Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Guys

Here in Adelaide (not sure of the other states), we can get green 500 litre containers (84 cm high x 103 dia) with a lid that hold water for about $79. I was going to use this for a CHOP system and specifically this as a sump but have just noticed it says "Not Suitable for drinking water". Pretty sure its the same as what BigDaddy has, but should I be concerned?

I was going to 1/2 bury it so I dont have to have my GB's to high

They would be fine to use, the reason that they are labeled not for drinking water is because they are usually MDPP not HDPP and that means they will have small imperfections on the surface of the plastic that can support bacteria which is not such a bad thing in an AP growbed or tank.

lol - dejuvu - cheers again

I assume you mean MDPE? Are you sure about the details? I mean I've seen food grade HDPE plastics that has small holes and imperfections in it, that's due to the rotomoulding process, so I don;t know that that has anything to do with the food safeness of a plastic.

I just want it to be safe to use as a SUMP

Just depends on what your after Erich and how much you care. There are many people on the forum who don't care about what plastics they use in their systems, but then there are others who will only use food safe plastics. Personally I try to use food safe where ever possible, and if a container says not suitable for drinking water then I won;t use it, but plenty of others will.

You really need to do your own research into plastics their contents, off gassing etc, and decide for yourself what you want to use.

Cheers - thats why im here - research

I know someone nearby to me who has and is successfully running Barra in his system, has 2 of these for FT. Im checking if someone knows about these, used and their experiences

Cheers

from memory, they are number 5 plastic so they should be fine. number 5 plastic is used for food stuffs. If it can be used for re-useable microwave ware, then it should be fine. I remember doing the research for my first system where I used 2 of them as fish tanks and except for the third eye i'm growing all is well But seriously, I agree to go food grade where possible, and although it says not for drinking water, the fact that it is stamped with number 5 means that firstly it is recyclable and secondly it falls under the number 5 quality according to plastics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling

There is another better site, just can't find it anywhere.


Quachy

It's not so much about whether the fish will be ok...


Start with this one, it's enough to put a bloke off drinking water out of plastic bottles.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... 555698.htm

Check the number on the container, there should be one somewhere...
Heres some info on the different types of plastics http://ecovillagegreen.com/2010/02/what ... rs-to-use/

(Edit you beat me quachy)

Can you buy these in Perth?

I've never seen them at any bunnings store over here

Biggest I've seen is the 210L rain tanks for $58. (excluding the poly rain water tanks for about $600 upwards)