setting an out door bath tub

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DJ-don
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setting an out door bath tub

Post by DJ-don »

Hey guys

I'm just expanding to the out doors and I've just been allowed a bath tub.
Dimensions as follows
H 570 x W 1675 x D 710 mm.

I just want to know what I need to do set an out door tub

Im not too sure what fish to get at this moment but i was thinking possibly australian natives?
Maybe empire gudgeons or sorts??
Maybe you guys could help me out here too???

Im not sure about filtration because I hear all sorts of things for that so can anyone enlighten me on this??

any advice would be great to get me started

Thanks
DJ
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MatsP
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by MatsP »

Filtration: Small pond filter type thing (can be home-built by using a small container and a pond-pump to circulate the water, and let gravity do the job of returning the water.

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Mats
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RickE
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by RickE »

Make sure the plug is in before you fill it :d
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Thriftyfisher
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by Thriftyfisher »

You should have lots of fun with your tub. It is just about the right size to keep and breed 2 species in if you do it right.

I don’t think that I have ever kept any Australian fish species in my ponds or tubs but I have kept and bred rainbow fish (Melanotaenia boesemani and Pseudomugil gertrudae) in my ponds. Australia is home to some nice rainbows. You could also look at keeping some cory cats, cichlids or your suggested empire gudgeons, however, you will not see them very often. Try to think about fish that stay up in the water column otherwise you will only catch glimpses of them.

If you think two species, one that stays on the bottom such as a cory, gudgeon or rock dwelling cichlid you can keep another species such as a rainbow or top oriented livebearer as well.

I only have a pump in each pond that circulates the water around. I use lots of plants to do the work of actually filtering the water. In Michigan we only get about 3-4 months that it is warm enough to keep tropical fish outside and then the pond or tub needs to be taken down. Although that is not a bad thing as every once in a while you need to take down the tub to get all of the fry out.

The first tub has Astatotilapia latifasciata and Pseudomugil gertudae in it. I have fry from both of those species and they have only been out in the tub for about 5 weeks so far. I took a couple mops of Gertudae eggs inside as with rainbows that seems to be the way to get the most fry to survive.

The second pond has Pseudotropheus sp. acei, Alfaro huberi and Gymnogeophagus sp. norte. I have fry from the first two but not the Gymnos, at least not that I have seen. The huberi have given me two batches of fry so far.
Attachments
Tub 1, pump is on the lower right of the tub.
Tub 1, pump is on the lower right of the tub.
Tub 2, pump is on the upper right side of the tub.
Tub 2, pump is on the upper right side of the tub.
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DJ-don
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by DJ-don »

Thanks for the replies guys

and thriftyfisher, empire gudgeons are australian natives so i can easily get them. the reason why i want aussie natives is because they can handle the seasonal temperature changes. i dont think i have the space to move fish from the pond and back
but i like your filteriong idea just by using plants and a pump but defs need more research
what do you do for drainage during really raining days? surely the overflow might cause fish to flow with it? i was considering maybe i could cut out a chunk from the side of the tub around the top and add some mesh to it so whenever it rains, the water just gets drained through the mesh not over flowing. but cutting a hole in a tub would be a bit hard? does anyone reccomend another idea?

still very open to more ideas and advice

Cheers
Dj
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by PlecoCrazy »

Your idea of an overflow drain should work fine. It is very easy to make a hole. Just use a drill bit to match the size you want. Make sure you have any pvc fittings that you may use ahead of time to make sure you use the right size drill bit.
-Trent
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Thriftyfisher
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Re: setting an out door bath tub

Post by Thriftyfisher »

I just let the tubs overflow when it rains. If I know we are going to get a lot of rain I sometimes lower the water level an inch. However, rain overflow allows for water changes and if we get rain on a regular bases I get regular natural automatic water changes.

The trick without losing fish when it rains and the water overflows is to understand fish. Bottom dwelling fish are never at the top and are not a problem. Fish that stay at the surface go down when it rains, especially if it rains hard. Thus when it is raining fish are lower in the water column and don’t swim or get washed out. There is a chance that on some small fry fish such as rainbows that they will swim out or get washed out but I haven’t seen evidence for that.

The more level your tub is the greater area the overflow will cover and therefore the less the overflow will be at any one area. This means that the chance you will have a problem with fish swimming out of your tub will be less.

That is good thinking about keeping natives. I had to look up the weather for Canberra. You do get a little cool during your winter. I always think of Australia being much warmer than that. Still you can keep fish outside all winter and I am jealous of that. Our winters highs are under 30deg F (-1deg C) and to keep fish during the winter they need a deep pond and the ability to spend 3 months under ice.
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