Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My questions is does it matter if the ICB totes I get are food grade or not? If I get one that had chemical in them is there a way to clean them and make sure they are safe before I start with my system?

most people will look for totes that stored a food product...
but.. if you give them a good scrub with detergent, then bleach, then a rinse with some vinegar, you can put the tote in the sun for a few days with some water in it, and if it starts to grow algae, i'd say it's ok...
i'm sure others here will comment with their experiences/thoughts..

Howdy -

Yes any tote should be fine with a good clean (as mentioned by keith)

Mine had some kind of resin in them - and because they were black plastic and didnt require painting i took the risk. They're fine,

We used one that had stored clean motor oil, yuk, you would think! But it cleaned up beautifully and is now on its third crop of fish, no problemo Trout, Barramundi and now Trout again

Mine had hydraulic oil but they have cleaned up alright and are now working as wicking beds

One of mine had concrete accelerant in it.... beat that

Nuclear waste

Two IBCs I purchased from BYAP for some friends' projects contained some form of concrete mould oil which was easily dispatched with soft soap, a little elbow grease and a high-pressure sprayer. A final wash out with some (very) cheap vanilla essence and another high-pressure rinse resulted in not being able to smell any of the original contents.

Both systems are doing fine.

Mine had some sort of printing press cleaner in it - the grass where I washed it out died within a week, but thorough cleaning with bleach and a few days in the sun and it's been fine.

That smell would be great....

My bulky once held phosphate which is a corrosive liquid used in boilers to maintain certain pH levels. I washed it out with demin water (on tap at work ) and got the the LAB to take a sample and tested the water for copper, ammonia and phosphate and a few other nasties and the results were good.

What I want to know is.....Is the plastic BPA free?

BTW, anyone know a good way of removing a quarter ton of gravel from the mud next to my grow bed?

Easy answer Tysonlee, elbow grease.

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