where to find water storage containers?

[Ryan]

Hi everyone,

I finally managed to fit this iron stand in my room for my 55 gallon tank, which has an open rack on the bottom. I'm going to start aging my water (it's well water and I seem to be having trouble, so I wanna chlorinate it myself overnight). I need a way to store the water in my room as that'd be easiest.

I don't have much room to work with, so I thought a container on the bottom rack of my stand would work nicely. I looked at Rubbermaid's website and found a few things but they're not quite as big as I'd like. I'm looking for something maybe 40 - 50 gallons. The dimensions I have to work with are:

47 - 48" length
14 - 15" width
18 - 20" height

Do you know of a place online I could find heavy-duty plastic storage containers in these size ranges? Like I said, Rubbermaid had some that were close, but most were only 35 gallons max. I know they say don't use the ones with wheels as the wheels could pop off from the weight of the water.

I could just get a 55 gallon tank and use that... but if I have a tank in here, I'll be tempted to use it for fish instead of water storage, and then I'm right back where I started ::)

Ryan

Ryan: The only storage conatiner that fits your measuremnt is an aquarium. It looks better than a platic Rubbermaid box. It's always easier to find a used tank for a few dollars than a used plastic container.
Jimmy.

[McGilly]

8)

[Zackie]

I agree with the comment about using an aquarium...looks better and cheaper. I use a 55 for RO collection/mixing/heating and then pump it into my 120. But...if you really want to look at plastic, go to the link below. Not only do they have tanks but ALL KINDS of useful stuff for the fish room. Their prices are good, they ship FAST and go way out of their way to be sure you're satisfied with products and service.

Bob

http://www.usplastic.com/

[discuskrib]

what about just using 2 pails instead of only 1?

[henryD]

I just boughtn a 50 gallon that measure

43 long
21 wdth
17 high.

notsure if it works for you.

it was 12.00 at walmart.

[Ryan]

It's a little wide but it'll have to stick off the sides of the stand a little. That shouldn't hurt anything. I guess I'm off to Walmart tomorrow!

[henryD]

It was made by rubbermaid.

[Ryan]

Hey guys,

Kyppy was right on the money -- went to Walmart this afternoon and got a Rubbermaid 2550... it's 50 gallons. They had one left. I paid $12.84. The best part is that it fits almost perfectly under my 55 gallon. It hangs off each side by about 2" but otherwise it's great. They also have them at Home Depot but they were a little more -- $14.00.

Ryan

[henryD]

ryan there are some tiny holes where the handles are. i used the acquarium silicon to patch it up. no leak so far.

[DarkDiscus]

Ryan,

I bought one of those prior to my present water storage tank. It was the exact model, or looks like it. It started leaking after just about a month. I think it was flawed, though.

John

[Ryan]

Was the weight supported on it? I use the bigger Rubbermaid cans out in the garage and they've been full of water for like 2 years and are fine. They are a little thicker plastic, but not by much. I'll try this one first -- beats going out and spending $90 on a 55 gallon tank.

Ryan

[henryD]

When I filled mine orginally it looks fine. No excessive bulging on the sides. I was a little concern with that initially. However, I now have it sitting in the tub. It fits exactly with a little room for the drain. So the side of tube seems to give it support. I was thinking of buying another and stacking it on top. I have check the side today and it still seems ok. If mine starts to leak I will let you know. Also was the leaking from the air holes near the handle? On another note I did notice some nice barrels at home depot today that were a little thicker. They were 45 gallon but cost $30.00. I can get 2 barrels to fit my situation and maybe ryan could have a barrel next to the tank. It would not look as good though.

[DarkDiscus]

Ryan,

I had mine sitting on the floor. I think the problem is that the water creates extra pressure on the long, flat sides of the bin, which stresses the corners. As I said, it could just have been the one I had, but I got tired of worrying over Rubbermaids so I decided to cough up more cash and bought the heavy duty water storage tank from Jehmco. IMHO, the extra $ was worth the peace of mind! If I were storing water in the garage, saving the cash is fine as there's no going to be any major damage. In the guest bedroom in my apartment...

;)

John

[Ryan]

I'm storing water in my bedroom. But my problem is that the room is so small, I have very little space to work with. Plus I don't want some huge storage tank or trash can sitting in the middle of my room. I tried making room in my closet, but my closet's not deep enough from front to back to allow me to put something like that in there.

Ryan

[henryD]

I wonder if buying 2 and stacking it one in another will help? They are pretty close in size when you put one in another. Maybe it would reinforce the outside plus a little peace of mind that you had a little room for mistake. Not sure if that would help or not but it would be an extra 12.00 expense.

[DarkDiscus]

Ryan,

LOL! Then you wouldn't want the tank I got from Jehmco, it's huge and white and has WARNING! labels on it. Definitely an eyesore! But I expect I'll never lose another night of sleep worrying about Noah's Flood again...

For the rubbermaid bin, do what Al does and tie a wire around the top of the bin under the lip to help keep the thing in shape. It should help some.

I don't know if doubling up on the bin would help, but imagine it would if the fit is snug.

John

[henryD]

The other thing is you can buy a nice used tank if you look around the want ad. Not sure about Florida but here in the NE there are always tanks for sale. The only problem with something like that is I would be tempted to put fish in it.

I just bought 2 tank today. 110 gallon and 74 bow front. Oh well so much for not buy anymore tank. My sure will have a surprise when she comes home......

[jeep]

Ryan, How's the water storage going?

I picked up 3 30 gallon barrels from Pepsi (free) but they're too small (each) and take up too much space (all 3). Also, the tops were fused and had to be cut off.

I need something larger (in the 50g range), yet more compact and I've had bad luck with the rubbermade containers.

Thanks,

Brian

[henryD]

Brian,

When your at the Pepsi place ask them about there 50 or 55 gallon containers. I know they have 2 sizes. One is the smaller one the 30 gallon and the larger one.

Good Luck.

Henry

[jeep]

Thanks Henry. They woudn't part with the 50 gallon barrels...

[henryD]

If you are close to New Hampshire you could stop by. I just picked up 6 50 gallon containers.

They had about 20 of them.

[jeep]

Thanks for the offer. If I were about 2,000 miles closer I'd take you upon it ;D

I'm in K.C.

Brian

[Rob R.]

Hey Ryan,
I posted a thread in the DIY section of simply cichlid that pertains to your exact situation.
http://www.simplycichlids.com/forum/index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=398
You need to be careful with that tub you pictured. It has a raised area in each corner that will cause it to leak after awhile. Since yours is on a rack you may have it positioned so the weight isn't on those raised areas, if so you should be fine. If not, I would exchange it for one that has a smooth, flat bottom (they are blue and made by Sterilite).
If the weight of that tub is supported by the raised 'nubs' on the corners, your tub WILL fail. Trust me, I have a whole graveyard of leaky tubs in my shed :-\
HTH
Rob