Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thought it best to ask this question in a new thread, so as not to disrupt the other one.

I have a metal water tank that I'm going to break down to use as my fish tank.

I was initially going to use the bottom third of the tank (approx 3500lt), but after reading the fish thread have been thinking of burying part of the tank.....which would allow me to use the bottom 2/3 of the tank (approx 6500-7000lt).

While having a larger fish tank would allow more fish, I'm concerned that burying part of the tank will only speed up it rusting! Is there any way to prevent rusting?

I should add that were the tank will be won't get any rain, or water run off from rain....but still, there is that concern that by it being in the ground the metal will start to rust a lot quicker.

I like the idea, though, of burying the tank a couple of feet into the ground. It would assist greatly with providing stability to the sides....plus make it easier to see/reach into.

I'm not sure about that one Corny, sounds like a good idea though.... The drain tank on my flood and drain system is slightly buried into the ground, and it gets a bit of water on it, but it's only been there for about 2 years now, so I wouldn't know about rust....... ??

Anyone...????

I'm sure there would be heaps of things you could paint it with to slow down the rusting process including:

- kill rust type paints
- paint of galvanising
- some sort of tar
- that blcak rubbery/tar type stuff that you can paint onto iron roofs where there are leaks/rust spots.

I'm sure the options are endless.

lol...didn't think of anything like that...will look into it!

Have dcided against burying. Will instead build a walkway around 1/3 of the tank, seeing as it will stand 150cm.

That will be much easier Corny... Especially if you have flat ground to begin with where your tank can go. Having to dig a hole and get the base nice and compacted, level and flat, is not always so easy......

Cornonthecob,
Now you have decided to keep the tank above ground you will still need to create a barrier fron the sand to the tank as corrosion can be cause by the soil,(ion exchange)coating the tank can also make things worse as a lot of coatings are corrosive even if not at the begining of the application.
A double layer of builders plastic can help as a barrier.
More if required as this is close to my field of expertise.
C1