Made a fish tank into a pool

[canuckamuck]

It gets real hot here, obviously, and on one of those hot days, while working in one of my tanks of my fish farm; I reflected upon how nice it would be to just jump in. The tanks are 3 x 4 x 1 meter. Not big enough to actually swim in. But you can get out of the heat you know, and look how popular hot tubs are and they are much smaller.

Anyhow my thinking was only to clean up a tank and fill it with clean water once in a while with water I have piped in from a dam. I figured I wouldn't spend any money, just get a quick break from the heat. The water could be dumped and replaced anytime. This turned out to be more popular than I expected, my kids (all under 11) loved it. But the concrete was rough and not so fun to play on.

So I figured what the heck, I will tile the bottom with a brilliant blue. This was also very popular, but the first time in, my daughter came out with a nasty abrasion on her arm from the walls.

"OK so lets tile the walls" I said, and I did; although I couldn't find the same tiles I found something complementary. I also put in a bench, and a set of stairs and a platform for jumping off.

This was also well received, but at this time my father in law began work on his rice paddy which muddied up my stream water daily. The tiles looked nice, but not nice enough to offset muddy water.

So I decided to start up the filter I had already in place for fish. But I modified the media and came up with something fairly intensive, I also doubled the pump power I had before.

Now off course I could no longer just dump the water, because it would never get filtered this way. I decided if I was to keep the water I would also need to add bleach.

Now something wonderful happened. The pool got more and more clear every day, until it was sparkling like everybody else's real swimming pools. I even ran a water line from my house water supply which is sand filtered and comes in clean already.

From a kids entertainment point of view, the small amount of money I put into this project is some of the best money I have spent. That pool gets used at least twice a day, sometimes for hours. And not just my kids. I live in a remote village, and everyday my pool is full of village kids screaming their heads off and inventing games to play.

I did not expect it to become so much like the real thing, I find myself thinking I should look into some other things for the pool. For example I could use a chlorine test kit and very possibly I should be using some different form of chlorine. And there are probably some other things that I should be considering. I live in Chiang Rai province. Does anyone know how I can get get pool supplies here?

I know this homemade tank will be quite offensive to many that frequent this forum, but hopefully some of you can give me some advice.

Here are some pics

[beachproperty]

Great idea !!!!

Sorry no advice as to supplies or maintenance ....But I am thinking of putting in a small in-ground pool so I will be watching this thread with interest. There are also MANY other threads about pools that may help you (helped me ....and gave me ideas). Since you've posted in the swimming pool thread I assume you've seen them.

few questions ....with the pool being so shallow....how hot does the water get (have you tried throwing in Blocks of Ice)??? And does the shade screen help (assume it does)?

Edited May 25, 2014 by beachproperty

[canuckamuck]

The pool has never failed to be refreshing. We do live at 700 meters altitude though, so in the city it might get hotter. The shade cloth does help, especially with keeping the water from getting green. I know this because there was a few weeks there where the cloth was removed. The more shade the better I would say.

in hindsight i wish I could have started from scratch on this one. the high walls are obviously a problem for getting in and out, as well as for visibility.

I would love to do an in ground version of the same thing. But I got the pool I got, and I accept that.

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Well done on what looks to be an intuitive and successful mini swimming pool solution!

With all the use it's getting it's very important to take care of the sanitation and the pH level.

A simple floating chlorine dispenser for chlorine tablets is the answer, and a small supply of tablets. A test kit will also tell if you need to add pH Plus or pH Minus. Kept in the corect parameters, the chlorine should not be noticeable.

We sell everything you need online and such products usually get 'same-day shipping'. Sent by Thai Post EMS, you would receive them in 2 days.

[apiwan]

"Everyday my pool is full of village kids"

Well done .mate.

Nice gesture

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[canuckamuck]

Well done on what looks to be an intuitive and successful mini swimming pool solution!

With all the use it's getting it's very important to take care of the sanitation and the pH level.

A simple floating chlorine dispenser for chlorine tablets is the answer, and a small supply of tablets. A test kit will also tell if you need to add pH Plus or pH Minus. Kept in the corect parameters, the chlorine should not be noticeable.

We sell everything you need online and such products usually get 'same-day shipping'. Sent by Thai Post EMS, you would receive them in 2 days.

I will be making an order, thank you.

[rhodie]

A very nice idea. Well done!

[Pacificperson]

Fish tanks between uses are great for kids. Here is a picture from a long time ago.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Pacificperson

[Daffy D]

Great Idea

Well done

[alfalfa19]

Looks like great fun for the kids. May I ask what type of fish you are raising? Are they the raise to eat kind, or the tropical, raise to sell to pet shop kind?

[ozsamurai]

I have been doing this for a few years now on a much smaller scale, as our kids are only 2 and 4 this year. Our fish tank is a polyester one only about 2m wide and not more than half a meter tall, but as you have said, the kids love it and we use it daily to beat the heat. We bought it for under 2000 baht off the highway near our house on a whim, it has been the best money I have ever spent.

Somethings I have learned by experience in the maintenance are:

Purchasing chlorine from a local chemist is easy and cheap, 200baht for 1/2 kg (my pool is only 5000 lt, so a desert spoon or so every other day keeps it fresh)

About once a week I add a cup of Bleach in substitution of a 'pool shock' solution.

I usually run a bilge pump (500 gal pm) which you can buy from Amorn for approx 400 baht, this is solar panel powered and runs all day for free.

I filter the water though a series of microfiber cloths, 3-4 of them layered, I then clean them with a high pressure washer when they become clogged.

The local farming supply store has skimmer nets for about 20 baht.

All in all it works fine, but would also love to hear from others who may have done a similar thing and get some new ideas.

Oz

edit to add pic..

Edited May 25, 2014 by ozsamurai

[Torrens54]

The pool has never failed to be refreshing. We do live at 700 meters altitude though, so in the city it might get hotter. The shade cloth does help, especially with keeping the water from getting green. I know this because there was a few weeks there where the cloth was removed. The more shade the better I would say.

in hindsight i wish I could have started from scratch on this one. the high walls are obviously a problem for getting in and out, as well as for visibility.

I would love to do an in ground version of the same thing. But I got the pool I got, and I accept that.

Can you build-up the earth around the "pool" and maybe slope it from the ground up?

Whatever, congratulations on a great idea! Hope your local "kill-joy" Council doesn't have a problem with it.

My wife just had a problem with ours. She had a very nice retaining wall built along the edge of a small creek at the back of our house and was growing some vegetables there.

BIG MISTAKE... she didn't get permission from the "Council" or whatever as she figured it IMPROVED the appearance of the place (everybody else just has overgrown weeds and a bit of rubbish on their part of the creek bank.) Cost her 20K Baht to have built and then another 8K to have a Backhoe come, break it up and take away the rubble.

Ah well, #%IT Happens eh?

[canuckamuck]

Looks like great fun for the kids. May I ask what type of fish you are raising? Are they the raise to eat kind, or the tropical, raise to sell to pet shop kind?

We have been raising red tilapia, or tabtim as the are called here. But I would rather be raising ornamental fish. I just can't figure out how to get started in that field.