes you can find old bathtubs at junkyards and you can fix them up and make a nice pond with some fishies... I don't know if you would want a bathtub in your yard though When I had my horse we had bathtubs as water jugs and a huge metal bin. We always kept feeder fish in them because they would eat the bugs off of the top of the water and keep it clean. Once time my whole family got together so we could try to dump it over to clean it (it was huge) and a foot long feeder fish came out! We thought they had all died but he lived!!!! When we bought them they were really small. Like half an inch.

 

[Woody]

If you're not concerned with appearance, the old bathtub idea is a good one. When I was a kid, my dad put an old tub behind some bushes in our back yard and stocked it with bait minnows for fishing. Worked great and the tubs last a long time.

 

[barbiya]

That sounds like a fun idea. I don't know about the strength of the Rubbermaid totes, but wanted to mention one thing to think about. You don't mention where you live, but if there are racoons or raptors in the area, your fish may be dinner for some native creatures. My sister was going to put fish in a fountain/pond in her patio, but she has too many night visitors (racoons, foxes) to sacrifice the fish!

Just wanted to mention that. Good luck!

 

[PereguineFalcon]

Another thing to consider about your location is how much sun do you get? How hot does it get where you live? In most cases i've seen, plastic/rubber amplify heat and can cause problems. I'm not sure how this would effect a huge container with water in it, but you might have a prob with the temp. Be sure to have the container set up so that at least 25% of the tank is always in the shade. This will provide for a somewhat cooler water temp....although the water temp should be fairly uniform throughout. Hope it works out great for yaz!

 

[rsz]

I think your question has been answered, but I couldn't help noticing that you seem to want your text to be blue...

So I thought I'd just explain how to do it

First of all type out what you want to say.
Then highlight it.
While it's highlighted, click on the colour choosing box and pick a colour.
Your writing should end up with [ COLOR=blue ] (or whatever colour you pick) on one side of it and [ /COLOR ] on the other.

HTH

Btw, you can put any colour in where it says COLOR= . You can use lots of different colours

 

[HeatherSweetness]

Like this? Is this how you do it?

LOL thanks for telling how to do that rsz...I never could figure that out

 

[fishdudein]

Thanks,rsz,I don't even know how that came up, I wasn't trying to change the color,Just new to this computer stuff. Came up on one of my other posts too,and I have been puzzled as to what I have been doing..try it on this line,wish me luck. Anyway, thanks to all of you for the suggestions. Going to update some of my information. From Indiana,and yes, have seen the occasional critter in the yard. Would raccoons bother small fish like guppies? Have never done the pond thing before for that reason, but I always equated ponds with goldfish, which would be more of a meal size for a raccoon. Anyone had experience with raccoons taking guppies, platies, etc. from a pond (or tub). Yard has several trees, so shade will not be a problem. What about bottom dwellers like cory cats?

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Unless you had a heater in the bin, it would be too cold for corries, although you may be able to use Hill Stream Loachs, which are supposed to be very efficient cold water algae eaters.
I would also suggest getting the heavy duty totes. They are build to hold things only pushing out wards, and are not constructed properly to take the weight of water pushing out. the plastic ones aren't all that strong either, I used one for target practice once (for my paint ball gun, not a real gun) and from a good distance off the paint balls still broke through both layers of plastic.
It's an interesting Idea though, but I think it would be safer to go with a animal trough, because those are meant to be kicked and stomped on by horses, plus you can get them up to around 100 gallons (although not for cheap).

 

[CMC]

We bought a 40-gallon Rubbermaid tote when we moved our 55 gallon into the other room. We filled it up with tank water and put the fish in there while we moved the tank. The sides did start to bow outwards when it was full. We had to hurry because we thought the sides would collapse.

 

[Woody]

We had to hurry because we thought the sides would collapse.

If you run a few double-layered strips of duct tape all the way around the tub, you'd reinforce it and greatly reduce the chance of a side bursting open. (Here in Alaska, we fix everything with duct tape, including cars and, on occasion, our own bodies.)

 

[fishdudein]

Wow....just got the latest issue of FAMA, article in there by Ted Coletti talks about outdoor fishrooms(indoor one keeps me busy enough ), and he uses chicken wire covers held down by scrap wood. VOILA! OK, I know this isn't going to be pretty, rubbermaid tote full of water with a chicken wire screen on top held down by a couple scrap 2x4. I'll hide it in a corner back behind garage or something, hopefully keep the wife AND the fish happy.

 

[fishdudein]

P.S. Thanks Woody. LOVE duct tape! Wal-Mart had a contest one year for the most creative use of duct tape...sounds like an honorable mention, at the least!

 

[Adrinal]

Horse trouph 300 gal 90-100 bucks at menards. comes with bulkhead.
Plastic wont leach (AKA DRY OUT AND CRACK) and has uv protection.

Bulging buckets, bulge not break in most cases.

 

[Colin_BC]

I know this is an older post, but thought Rubbermaid is quite sturdy. Yes, it will 'bow' a bit, but it won't break. With cheaper brands, you have a legitimate worry... If you are still concerned, here's a way to guarantee it will not break. It is better than duct tape (duct tape will still work though) because it does a better job to maintain the original shape. Simply double up the totes. Stick one inside the other and it's now much stronger. If you're concerned about the 1-2" gap between the two bottoms (no support for the bottom of the tote of water) put a couple small phonebooks or something inside the first tote to act as a spacer.

I had a couple 18G totes outside that I fotgot about. They filled with water to the brim months ago. They bowed, but haven't broken. Hope this helps someone!

Colin