Water change storage containers?

[Malawi Monster]

If this has been covered before I apologize.


Greetings...for those that pre-condition your water before you add it to your tank what do you use? I have a 150 gal tank....I do weekly 50% WC's and currently I have an old 50 gal seaclear tank that I use to pre condition the water. I am looking into getting a larger capacity without taking up too much of a footprint. What do you use/suggest?

I saw the rubbermaid stock tanks...so thats an option....but what else is out there?

 

[vfc]

I use an old 75G aquarium for a holding tank. Home Depot/Lowes sells a 96G trash can that you can use if you need more capacity.

 

[Malawi Monster]

Is that strong enough to handle a full load of water?

 

[vfc]

It's made of fiberglass and it appears to be strong enough. It is stronger looking than the picture would leave you to believe. Stop by a HD/Lowes and check it out.

I almost bought one, but I came across a free 75G tank that I now use for a holding tank.

 

[squint]

Check for local places that recycle shipping drums. They're often re-purposed for collecting rainwater, etc. The places here will tell you what they contained previously. It's usually some food item like molasses which leaves a safe container after rinsing.

I can find them on Craigslist. Most are around 50 gal so you might need more than one but they're cheap.

 

[David K. Bradley]

If this has been covered before I apologize.


Greetings...for those that pre-condition your water before you add it to your tank what do you use? I have a 150 gal tank....I do weekly 50% WC's and currently I have an old 50 gal seaclear tank that I use to pre condition the water. I am looking into getting a larger capacity without taking up too much of a footprint. What do you use/suggest?

I saw the rubbermaid stock tanks...so thats an option....but what else is out there?

You may want to check livestock feed stores, where they sell water tanks for storing pottable water. There are a variety of tanks to choose from. I have personaly seen tanks that are enclosed in a heavy duty cage frame, to protect the plastic tank. The dimmensions appear to be 3' x 3' x 3'. The tank should be right at close to 200 gallons. Ranchers, Farmers use them. Other residents of St. Johns, AZ whom live outside of the city limits use them to haul water to their property, (as they can't drill a well). Most time you'll see 3 to 4 being hauled at the same time, (1 or 2 in the truck bed and 2 on a flatbed trailer) I've seen larger water tanks too. Those are usually mounted on special built trailers and the tanks are cylindrically shaped and range in sizes of 300 to 1,000 gallons each.

The cube shaped one I think would be ideal for your needs, but you might want to check out your nearest feed store if there's one close by. If you don't see it on the store floor, or outside in the feedstore yard somewhere, ask the proprietor as they may be able to order one for you.

BTW, an after thought. They might come in 3 different colors of plastic: white, light green and black. Not real sure on the smaller tanks, but I do know the larger ones do. If you get a white or light green one, make sure it remains out of the sunlight, as they are succeptable to algea after a period of time. The black one will retain heat during the summer, and the cold during the winter. Just thought you'd like to know.

I hope this bit of info has helped. Good luck with your search.

 

[Malawi Monster]

You may want to check livestock feed stores, where they sell water tanks for storing pottable water. There are a variety of tanks to choose from. I have personaly seen tanks that are enclosed in a heavy duty cage frame, to protect the plastic tank. The dimmensions appear to be 3' x 3' x 3'. The tank should be right at close to 200 gallons. Ranchers, Farmers use them. Other residents of St. Johns, AZ whom live outside of the city limits use them to haul water to their property, (as they can't drill a well). Most time you'll see 3 to 4 being hauled at the same time, (1 or 2 in the truck bed and 2 on a flatbed trailer) I've seen larger water tanks too. Those are usually mounted on special built trailers and the tanks are cylindrically shaped and range in sizes of 300 to 1,000 gallons each.

The cube shaped one I think would be ideal for your needs, but you might want to check out your nearest feed store if there's one close by. If you don't see it on the store floor, or outside in the feedstore yard somewhere, ask the proprietor as they may be able to order one for you.

BTW, an after thought. They might come in 3 different colors of plastic: white, light green and black. Not real sure on the smaller tanks, but I do know the larger ones do. If you get a white or light green one, make sure it remains out of the sunlight, as they are succeptable to algea after a period of time. The black one will retain heat during the summer, and the cold during the winter. Just thought you'd like to know.

I hope this bit of info has helped. Good luck with your search.

There is a feed store right down the road for me...thanks for the suggestion on that....I may have to check that out. I like the idea of a potable water container in place of a trashcan!

Thanks everyone for the ideas!

 

[kdrun76]

Pardon the silly question, but why do you "precondition and store" water?

There is a lot less fuss, and no harm at all, to adding dechlorinator to water in the tank and then refilling directly from the tap. Considering how much extra work you are doing to store and precondition the water, I am wondering why you do it?

It would make sense in a salt water tank, but you haven't said if this was fresh or salt. I use a barel I bought from McMaster for my salt water tanks.

 

[vfc]

Pardon the silly question, but why do you "precondition and store" water?

There is a lot less fuss, and no harm at all, to adding dechlorinator to water in the tank and then refilling directly from the tap. Considering how much extra work you are doing to store and precondition the water, I am wondering why you do it?

It would make sense in a salt water tank, but you haven't said if this was fresh or salt. I use a barel I bought from McMaster for my salt water tanks.

There are a few long threads on the subject of when to add water conditioner. The conclusion is it depends on your water source. Some folks have well water that needs no conditioner. Some have decent public water with chlorine or chloramine, and some have terrible water that is loaded with high levels of ammonia, nitrates, heavy metals, etc. along with the chloramine.

I fall into the latter category. I tried the different ways of adding prime while doing a water change, but in each case, my fish would react poorly to the water change. I lost smaller fish during WCs and my large fish would shake their heads and rub on rocks/gravel. I have since switched over to premixing and aerating the water for 2-4 hrs before use.

 

[Malawi Monster]

Pardon the silly question, but why do you "precondition and store" water?

There is a lot less fuss, and no harm at all, to adding dechlorinator to water in the tank and then refilling directly from the tap. Considering how much extra work you are doing to store and precondition the water, I am wondering why you do it?

It would make sense in a salt water tank, but you haven't said if this was fresh or salt. I use a barel I bought from McMaster for my salt water tanks.

I have absolutely no intentions of storing the water at all. I dechlor my water before I add it to the tank. At max I allow the tap water and prime to mix for a day....usually its only a few hours before I add it to the tank. I dont like the idea of dumping tap water directly into my tank and and add dechlor that way. Its just my thing!! Im sure my fish are happier that way too!