using rubbermaids bad for grow outs?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I've used 20 gal rubbermaids in the fish room for a few uses... the only problem I had with them is excessive bowing... so as suggested above, get the thicker walled ones with a more pronounced lip around the top...

At first I was extremely cautious with heaters... but the end I just tossed it in and had no problems... heaters don't get that hot in the water, it's only when you take them out in the air that they overheat... To verify this, reach in your tank right now and feel the heater... not not to the touch therefore not hot to the plastic ;)

As for impact on the fish... I have a 300 gal Rubbermaid that I grew a bunch of fish out, most of which are now living in glass tanks. They did great in the rubbermaid and made the transition to glass tanks just fine...
 
I have a bunch of rubbermaids that I use to treat sick fish. If you have the thick walled ones you can even use a HOB biowheel on one. They do tend to get spooked more easily when you put them back in a glass tank.
 
I had a couple jumpers on my 300 gal when I was trying to keep multiple adult Oscars in it at the same time. Oscars just don't seem to appreciate each others company at adult sizes and were chasing each other pretty hard at night and a couple jumped.

To solve this I did two things... stopped trying to force fish to live together that don't want to live together, thus minimizing the aggressive chasing which is usually when a fish jumps out of a tank...

And I lowered the water level to about 8" below the rim of the tank.

Naturally when using smaller rubbermaids for smaller fish, 8" would be far more than necessary...
 
Hi again... I use the rubbermaids that come with lids and just leave them a crack open.. if none come with yours I would think about using a plastic eggcrate sheet or something.. Not only for jumping but it helps keep the heat in and dirt out....Sue:D
 
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