Ok, so I bought one of those 30gl STERILITE totes from wally world. It has the PP5 symbol on the bottom. Now according to my reading these things are ok for sumps. I read that these (PP5) along with the 2HDPE and the 4LDPE are safe for sumps. Apparently they don't hardly leach any chemicals. They use all these for ketchup and syrup bottles as well as other food containers. I've seen a lot of people using these but I wanted to discuss it with some of you. Any experience, thoughts, etc? Please don't go all willy nilly. If you havent done your reading don't start preaching...I need real fact not opinion. I plan on building a box out of plywood and setting this thing in it and filling around it with expanding foam insulation. This will make the walls more rigid as well as insulating cause it's going in my non heated and cooled garage. I figure with the 30 gallon size I should get 20 gallons in it.
i dont see why it wont work. If your looking for a place to put equipment, and add to the water volume. why not. i have a 75 gal, turned into a sump/fug. If your not looking to use it for a fug as well. my experiance , with a filter sock and retrun pumps on the other end, i have found micro bubbles NOT to be a prob. i guess ,what im saying is, you may can get away without baffles as well. good luck Greg PS leaching , i have not idea
Without getting "Willy Nilly" I would like to say that from my experience with many sterilite containers, they tend to get very brittle with time, and depending on what light you have over them. If you have concerns with bleaching, wear, and applications, why not just use a container designed for aquarium use. There are used tanks of all sizes posted in the classifieds everyday. They can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of a new one, and they always throw in any extra equipment they have too. These can be drilled easily and if acrylic very easy. I can understand cost as a consideration, but if you consider the problems that can arise from a project gone wild, I always opt for a glass or acrylic tank for my sumps ans refugs.
