Where to buy 50+ gal opaque barrel?

[johnny]

Anyone know where I might be able to buy a 50+ gallon opaque barrel? I need something a bit bigger than a garbage can for my water changes...

 

[insanefishguy]

Tractor supply

 

[johnny]

Thanks ill check it out!

 

[bmkindig]

i use a 55 gallon brute from restaurant supply store or you can try lowes,some lfs store may have something on hand also

 

[PAStreetGlide]

I have a 55 gallon food grade barrel. I found a guy down in Herhsey that had them on craigslist. I think it was $10

 

[rigleautomotive]

be careful with used barrels.There were some studies(borneman i believe) that showed very poor marine embryo mortality in some species that were housed in certain types of plastic vessels.If anything toxic or even remotely harmful was ever kept in it ,the storing of RODI water will wick some of these substances out of the plastic and into the water.
RODI being devoid of substances tends to be a great solvent and will wash anything trapped in a porous ,non inert container quite effectively.

I had a bad experience many years ago when using a white barrel that was from a car wash.It had the wax or detergent in it that is used for the facility.I scrubbed this vessel many times and pressure washed it also but when I started using it I had very poor health in my corals.I watched the animals degrade for a few months before I removed the barrel.The very next day my animals looked better and looked increasingly healthier each day until I doubted my self and decided to hook up the barrel again.I told myself that it couldn't be the cause.Well the next few weeks showed the very same decline in health in some of the corals.Again I removed the barrel and BINGO,the animals started looking better almost immediately.anecdotal,yes but e3nough for me to learn a lesson.

 

[rogersb]

be careful with used barrels.There were some studies(borneman i believe) that showed very poor marine embryo mortality in some species that were housed in certain types of plastic vessels.If anything toxic or even remotely harmful was ever kept in it ,the storing of RODI water will wick some of these substances out of the plastic and into the water.
RODI being devoid of substances tends to be a great solvent and will wash anything trapped in a porous ,non inert container quite effectively.

I had a bad experience many years ago when using a white barrel that was from a car wash.It had the wax or detergent in it that is used for the facility.I scrubbed this vessel many times and pressure washed it also but when I started using it I had very poor health in my corals.I watched the animals degrade for a few months before I removed the barrel.The very next day my animals looked better and looked increasingly healthier each day until I doubted my self and decided to hook up the barrel again.I told myself that it couldn't be the cause.Well the next few weeks showed the very same decline in health in some of the corals.Again I removed the barrel and BINGO,the animals started looking better almost immediately.anecdotal,yes but e3nough for me to learn a lesson.

I had a similar experience but with a freshwater tank. The soaps and detergents leave a lot of PO4 locked in the plastics and freshwater sucks it right out.

 

[ReddyW]

Here's the article, and it was a Brute trash can that caused the problem:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic101230.aspx

There's a lot that goes into making plastic products to keep them from leaching various chemicals. There's some good information about molding quality plastics here, but it mostly applies to PET and we're usually using HDPE:

http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html

If you're going to use an old food barrel, try and get one that used to have flavorings in it. I had one that used to contain fruit punch flavor. I bet the fish would have loved their water tasting faintly of kool-aid!

 

[Fizz71]

I found my 55g drums on craigslist. I just made sure I knew they were food grade and no caustic chemicals were ever in them. I think he told me they had grape jelly in them. It was 4 years ago but I can PM his email and phone number if you want to try him.

Mal sometimes keeps some around too: www.reefandtails.com

 

[ganjero]

Dan,

What do you use now?

 

[Fizz71]

I forgot to mention..before I bought mine used I was looking at buying them new from Us Plastics:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=459&parentcatid=458

..it's pricey, but if you're concerned with what was in it before you can always go new.

 

[johnny]

Thanks Fizz, yea shoot me whatever info you have!