About a year and a half ago I decided to grow out some $0.20 feeder comets for my Oscar tank "clean up crew". They were about 1.5" long back then, now there pushing 5" not including the tail. Very sexy indeed, I don't know why more people don't give feeders a chance. 
Anyways I decided to grow out some more for the Oscar tank. I have 2 in there now, I'd like to have 5. I have the (9) 2" comets in a 20g wide right now and in a few months time I expect it'll get a bit crowded. I have this 55gal white plastic drum that I use to store dirty tank water in. I use that water on my gardens. I'd like to put the comets from the 20gal tank into the plastic drum over the summer and into the early to mid fall. I did a bit of research and it seems like its not an uncommon thing to do.
The water going into the drum is "imo" quite clean. Ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 1-3ppm, and there's no visible objects in the water (fish waste etc.), fish water containing poo skips the barrel and goes directly onto the gardens. I know your thinking "why doesn't he use rain water" well simply because the eves are built in a way that I cant get the drum or even a bucket under the down spout.
Assuming I'm on the right track, I have a few further questions:
-Where should the drum be stored? Full sun, part sun, shade?
-Do I have to feed the fish? The drum usually has mosquito larva in it when I forget to cover it up. Also Algae will sometimes grow if I provide sun, if comets will eat that stuff?
-can algae alone provide enough oxygen for the fish without a secondary air source (air pump, plants, agitating the water by hand every day)?
-what minimum and maximum temperatures can comets tolerate?
Anyways I decided to grow out some more for the Oscar tank. I have 2 in there now, I'd like to have 5. I have the (9) 2" comets in a 20g wide right now and in a few months time I expect it'll get a bit crowded. I have this 55gal white plastic drum that I use to store dirty tank water in. I use that water on my gardens. I'd like to put the comets from the 20gal tank into the plastic drum over the summer and into the early to mid fall. I did a bit of research and it seems like its not an uncommon thing to do.
The water going into the drum is "imo" quite clean. Ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 1-3ppm, and there's no visible objects in the water (fish waste etc.), fish water containing poo skips the barrel and goes directly onto the gardens. I know your thinking "why doesn't he use rain water" well simply because the eves are built in a way that I cant get the drum or even a bucket under the down spout.
Assuming I'm on the right track, I have a few further questions:
-Where should the drum be stored? Full sun, part sun, shade?
-Do I have to feed the fish? The drum usually has mosquito larva in it when I forget to cover it up. Also Algae will sometimes grow if I provide sun, if comets will eat that stuff?
-can algae alone provide enough oxygen for the fish without a secondary air source (air pump, plants, agitating the water by hand every day)?
-what minimum and maximum temperatures can comets tolerate?
