Would these poly (?) barrels work for a water changing station?

I wouldn't trust em

 

Bad bad bad

You can get nice ones from the salad dressing plant in Grundy Center for $15 each. I am sure there are others around too.

 

I bought a couple of nice new plastic trash cans form Walmart that work great! Plus you don't have to worry what was in them before you got them.

 

AC&C had the blue versions of these that andrew had access to for a reasonable cost when i was looking into building ours

 

I hate to hijack the thread, but since it's the same topic....

1. What's the best way to add a spicot at the bottom of these? Perhaps a Uniseal?

2. Anyone know of a good store-bought stand that can be used to hold the weight of these? Building my own would be the best option, but I really don't have the tools to do that. Would be nice to see pictures of some other peoples waterchange systems/equipment!

 

Lee i can text mine to you but i used bulkhead fittings but andrew used uniseal on the 55 gal barrels. They have stands for just 55gal barrels but there spendy.

My number is 3194647565 and i can text my pic to you i cant post pics the way i could a few weeks ago for some reason and havent figured out how yet

 

I would try rubbermaid brute cans before i would use an off brand. Brute cans are rated for storage of food grade contents so they are clean and you dont have to worry about chemicals leaching into your pristine water. I just wiped the dust out of mine from being on the shelf at home depot and began using them.

 

there are many threads on various reef forums with these same questions. mostly of car wash soap concentrate. many claimn there are no problems as long as you clean them well. i have been contemplating using them too. if it is HPDE 2 stamped it is safe for eating and drinking. which would probably not trap and leech any harmful corrosive or phosphates from the detergent.
first off i would cut the top off in a way to still reuse it as removable lid (youtube it)
power wash them of all remaining liquid
cold water rinse
fill with RO waste water and dump
then fill with clean RODI. test TDS as well as phosphates. close the lid and check again in a week for any changes.

that could be too much work, but could be worth it.
there are a few craigslist posts of blue barrells used by pickle factories in MN that will deliver to iowa. Or i have come across the KING of food safe barrells. http://desmoines.craigslist.org/grd/3570112779.html