Plastic Containers used for sumps...longetivity?!?!

[fish-boy13]

Hey guys I have been doing a lot of reading on sumps and was looking for a fairly cheap way of doing this. Now there are some ups/downs to this and would like to know your opinion whether its worth it or not.

Now as many of us know rubbermaid and other type of plastic containers are a cheap and easy way to build a DIY sump/W/D. Due to the low cost of this it made it a great choice, but as i continued reading about these, many have also claimed that in the long run these things will crack-break-fall apart. Some have even claimed that it broke only weeks of use. Now i find that these aren't so good after all. Has anyone used these for a long period of time, and by long i mean at least 2 years. Any down side after of using for this long?

I find that even if it bows due to water pressure i can easily fix it by putting a wood frame on top to eliminate it from bowing. So the bowing part its fixable, but cracking on you really would be a huge pain in the @$$.

 

[Dr Joe]

I use the WalMart type (read cheap) only as a temp filter units / quarantine tanks (6 mo.s or less) and have had no trouble.

I keep them out of the sun and don't cut thru the sides.

Rubbermaid makes a heavy duty line of stock tanks (down to 6g) also.

Sam's club here (commercial side of Walmart) carries a heavy duty 55g tub that's really nice.

To brace against bowing it needs to be done @ 1/3 & 2/3 from the bottom (the 2/3 up brace takes care or the top) on the larger cheap containers.

Usually these are suggested as W/D filters and as such are not filled more than 1/3 full.

I know it sounds self-defeating but you can always put a liner in the tub (a double layer of visqueen is good for a year).

Do whatever let's you sleep good at night .

Dr Joe

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