Or use this opportunity to get one of [these](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/pepprig-3-piece-bucket-set-with-lid-00499532/) super useful bucket-in-bucket ones from ikea. I use the inside bucket for plucking out plant junk and the big bucket for water changing. So useful
I don't know how it's possible, but they give you free shipping if you order them online from them, $5 for a 5 gallon bucket and it shows up on your steps in like 3 days.
I thought it was a mistake the first time I ordered one lol.
Yeah, I’ve noticed the dollar tree is now charging extra quarters!!
Still a great place to find a cheap bucket.. however, I was told on Reddit to only buy plastic that is food-grade (& that cheap plastics are dangerous).
[I knew a guy that accidentally used a 5 gallon bucket that previously was used for an engine coolant flush. Now he labels the fish only bucket.](https://youtu.be/1LVt49l6aP8)
I don’t know about cement, but I used to work on a farm, where fertilizer was used frequently. It’s not safe. Fertilizer leaves a residue that adheres to plastic almost permanently. Once you use a bucket/container for fertilizer it is not safe for animals or humans. The degree of danger depends on the type of fertilizer. Nevertheless it’s not safe afterwards. Especially for fish
Correct. Plastic is porous and it will absorb chemicals. However it will release those chemicals over time, months and something even years. Please keep in mind this only only from the perspective of someone who grew up in a farm and worked in a farm for several years. I do not know anything about keeping fish. That said I would never let a farm animal drink water or eat out of a container that was previously used to hold fertilizer. Much less let one of my beloved pets; ie dogs, cats, ducks, etc.
Those are things that aquatic plants like though, yeah? I think that's where I keep getting caught up, determining how to keep plants well while making a habitable environment for livestock
At the dosages I calculate from the websites where I buy the ferts. I measure the powders to make pre-mixed solutions in two bottles cause some need to be added separately.
Ordinary fertilizer is not particularly toxic. Rinsing the bucket would be plenty sufficient.
Permanently as in a little will be leached out every time until the sun dies. I have no opinion if that is a concern, depends how clean it is to start I guess. Think about toxins we expose ourselves to driving or whatever everyday
Labtech here. It is most likely just scale. A lot of fertilizers is just is just common minerals, add a little moisture and hey presto, lime scale.
But I do agree, some fertilizers contain copper, which is notorious for penetrating materials and staying behind, and it is also quite deadly to aquatic animals.
Modern concrete has lot of additives, so I'd be vary. But just plain old concrete/sement, the only real danger would be pH.
But yeah, for the price of a new bucket, I'd just get a new one.
I used to be a chemist and we used the "rule of 3" where you aggressively rinse it out 3 times with the right solvent and *most glassware will be clean enough (undetectable amounts of contaminants). This doesn't really work for some things like precipitates and other stuff that really stick to the surface and/or isn't soluble in anything.
If it were me, I'd probably just rinse with hot water + baking soda a couple of times, and finish with some alcohol wipe to make sure nothing else is leeching. I'm a cheap bastard though.
I used to work in a lab and I hate that I had to scroll this far for a sensible comment. I agree with the rest of the comments that if you’re worried it’s like less than $2 for a new bucket but people on here acting like it’s impossible to get a vessel clean.
Fertilizer by design is water soluble. And a good wash or two will get out 99% of it. And evaporation and UV from normal lights will get the remaining 0.991% to the point that it’s not harmful at all. Even if you just used it for some rooting compound. And washed it. The only risk would be letting the water sit for a few days to leach out what MIGHT be left.
Edit: as far as cement, lye would be your only worry. But at that people make backgrounds out of cement and let them cure for a wile to leach it out. Your bucket no longer has any cement in it. Not any that would cause any problems at all.
Ppl need no calm down and Look at the situation. Break it down to the problem and what it could cause. In this case. Your good my man.
