Hopefully getting one of these to make a little pond type thing for my white clouds and weather loaches. Anyone know the dimensions?
Dimensions of a 189 liter rubbermaid jumbo tote?
- Thread starter ROLLIN
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I'm not sure of the dimensions of that particular tote, but I thought of doing something similar for a turtle habitat (appropriately sized rubbermaid, of course). In my research, I found the Rubbermaid website which has dimensions on almost all of their products. Since I was looking for the LxWxD dimensions as well as the volume, it was a very helpful site. I'll also let you know that if nothing you find in 'household organization' is big enough for what you wanted, go to 'hardware/seasonal' and look at the stock tanks - they are much bigger.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
Maybe I should have pointed it out, but the underlined "Rubbermaid website" in my previous post IS the link to the site.
Just a word of caution from someone who has seen it first hand: The Rubbermaid storage tubs I have seen can and probably will in the long term, leach toxic crap into your water. They are not food grade or inert, they don't claim to be either. I had one as a reservoir for my RO water and it leached something to force the ph down to 6.2 from a perfect 7.0! So, it is long gone.
The stock tanks look like they might be a really good option. The supply stores in rural Minnesota carry a brand that is much cheaper than the Rubbermaid ones. I bought a 70 gallon round one that seems to be great so far and claims to be food grade/chemically inert for $40. It would make a beautiful little pond like thing. So, if there is a rural farming area near you, check their supply stores. Theres lots of fun DIY stuff in those places
The stock tanks look like they might be a really good option. The supply stores in rural Minnesota carry a brand that is much cheaper than the Rubbermaid ones. I bought a 70 gallon round one that seems to be great so far and claims to be food grade/chemically inert for $40. It would make a beautiful little pond like thing. So, if there is a rural farming area near you, check their supply stores. Theres lots of fun DIY stuff in those places
Wow, didn't know the rubbermaid tubs did that. I am planning on getting a 35-40 gallon one in the near future and using it as a quarantine tank. I will make sure it's not a rubbermaid.
I think the stock tanks are inert, but I'll have to do some research - get back to you guys later if I can find anything. If they aren't (and especially in the case of the regular Rubbermaid tubs) thanks for the warning!
leaching and ph
Rubbermaid containers are possibly leaching acids into the water? I believe you, but there are probably additional reasons behind a sudden ph drop.
A ph drop could be caused by the loss of calcium. RO systems remove alkalides that pass through the system, which could drop your ph to acidic levels. Could it be the kh of your RO water?
Rubbermaid does make a few storage containers that are USDA approved. I use them at all times in the restaurant business. They are more expensive than the cheap one's we find in the stores, but I think even the cheap tubs are safe for temporary water storage. I use them as temporary Q tanks for my fish. Maybe they leach, but I’ll never know for sure, as my sick fish do get better, and I do lots of water changes.
Heres a link to a pdf chemical chart that might be usefull.
http://www.rcpworksmarter.com/rcp/products/pdf/chem.pdf
Rubbermaid containers are possibly leaching acids into the water? I believe you, but there are probably additional reasons behind a sudden ph drop.
A ph drop could be caused by the loss of calcium. RO systems remove alkalides that pass through the system, which could drop your ph to acidic levels. Could it be the kh of your RO water?
Rubbermaid does make a few storage containers that are USDA approved. I use them at all times in the restaurant business. They are more expensive than the cheap one's we find in the stores, but I think even the cheap tubs are safe for temporary water storage. I use them as temporary Q tanks for my fish. Maybe they leach, but I’ll never know for sure, as my sick fish do get better, and I do lots of water changes.
Heres a link to a pdf chemical chart that might be usefull.
http://www.rcpworksmarter.com/rcp/products/pdf/chem.pdf
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Thanks Chefkeith, sorry it took me so long to get back on this.
Background on what RO water is:
RO water is water purified by reverse osmosis. The RO process removes over 99% of everything, including ALL the hardness and buffers. Thats what I want it to do. So, being that the water is nearly pure the ph should be almost exactly 7.0, KH=0; which is what it comes out of the filter at.
So, even very small amounts of anything will greatly affect the ph of RO water. My reservoir had a constant amount of water in it, so I believe the tub started to leach into my water. But, I don't have the ability to test for what could heave been leached to know for sure.
Reason I use RO: My tap water is gross here and has a KH of about 18! So, in my tanks with CO2 I use 75% RO and 25% carbon filtered tap water to achieve a KH of about 5. Perfect IMO.
About Rubbermaid tubs:
I forgot they made food grade tubs. I think the food grade ones would work great! The ones I saw on the link were the cheap ones we find locally, which is what I used. I have done a little research recently and come to this conclusion. The tubs should be just fine for temporary use, a couple weeks to a month or two. The longer they sit full of water, the more they start to leach. I talked to a guy that used a kiddie pool and rubbermaid tubs and ended up losing a lot of fish before he figured out the plastic was the issue. They were in use for over almost a year before he started to see fish death, poor plant growth much before that. So, in a reservior situation one would assume the tub would sit full of water for extended periods of time, making the plastic an issue.
Just what I think, and info I have gathered from my own experiences. BUT, if it works for you, go ahead. I am not going to chance it, though.
Background on what RO water is:
RO water is water purified by reverse osmosis. The RO process removes over 99% of everything, including ALL the hardness and buffers. Thats what I want it to do. So, being that the water is nearly pure the ph should be almost exactly 7.0, KH=0; which is what it comes out of the filter at.
So, even very small amounts of anything will greatly affect the ph of RO water. My reservoir had a constant amount of water in it, so I believe the tub started to leach into my water. But, I don't have the ability to test for what could heave been leached to know for sure.
Reason I use RO: My tap water is gross here and has a KH of about 18! So, in my tanks with CO2 I use 75% RO and 25% carbon filtered tap water to achieve a KH of about 5. Perfect IMO.
About Rubbermaid tubs:
I forgot they made food grade tubs. I think the food grade ones would work great! The ones I saw on the link were the cheap ones we find locally, which is what I used. I have done a little research recently and come to this conclusion. The tubs should be just fine for temporary use, a couple weeks to a month or two. The longer they sit full of water, the more they start to leach. I talked to a guy that used a kiddie pool and rubbermaid tubs and ended up losing a lot of fish before he figured out the plastic was the issue. They were in use for over almost a year before he started to see fish death, poor plant growth much before that. So, in a reservior situation one would assume the tub would sit full of water for extended periods of time, making the plastic an issue.
Just what I think, and info I have gathered from my own experiences. BUT, if it works for you, go ahead. I am not going to chance it, though.
These are the stock tanks I was talking about:
Rubbermaid stock tank
Does anyone know if these are safe? I've heard about them being used for ponds from several sources.
Rubbermaid stock tank
Does anyone know if these are safe? I've heard about them being used for ponds from several sources.