IBC Totes and Barrels

[Larry Dietz]

Where are most of you getting IBC tanks and barrels from? What types of companies may sell these cheaply?

So far, in my area, I have only found one company that sells these, and they sell new, or refurbished but cannot tell me what the previous contents were in the refurbished ones.

New they are wanting well over $200 for 275 gallon IBCs and about $60 for barrels. These prices are out of my budget right now for a hobby setup.

Any recomendations?

Thanks,
-Larry

[LowCarbTNPer]

Your best bet would probably be craigslist, that's where it seems most people get them.

[keith_r]

i spent a few months searching, because they are quite large, i wanted to find some fairly close to me becuase i don't have a truck..
i've seen them on craigslist from $40 up to $150 - most were a couple hours from where i live..
when i found them for $40 they happened to be about an hour from my house so i rented a truck.. all told, 4 totes (2x275gal and 2x330gal) ran me almost 260 to my door.. probably could have built a big gb for close to that

the guy i bought them from is starting a company reclaiming used oil for biodiesel..
some landscaping companies buy dye in them for mulch, the dye is food safe so ok for re-use..
a quick look at terra haute cr showed me this;

http://terrehaute.craigslist.org/grd/2668555476.html
a good cleaning with power washer and detergent, bleach rinse should clean them up.. you can always test by putting some water in them and leaving in the sun.. if you get algae growing you should be ok (i found a couple blue barrels with warning labels, cleaned and put some water in to check.. when i found that mosquito larvae were doing quite well, i decided that the barrels were "probably ok"..

[Larry Dietz]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have contacted this guy from Craigslist, and asked if he has any that did not contain chemicals, maybe I will get lucky. If not, for this price I may buy them and try as suggested, and power wash them out, and see if algae will grow in the tanks.

Again, Thanks for the help.

-Larry

[foodchain]

I don't follow. Why do you want to wait for algae to grow? Is this a way to determine if they held harmful chemicals? Wouldn't the unit, after being thoroughly cleaned and salted/rinsed and supplied with a dozen feeders goldfish be more accurate and faster? The fish I think would be more sensitive to unknown contaminants than algae, and if monitored would show signs and symptoms of a various contaminant or at least of stress far faster then a single cell algae. Just my two cents, but I think if that's your goal...you may be going about this the hard way. What you are planning works, but not necassary. ****Small fish show stress, and are more sensitive than bigger fish. So you wouldn't have to wait as long with little ones.****Use the feeders like the canary in the mine. They will let you know quick enough.

[keith_r]

good point fc... i'll be testing my next step up with minnows.. already cut 3 ibc's up and the cages!
and it figures, i finally found totes, and then a bunch show up on craigslist 5 minutes from my house.. they previously contained dye for mulch - so check with landscaping places as well

[cookie]

Craigslist rocks for totes and drums but IBC totes are listed as tanks most of the time and searching for "275 330 gallon" will get more hits then "IBC tote".

[Shas]

$40 for used barrels?
Good grief!

Have a look at the prices and places in our part of the world:

http://tinyurl.com/6r7jf8u

Everything typically costs much more in Canada.
I would expect barrels in your part of the world to sell for $5 or $10.
Anyway, maybe by seeing who is selling them here
you can get an idea of where to look in your area.
Think about who uses barrels;
sellers of beer and wine making supplies might know of good sources,
inquire at pet shops,
or forums for either of those hobbies...

BTW, when I was raising cichlids commercially
I found that discarded chest-type freezers
made excellent fish tanks.
A bit heavy and rather tall,
but they are INSULATED, food-safe
and a great size-
they hold a lot, yet you can readily
reach into all the corners with a small net.

Sometimes I left the lids on
for insulation and to prevent evaporation
and to keep the fish from jumping out.
I would cut a window in the top
and use silicone to attach plexiglass inside and out
(and around the edges of the cut).

Good luck!

[foodchain]

freezer boxes....nice.
but bulky and heavy. Can the liner be removed? Inlay that in the ground, like an inground pond. These would be easy to attach bulk heads too as well. Where did you find yours at? Suddenly I am in the market for some.

IBC totes I see being that expensive, but the blue barrels are much less, even from the local feed store who sells them as rainbarrels.

Side note. If you cut the IBC tote, what do you do with the top 1/2? I cut the tops off for easy access, but never thought of cutting them lower. People on here do it....and I like the idea....but what to do with the other 2 1/2 foot piece that would then be open at both ends?

[Shas]

freezer boxes....nice.
but bulky and heavy. Can the liner be removed? ... Where did you find yours at?

I found mine in the "Free" classifieds.
Nowadays I guess that would be caigslist.
Also, I kept an eye on the local landfill gates.
People often drop them off there after hours,
to avoid paying the dumping fee

Removing the liners-
shouldn't be too difficult,
just cut along the top edge.
I never tried that, as I wanted the insulation value.