Water storage / barrel ideas

Those Brute trash cans can't be beat for the price, I use them and have for years, the stores I managed back in Colorado used them as well, they take a lot of abuse and can hold the water, it's even fairly easy to add bulk heads. I do have a couple of rain barrels but I just use those for pure R/O water I use it for other purposed than just my aquariums so the fact that they are already plumbed for a garden hose is nice.

 

I have 3 of these. I think they are about the same price as the brute trash cans or even cheaper(I got them for free, so its an estimate )

 

Hell if I could find those locally for the same price I wouldn't even bother to make saltwater, I;d just go fill up out of the gulf

 

Well, where can you buy those clean?

 

Can the top come off for easy access? I'd like to put a pump inside to recirculate the water and help mix the salt.

 

I bought a 45 gal pickle barrel from the local feed store (cleaned it out of course) for $12 and put a spicket end on the bottom. I fill with RO water and drain in to a bucket to mix SW for water changes. it works pretty good for me now until I come up with a better way LOL

 

The LFS I used to work at used an 6 or 7 foot tall section of 18" PVC that had been capped at both ends to store RO water. We went through it pretty fast but I dont think there was anything we did to keep it airated. We always used the 35 gallon rubbermaid trashcans to mix the salt water in.

 

The top does not come off, but you can out a square to add pumps and such (I have an external pump on the outside to pump out the water) I dont know about shipping but they do sell these tanks online.

 

I found some online for sale through mfg. co. and they are about $80. Everyone is snagging all of the cheap ones for rain barrels. Trash cans will surely be easier.

 

I've got a 55gallon food safe barrel, much like the blue one posted earlier but grey and more heavy duty, I bought at a local feed/ranch supply store for about $20. The top screws off as does the center cap and it is super sturdy. They had a bunch which they got from a local vegetable packing plant so if you have either a ranch or farm supply place or perhaps a vegetable packing plant check there. Mine smelled like jalapeno peppers but after a time with a little bleach and dish soap the smell disappeared. Whatever you use make sure you cean it out very well and that it has NEVER NEVER had any type of oil in it.