Have a couple of questions

[Tish]

Couple of questions:
1 - When describing my stock tank pond for the purpose of asking questions etc. Do I say it is 80 gallons as described by hardware store where I bought it...or do I describe by volume which is closer to 180 gallons? ( I learned that lesson the hard way. Lost some fish before I learned to estimate volume for proper amount of water conditioner )
2 - I noticed that when people say they move some of their fish indoors for the winter they choose their bigger fish. Is this because the fish still exhale ammonia etc. even though they are in hibernation mode?

 

[SarahT]

Hi. I think describe using the actual volume of water, particularly with the diff between 80 and 180, for the very reason of your hard learned lesson.
Not sure why only some fish get to go indoors for the winter. When I lived in Chicago, I moved all my fish indoors for a couple of winters, but they hated the moving and so I redid the pond to allow them to winter over outside. They survived the winters just fine, and "agreed" to one more move - to Florida.

 

[Lisak1]

How does an 80 gallon stock tank hold 180 gallons of water? Just curious! But obviously you need to know total water volume any time you're adding treatment of any kind... which hopefully isn't very often at all.

I've never seen people say they target the bigger fish to bring indoors, so that's a new one. It's more typically an all or nothing thing. But yes, fish do still produce waste during the cold months. They don't truly hibernate - their metabolism just slows waaaaay down. They are still alive so all the same bodily functions occur. Fish waste comes from the gills too - same as humans, when we exhale.

 

[WaterGardener]

Some fish don't tolerate cold, so those definitely need to be brought inside.

Never heard of people only bringing in larger fish, but those would need more oxygen than the smaller ones. Maybe folks feel they could better provide that if they brought the larger ones in. But I don't see a reason not to have addition air in the outside pond. I would think that most of us provide that year round.

 

[Tish]

How does an 80 gallon stock tank hold 180 gallons of water? Just curious! But obviously you need to know total water volume any time you're adding treatment of any kind... which hopefully isn't very often at all.

I've never seen people say they target the bigger fish to bring indoors, so that's a new one. It's more typically an all or nothing thing. But yes, fish do still produce waste during the cold months. They don't truly hibernate - their metabolism just slows waaaaay down. They are still alive so all the same bodily functions occur. Fish waste comes from the gills too - same as humans, when we exhale.

Oh, You are right about my volume. I should have said 160 gal. I believe I used the correct formula to calculate it. Length x width x depth x 7.5. That gives me 157 gal. However, now that I am thinking about it the tank is oval not square and does taper a bit towards the bottom. So that would decrease it also. The only chemical I have to use is de-chlorinator. Since it is a small enclosed system I do partial water changes weekly.

 

[Lisak1]

160 still makes no sense. Why would they sell it as an 80 gallon tank if it holds twice that amount? Maybe I'm missing something.

Small water changes make some sense in a smaller volume of water, but I have a patio pond that holds about 35 or 40 gallons and I really don't change the water (intentionally) all season long. I do break it down every fall and restart it in the spring, but otherwise it gets filled, planted, fish added and pretty much just topped off from April to November.

 

[WaterGardener]

I agree that your tank volume is what it was sold as, 80 gallons. Those tanks are pretty accurate with those amounts. If it is marked as 80 gallons, that is what it holds.

 

[GBBUDD]

80 gallon is a pretty small amount. 180 gallons is closer to the size of a tub.

 

[Lisak1]

Do I say it is 80 gallons as described by hardware store where I bought it.

I feel like if it's being sold as an 80 gallon container, then it should hold 80 gallons. Why would it hold more? I mean, I could see 85 gallons if you filled it to the tippy top, but double the volume makes zero sense to me.

Sorry @Tish... trying not to hijack your thread here with this small point! I'm just a bit baffled! Did you mean you bought a ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY gallon tank that only calculates to ONE HUNDRED SIXTY GALLONS? Maybe that's where the disconnect is happening.

 

[WaterGardener]

Galvanized and steel stock tanks do come in an 80 gallon size. There may be some marking on the tank that shows the volume, usually raised printing.

 

[Tish]

I feel like if it's being sold as an 80 gallon container, then it should hold 80 gallons. Why would it hold more? I mean, I could see 85 gallons if you filled it to the tippy top, but double the volume makes zero sense to me.

Sorry @Tish... trying not to hijack your thread here with this small point! I'm just a bit baffled! Did you mean you bought a ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY gallon tank that only calculates to ONE HUNDRED SIXTY GALLONS? Maybe that's where the disconnect is happening.

No problem. I thank you all for piling on. I clearly mucked something up. I went out and re=measured and I was using a wrong number in my volume calculation. It is 4 ft long by 3 ft. wide and 18 inches high. That still comes out to over a hundred gallons......However it has a 2 inch lip all around and being oval shaped plus tapering down at the bottom would take away from the amount of water it could actually hold. I;m sure you all are correct. 80 gal it is. It seems dumb to me now but I'm glad I posted. Thank you all

 

[WaterGardener]

Is this a Rubbermaid type tank? If so, they do make one that is 100 gallons. That should be marked on the tank somewhere.

Don't know why the store would have told you it was something other than what you have, but we once bought a 100 gallon stock tank that was actually 150 gallons. We even asked about it since it was larger than our other 100 gallon tanks. But they insisted, so we brought it home. When unloading it, we noticed it was actually marked half again larger. They had grabbed the wrong tank. So mistakes are possible.

 

[Tish]

Is this a Rubbermaid type tank? If so, they do make one that is 100 gallons. That should be marked on the tank somewhere.

Don't know why the store would have told you it was something other than what you have, but we once bought a 100 gallon stock tank that was actually 150 gallons. We even asked about it since it was larger than our other 100 gallon tanks. But they insisted, so we brought it home. When unloading it, we noticed it was actually marked half again larger. They had grabbed the wrong tank. So mistakes are possible.

Good deal for you! I think it has a sticker on it but cant get at it now as tank is wrapped up and covered for the winter. I will check it out come spring but it was most likely just a rookie miscalculation. Thnx

 

[GBBUDD]

take a couple measurements and go here

Cylinder Volume Gallons Calculator

Use this cylinder volume gallons calculator to determine cylinder volume in gallons.

www.omnicalculator.com