Making A Tank From A Kiddie Pool?

Alright guys, i'm going to put this out here as its an idea I've had for a long time,

I have a 4 foot diameter blue kiddie pool. It isin't inflatable, and it seems really sturdy and clean. Around 40-50 gallons.

Could I keep some fish in here with a sponge filter and heater? It is going to be indoors. Also, what other types of fish could I keep in here besides goldfish and livebearers. I might be able to put some plants in it to give them cover.

 

Yep.

You can put anything that would fit in a tank of the same size, assuming the height would be fine for them.

 

I've also had this idea, even to heat it with in 'tank' heater, I figured could lay down a large flat rock and attach heater to this to keep it from getting too hot on the pool and possibly melting it even a little, then just add air stone under the rock or if using powerhead on the sponge filter, have it blow across rock/heater

 

Why not? A tank is anything that can hold water.

 

will definitely work. Some people even use them to house their outdoor pond fish in the winter months if their ponds aren't deep enough to withstand the colder temps.

 

I have three in my basement. Currently only one is running, but I have had all three full of fish at the same time. Mine are a bit larger, 6 foot diameter, holds close to 100 gallons.

 

I have three in my basement. Currently only one is running, but I have had all three full of fish at the same time. Mine are a bit larger, 6 foot diameter, holds close to 100 gallons.

What is/was in them?

 

What is/was in them?

All kinds of things. Colonies where I have large numbers of a species, large batches of fry, some odd growouts. Lots of plants, but they always seem to get overrun with hair algae. Still the one that is currently operational has large masses of Java Moss along with the hair algae. Had some Guppy Grass in there, but the hair algae tends to smother it. No fish at the moment, so it is unheated. One pool was smothered out by Duckweed, it is pretty much dead at the moment. Third pool is currently dried out; thinking about taking it outside next spring, if I can find something worth putting in it.

BTW, forgot to mention, I put sheets of Styrofoam insulation underneath to insulate them from the basement floor. I will use a very large heater lying on a piece of slate, and usually sponge filters and/or circulating pumps.

 

BTW, forgot to mention, I put sheets of Styrofoam insulation underneath to insulate them from the basement floor. I will use a very large heater lying on a piece of slate, and usually sponge filters and/or circulating pumps.

Wouldn’t the weight of the tank crush the Styrofoam?

 

Wouldn’t the weight of the tank crush the Styrofoam?

I think that the weight is distributed across a larger area, unlike conventional tanks that have a lot more height.

 

The pool is too spread out over the sheets of Styrofoam to have that much pressure. After all, the pool is only about 10 inches deep.

 

chromedome52 I think that is a genius idea to put Styrofoam sheets under the pool as I hadn't thought of that and even if I did, it would prob be AFTER I filled it :/ Haha
Now I may get a pallet from local store and then add Styrofoam on top of that and then the pool, between the pallet and the Styrofoam, the pool should remain level as pallets also give a small bit and the Styrofoam also would self-level