Bathtubs as large fish tanks

[Brian Hillestad]

I have a friend who is a remodeler, and he pulls lots of cast iron and steel bathtubs out here in PA.  I have found they work great for fish tanks, and the drain for piping connections are already in place.  Does anybody else do this?

 

Brian

[TCLynx]

Yes people definitely use bath tubs as fish tanks and grow beds.  Just watch out of chipped enamel since some of the metals in bath tubs can leach and be bad for fish.

[Homefire]

Hi Brian,

Yes. I'm just now cycling up a two tub system which i plan to expand to six or eight tubs.  Right now i have a jaccuzi of 89 Ga. serving as my sump and first fish tank and a standard tub i think is 65-70 Ga. Old Jaccuzis are great cuz some are really big. 

If you have a small ding on a tub you may seal it with aquarium silicone.  

One little drawback i see in tubs is that they require a really stout pedestal of cinder blocks or the like to hold them at hip height.  Whereas a 4' x 8' wooden grow bed is broad and more stable. 

Let me know how your project goes.

 

Cya,

Homefire

 

[Brian Hillestad]

I will keep you posted.  I am new at this but need to work out some kinks on a small scale before going larger.  We are doing it for our non profit.

Homefire said:

Hi Brian,

Yes. I'm just now cycling up a two tub system which i plan to expand to six or eight tubs.  Right now i have a jaccuzi of 89 Ga. serving as my sump and first fish tank and a standard tub i think is 65-70 Ga. Old Jaccuzis are great cuz some are really big. 

If you have a small ding on a tub you may seal it with aquarium silicone.  

One little drawback i see in tubs is that they require a really stout pedestal of cinder blocks or the like to hold them at hip height.  Whereas a 4' x 8' wooden grow bed is broad and more stable. 

Let me know how your project goes.

 

Cya,

Homefire

 

[TCLynx]

beware wooden beds if you live in termite territory.