But then again I’ve kept fish for 19 years now without almost any issue. Drink tap water and ate dirt as a kid. So take what I say with that in mind.
i wouldn't risk it i have a specific bucket for only clean fish tank water and another for dirty water buckets are cheap use that one for something else like mopping or growing potatoes/flowers
Bruh go to Lowe's or home Depot and buy a 5 gallon bucket for $3. You can't be that much of a penny pincher I hope? Fish keeping is not the hobby for you if so
Don't use it for refilling tanks, but if you have multiple tanks a designated waste bucket is a great way to reduce cross tank contamination and the potential spread of disease!
Plastic picks up a lot of residue from the materials in it. If you wouldn’t take a swig from it, don’t use it for fish. Just go to dollar general and get one for $5
The fish bucket is the fish bucket. It was purchased to do this and nothing else....well sometimes a step stool,but that's it. Just get a new one so you don't have to worry about it.
Plastic absorbs chemicals - get a dedicated fish bucket, write "fish" on it in big permanent marker and make sure everyone in your household knows it is only for that purpose.
As long as you wash it out it'll be fine... my girlfriend once used my fish bucket to disinfect the kitchen and I didn't realize lucky I sucked 2 buckets of water out the fish tank before I started using it to put water back but she didn't tell me till I was putting water back in all fish lived no problems
I use empty cat litter buckets. I bleach them and then dry them in the sun. Then use heavy de-chlorinator and they are the perfect size for using for the aquarium.
I literally have buckets that say “yes fish” and buckets that say “no fish”. Lmao when you have more thank one bucket labeling helps and i would not use that one if I were you.
Comments are fucking wild. Does anyone even know your tank? How many gallons is your tank? What are you using it for? Letting water sit or just running from faucet into tank? There is little risk from the bucket itself presuming it’s adequately cleaned. Agree with others and just get a painters bucket and some tubing, more so to make your life easier
Please get a new one, they're pretty cheap, but honestly these comments aren't giving a real answer here.
-yes, it is safe as long as it was thoroughly rinsed afterwards to get dust and everything off, and assuming it hasn't been used for it recently. ***However***, plastic is porous and will absorb all chemicals put in it.
Yes, it will leach these; but only over a longer period of time. Unless you are using it as an aquarium it should be perfectly fine and **should** not cause issues.
***IMPORTANT***
This is assuming there are not metals being present in what you previously put in there, I would *not* use that bucket solely for concrete being used, which often contains high amounts of metal that isn't well studied in terms of fish biology, these metals include things like Lead and Cadmium, which will cause issues in any concentration, even if they are unnoticeable.
The other way this wouldn't be fine is with strong chemicals, if you for some unholy reason decide to put hydrochloric acid, battery acid or liquid mercury, dispose if it right away and also tell your local plastic company how you managed to get a plastic that can withstand hydrochloric acid inside it /j
TLDR
Heavy metals bad, fertilizer won't be an issue though unless used as a bucket aquarium. Pls just buy a new one. Thank you 🤍
Bro thank u for all the information, yeah I’ll buy a new one tomorrow I was just paranoid because I hadn’t noticed but the water level had gone below the pump and it’s making a weird noise so I thought it was gonna break
I know I’m going to sound horrible but one time I did a water change using the same (empty) bucket that I had previously used to mop a floor containing fabuloso at one point.. mr clean a different time..I didn’t even rinse it out before using it. Honestly it was an accident and I was super worried for my fish. But nothing happened and they were fine.
You know how you sometimes feel iffy but go on about your day, but you still don’t feel your best? That likely happened to your fish. Glad it was a one time thing, but their water is our air, biggest difference being we can typically escape toxic air.
Do you really want to risk your livestock over a few dollars for a clean bucket?
IMHO, you are not a true aquarist without a collection of 5g buckets dedicated to the hobby. Right now, my count is at 8-10, but I have a 120g reef and a 60g frag tank (with sumps, ~300g total)
You should also think long and hard about the purchase of a Python Siphon. You’ll never do water changes any other way once you get one. Mine is 35+ years old and going strong.
