kiddie swimming pool/tank

[midnight1]

has any one used a "blow-up" style swimming pool - about 8 ft diameter and 24" deep as a discus tank?? i'm not talking about the plastic 6 ft dia. - maybe i should as about those as well. seems like a real cheap way to get a large volume of water for growing discus that you aren't using as a display yet. does the rubber add any kind of toxin to the water? would the plastic add any kind of toxin? i'm guessing not since the different kind of holding tanks being used for aging water. a 8x2 pool would be over 700 gallons of water - that would sure cut down on the number of tanks needed for raising fish to adult size.

thanks

paul

[cobalt]

we use them for shark tanks (temporary)
after a few days and a good wash down they don't let out chemicals in to the saltwater.
hence for discus after a wash dond they are fine.
Cobalt

[DiscusKing]

I would prefer the rigid type over the air filled ones. If you poke a hole in the air filled ... doesn't take long to empty!

[midnight1]

cobalt - what do you use for a wash down. do you just use liquid soap or do you use bleach or ?? thanks.

discusking - i was thinking blow-up just because i can get a larger pool downstairs to my fish room (future - STILL - argh) and they are deeper (taller) at least from what i can remember)


paul

[Ralph]

I can't think of a faster, cheaper way to make a body of water in your house.

Airing it out would probably be enough to make it safe, so that the plastic smell isn't so strong. Maybe a soapy rinse to be on the safe side. I don't know of any water soluble chemicals in plastic but they can give off some bad gases.

If you are worried about pool failure, you can always put a pool in a slightly larger pool (with no water). It will cover you for disasters and small leaks. And the price is still reasonable. Be careful about the surface you put it on, use some kind of padding if you need to.

Oh, be careful with the heater (did I even need to say that?).
Let us know how it goes.

[midnight1]

i'm planning on heating the whole room so hopefully i won't need a seperate heater. it will be setting on a plywood floor - i'm toying around with running water pipes under the floor and heating the floor with hot water - should keep my lower tanks warmer i think - just need to figure out how to regulate temperature/water flow through the pipes properly - need to rip the floor up first - glad i haven't finished my room yet with a major change like this.

i'm not to worried about the pool breaking after what my pool i have now went through with my 2 girls last summer i'll look like i'm babying it.

paul

Have you considered the joy you're going to have changing water in that thing? It'll be on the floor so unless there's a drain nearby you will have trouble starting a siphon. And even if you can easily do that your water bill will kill you. I guess if you understock it you can change less water. But you will still need to siphon the bottom for uneaten food & crap. Maybe a Magnum HOT with a hose on the input end will help you do the cleaning. I also assume you will just toss in a bunch of sponge filters, otherwise filtration could be tricky.

Dave

[midnight1]

i do have a floor drain in the basement real close for siphonning water/crap out. i figure just scooping out with a 5 gallon bucket should be pretty easy for the bulk of the water removal. yes i would have multiple sponge filters in it. i figure it'll be no different water wise that 14 - 50's and a heck of a lot cheaper. what i need to figure out is how does quantity of fish per gallon (better yet inch/gallon) translate to necessary percentage of water change per 24 hour period. keep the questions/concerns coming - really helps a person to think everything through real closely - better than one can do by one's self. thanks ( won't be buying one till this spring when they go on sale again.


paul

[limige]

beth made a tank in her outdoor pool, maybe she could add some input..

i've been thinking the same thing, except i want a hard plastic 3ft high pool. metal halide lighting, inline tank heater, and who knows what else.

[cobalt]

????
I wash it down with a good hose and fill it up and run it with a strong power head to mix the water

secondly I also drain it with a powerfull power head so it is no fun and games, anyway and if there are black tiped reef sharks in there I don't want no siphone!

works good for short term (up to 3 monthes) after that it is hard to clean.
Cobalt