# My DIY 150 AG tub



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

thought you might like to see this. 150 gal. rubbermaid ag tub with 5 gal. wet/dry and 4.5 gal of bio-balls. Has a 4900 lph (1321 gph) for filtration pump. Still trying to fabricate a lid for the big thing. any ideas? Also, this tank is still in the works. was thinking of going with white playsand as substrate. And having a hell of a time with water evaporation. Let me know what you think.
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These pics are old. It now has white gravel and a lid to cover the whole tub.


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Trying the cotton mop trick eh :nod:

Nice work!


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

Thats pretty cool just wouldnt make a great show tank. Whats the mop for?


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## mr_rob_boto (Aug 31, 2003)

Pretty nice



RockinTimbz said:


> Thats pretty cool just wouldnt make a great show tank. Whats the mop for?


helps promote breeding
good luck


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Yeah, it helps trigger breeding. I have lots more work to do first. lol.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

yeah helps trigger breeding by showing the women fish their place. (Cleaning,breeding and feeding) HAHAHAHAHA


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

nice setup.


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

Is that mop thing a joke that it helps breeding?? What do they use it as a nest to lay eggs in??


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## Malok (Mar 26, 2006)

> yeah helps trigger breeding by showing the women fish their place. (Cleaning,breeding and feeding) HAHAHAHAHA


lol

kick ass set up leasure see i dont hate you all the time just when you bash little kids that ask the same ? a hundred times kids get used to it if u plan on having them or you have infants

as for the setup if its possible the n you can prevent evaporation by keeping the room the same temp as the tank if not then your on the right track with the plexi just keep alot of the tank covered and some of the water will dripp back in the tank

imo gravel is better than sand easier to clean and they make white too

are you doing the white so you can see the ps better? i know the tub would be pretty dark with most substrates i am plannig on doing the same thing and i also thought about using white ,but i want the gravel

one more thing what did you pay for that tub?

im almost thinking about jumping a fence to get one for free since tractor supply keeps them outside in a fence yard and they want 200 for the 150.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

for the lid if you really wanted to stop evaporation you could make your own lid out of MDF or Particle board and T-shirt material... cut out the ouside parimeter of the tub using 1/2" MDF probably by 1"wide for support or so then you can stretch T-shirt material across the mdf parimeter staple it to the mdf resin the whole thing up a couple times to strengthen/water proff and at that point you could cut some windows out of the T-shirt resin board and put that plexiglass there so you could still have somewhat of a view from the top, its kinda alot of work but IMO would come out good and fit the best to stop evaporation and as long as its waterproofed i would see no problem with it.
-Josh


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

> kick ass set up leasure see i dont hate you all the time just when you bash little kids that ask the same ? a hundred times kids get used to it if u plan on having them or you have infants


I have 2 girls 5 & 7. I can cope. Just can't handel repetition.



> you can prevent evaporation by keeping the room the same temp


Can't lower temp, trying to breed.



> are you doing the white so you can see the ps better?


Yeah, so I can see the eggs.



> one more thing what did you pay for that tub?


Got a damn good deal from a lfs guy who went out of business. He used it as a live plant tank.
Got this bad boy drilled and ready to go for $15.
I didn't realize they cost so much at the store. Also bought the 4900 lph pump (1321gph), 29 gal sump, 5 gallons of bio-balls, 500 watt titanium heater, and a bunch of chems and stuff.
So, I got the tub and all this crap for a grand total of $65. Geuss I got a good deal


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Bump for those of you wanting to see this. Someone asked to see the pics, so here they are. Has since been modified.


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## werdna (Mar 15, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> yeah helps trigger breeding by showing the women fish their place. (Cleaning,breeding and feeding) HAHAHAHAHA


LOL

also i hope that works for your breeding


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## Malok (Mar 26, 2006)

> QUOTE
> you can prevent evaporation by keeping the room the same temp
> 
> Can't lower temp, trying to breed.


can u raise the temp in the room to 80 it will help?


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

The mop!! Again with the mop!!!








Hope that works for you! Ours laid eggs again today (without the mop).

That looks like a good setup. Nice sump.
I would use a brown or black gravel. They seem to be more comfortable with a darker substrate.
They would probably use that mop to lay their eggs if there was no gravel. I doubt that it will "trigger " them to spawn, just cheaper than gravel. Ooooh....sweet....a MOP! Let's get jiggy!

Put two pieces of plexi perpindicular to the plexi that you have on there now. Where the seam is, screw on a piece of wood for a brace on top of each piece of plexi. 
Or, just put wood on half of the tub and plexi on the other. The wood only needs paint on the side facing the water.

Do you have a grow-out tank ready in case they do mate?


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

yes I do have a tank ready and cycled.

And quit making fun of my mop trick. lol.
I just learned it a few weeks ago.

Too late bout the gravel. Already filled it with white.

And that plexi isn't on top anymore. I have a new peice that fits the whole tub.

I think I am seriuosly gonna do the mesh wire thing, and fence it in.


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

Yeah...sorry about the mop thing. Gotta tease you about the mop.







The MOP!

We went to the Shedd Aquarium open house last night. They used alot of plastic containers for breeding, quarintine, and "time outs". One was about 5-6 feet in diameter and 4 feet high.
They had an old plywood one that was about 150 gallons on wheels.

Excellent setup for $65 !









I didn't see your other thread about the chicken wire until now.
A full lid is a better solution than chicken wire.
It will help keep the temperature up and keep the fish in the tub.
It will also dramatically cut down on evaporation.
You can also insulate around the tub to keep heat loss down.


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## Dr Exum (Nov 6, 2004)

can u repost the pics?


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