PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,
Has anyone ever used a kids wading pool for fish?( the blue ones with fish printed on them) would it be safe? I was going to use one for a grow out for some juvinial's I have, to give them more room then the tanks they are in right now. a lot of suface area for cheap price.
any help would be great.
Cliff

If you have the space for it the pool should work out fine. You could use a large sponge filter as well.

Mark

make sure they're not treated to resist algae and/or mold or otherwise have any harmful chemicals in them. You might be better off with a rubbermaid-type stock tank, which is more likely to be inert since it's designed for livestock to drink from.

I may end up useing the rubbermaid of behlen country stock tanks, family farm down the road from me stocks both but the behlen seem to be better priced both are fdea approved, i was unsure about the pool, if it had any bad chemicals which could leach out into the water, I could not find any info on them. at 10 bucks a pool they would be nice if they are safe.
I would be putting them into my fish room to let fry grow in untile i sell.

You could try one

Just put one out, with tnak water. If the pool is OK, is would turn green in a week, and red in a fortnight. the red is Daphina. Daphina is quite often used as a test organism in water safety tests

Should your water turn green and than red, the pool will be OK. If not, your kids might have a lucky day (or your neighbours)

I have used a 6' diameter Kiddie wading pool for Summer time outdoor tropical fish projects for the past 3 Summers. I set it up under my unused carport so it only get direct morning sun. I have been using Azoo BioFilter # 6 pedestal sponge filters driven by a MaxiJet 600 power heads for filtration. I grew Water Hyacinth, Salvinia sp and Ceratophyllum(Hornwort) for plants.
Season one # I used a 300 watt heater which allowed me to put tropical fish out in it in mid April through the end of September but that heater had a noticeable effect on my electricity bill. I stocked it with a month old spawn of about 150 black Neon Tetras and 100 Trichopsis pumilis, Pygmy Gouramis. The Black Neons were beautiful to watch as they sparkled in the morning sunshine while zipping up to the surface to eat flake food.

The next 2 Summers I did not use the heater and used a shorter season from mid May to the 2nd week of September.
I stocked it with a spawn of Ancistrus sp 3 and Apistogramma borelli.

This year I used Guppies and Sphenops black mollies.

I have enjoyed them all but the heated Black Neon set up was my favorite one so far.

A friend of mine set up 2, 3' diameter heavy duty white PVC pipe seated in concrete bases and sealed the joint with silicone. The resulting pools are 3' tall. He has been able to keep Angel fish and Black Mollies in his 2 set ups which have a water lily and Water hyacinths for plants. His are unheated but because they retain heat better than shallow pools he has been able to keep the Angels outdoors through to the end of September.

I think any container rated safe for live stock water supply will prove fish safe.

Actually, I keep a lot of fishes outdoors, I got 14 tanks, containing over 6000 liters in my garden

The tanks get as much sun as possible (mind you, we are 53 degrees north, but Europe benefits from warm water in the ocean (coming from the caribbean) and we are on the west of the continent, so better compare uw with Totonto than New York) and populated with all kinds of fish from Uruguay (sub tropical) and northern Xiphophorus nezuhuatl. I never heat any tank

The tanks are Koi quarantaine and a few made from concrete, covered with epoxy. This is my third season too, and I'm very happy with the results

I am experimenting with a 150 gallon stock tank for the first time this year. It is unheated and in partial shade because the days get very hot here in summer. I bought a fountain kit with a nice spray head on it so my wife could have a "water feature" in the yard but it is for my fish. The fountain kit came with a sponge filter in a plastic frame which I doubled by adding a header to the original configuration. Now it has 2 sponges on it. I put some 1 1/2 inch juvenile swordtails in it about 6 weeks ago and now have some nice looking 3 inch long swords in there. Added some endlers last week because I expect to get another 3 or 4 weeks and wanted to help them grow bigger fast. The stock tank is definitely going to have a place in my yard again next year. The sponges will be used in the nhouse during the winter with power heads in them so I can get a quick start next season and stock in early May. Right now I expect to go well into September but will be watching the weather. I have an empty 45 long set up so if I move the fish and filters and hook up a power head, I can move everything in a day.

Larry I really must come and visit you one day, your house sound amazing.

Matt

Hi Matt,
My friends are urging me to buy an RV Trailer as a my living quarters and just finish turning this small house into one big fish room.
I do have plenty of room to park the trailer.

cool

Matt