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As i pondered how much it cost to buy a tank an idea came to me for cheap tanks- bathtubs.
I searched eBay for suitable tubs and they were around $50.
These could be used for breeding feeder fish, maturation tanks, or any other tank where you don't intend to showcase your fish.
I think that DIY reinforced plugs would be required.
If i washed it out several times, would it be safe for fish?
Has anyone seen this done before?

Hi,
Yes, several people have, especially with the newer,
fiberglass tubs. They remove the metal parts for the
drains and blowers and replace them with plastic parts.
Many use them as ponds outdoors, or even indoors.

Be sure to scrub them clean, and if the old porcelain tubs
purchase a repair kit and repair any nicks or chips so the
metal is not exposed to the water. Along with "elbow
grease" there are several chemicals on the market that
will remove any iron/water staining from the bottom and
sides. Then rinse throughly.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I suppose that you could, but why bother, when the alternative; rubbermaid or better yet, commercial overhead breeder ponds, are just as good with less work involved?

Sorry, but what is a "commercial overhead breeder pond".
I still dont know most of the lingo usedon this site for instance: IMO - what does this mean

Whenever you see something such as IMO that has both and underline and an overline, hover your mouse pointer over it ... the pointer will change to a question mark and a tooltip with a definition will pop up.

A little feature that Adam thoughtfully provided.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

There aren't really that many cost effective solutions for a pond or large tank. A stock tank of equivalent size to hold the same volume as a tub will often be considerable more expensive than $50. I've got a couple in the pasture that push $200. Much the same comparison with tanks actually designed to hold fish. Building your own from wood and using a plastic liner is about the only really cost effective method I've seen. Plastic storage containers cannot hold that much water. Good for rather small "ponds" or breeding tanks but they bow and eventually collaspe. 22g is the biggest I've accomplished long term without it starting to bow a dangerous amount and every container I've tried recently gives off ammonia leading to ammonia levels of over 8ppm in less than a week. A bathtub sounds like it could be a rather reasonable way to setup a large volume of water for growout, breeding, or pond fish if you take a few precautions mentinoed.

I had an antique claw foot tub that I had hauled around for years thinking that I may eventually place it in a home, but just never did. During those times I did use it as a grow out tank for fish that I had bred. They also can be used for a quarantine/hospital tank.

I eventually stuck mine in the ground as a small pond with no problems.

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

thanks Calilasseia,
old timer, just out of curiorsity, what fish did you breed, did you use a substrate?

You can't over look the rubbermaids though. when your breeding out certain fish a huge amount of water isn't required. Therefore a small container (or multiple) is very cost affective.

_________________________________________
I'm the classic newb. I went out and bought the smallest tank and a fish at the same time. Now I'm kicking myself wondering how could I have been so stupid. But I'm hooked.

I didn't actually use the tub for the breeding, but as a grow out tank for the fry. It was used primarily for cichlid fry.

I didn't use a substrate and utilized sponge filters for the filtration as they were simple to clean and maintain.

The one negative is that the tank was white and as such the fish always had a washed out appearance when first taken from the tub. However, they did color up when placed in a normal tank setup.

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

You can't easily get Rubbermaid tubs out here though.

$50 hey? sounds good! Council clean up piles often have bath tubs so keep an eye out there too (and I'd ask the homeowner before you make off with it )

Also look at the Reln tanks as they are pretty commonly used as ponds and growouts. (www.reln.com.au)

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

what is a rubbermaid??

Rubbermaid often means stock tanks. For example:http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/08/rubbermaid_300_.html
but also can refer to plastic storage containers:http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/fish/shrimp%20tank/ I've seen 300g stock tanks that would make impressive ponds but our 100g one cost ~$120 so not the cheapest option in the world.