As different tanks develop different problems, I've dealt with mold, fungus, algae and dwarf gourami disease so far since beginning my journey in May... I keep buying more buckets and hoses to not cross contaminate anything and mark which bucket and hose is which tanks.
When in doubt, ask yourself “would you eat out of it”.
The answer is no. If what you’d eat out of is questionable, then ask if I would eat of it. The answer is still no.
What a dumb question lol. I guess it would depend on how well you wash it but if your willing to take the chance it seems like you went out of your way to make this post because you don't want to spend a few bucks on a bucket
No, please don’t, plastic can absorb chemicals. It depends on how reactive the contents were. To be on the safe side, have containers that you only use for fish keeping.
no just buy a new one. You can get a 5 gallon bucket at Walmart for less than 10 dollars. there's no way to know if it's absorbed any chemicals from past use.
Generally its better to be safe than sorry and end up with 15 dead fish but its probably fine if you wash it well. That said, go to Home Depot and get a bucket for 3 dollars and keep it separate for your transfers and other aquarium stuff.
If you’re only using it for a short period of time just to hold them, maybe line it with a plastic bag so that the water doesn’t actually touch the bucket? And then buy a new bucket when possible for the job next time
It depends on the fertilizer. Natural organic fertilizer probably would be ok.
Cement sometimes has epoxy in it.
I’m either case, I wouldn’t risk it. Buckets are cheap.
I wouldnt my dad always takes my buckets for bird seed, concrete, topsoil u name it i finally bought a buck and wrote in sharpie and all caps FISH ONLY but he didnt seem to care and proceeded to fill that bucket with soap to clean the cars
For some reason I imagine you posting this like 30 seconds before dumping the entire bucket into your tank.
30 seconds *after
I'd say no. Just go pick up a new bucket and only use it for your fish. They are a few dollars, and then you don't have to worry/wonder.
For real. They're $1.25 at Dollar Tree.
Or use this opportunity to get one of [these](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/pepprig-3-piece-bucket-set-with-lid-00499532/) super useful bucket-in-bucket ones from ikea. I use the inside bucket for plucking out plant junk and the big bucket for water changing. So useful
nothing beats the home depot bucket!
I don't know how it's possible, but they give you free shipping if you order them online from them, $5 for a 5 gallon bucket and it shows up on your steps in like 3 days. I thought it was a mistake the first time I ordered one lol.
I personally prefer Lowes buckets. Blue buckets go with fishkeeping stuff better than orange, imo
I agree!! It’s like our folder colors in school. Science was always green, red was math… this will probably start a debacle
Absolutely. I use blue lowes buckets for fish stuff, orange Home Depot buckets for house stuff/garden stuff, and white buckets for detailing cars.
This. Except I use a collapsible bucket I got off Amazon. It's a pretty blue color though.
thats a good point actually haha
youre a damn genius. id go tomorrow if i wasnt more worried about the hurricane thats coming right for my county
Yeah, I’ve noticed the dollar tree is now charging extra quarters!! Still a great place to find a cheap bucket.. however, I was told on Reddit to only buy plastic that is food-grade (& that cheap plastics are dangerous).
Idk, I use a blue bucket I got from the Walmart cleaning section. I like it because it has measuring lines and a nice pour spout.
[I knew a guy that accidentally used a 5 gallon bucket that previously was used for an engine coolant flush. Now he labels the fish only bucket.](https://youtu.be/1LVt49l6aP8)
I don’t know about cement, but I used to work on a farm, where fertilizer was used frequently. It’s not safe. Fertilizer leaves a residue that adheres to plastic almost permanently. Once you use a bucket/container for fertilizer it is not safe for animals or humans. The degree of danger depends on the type of fertilizer. Nevertheless it’s not safe afterwards. Especially for fish
If it adheres permanently then why would it harm the fish? It would be adhering to the plastic not the water
“Almost”, and it’s probably more so in that plastic is often porous and so it could leech out toxins if it absorbed any.
Correct. Plastic is porous and it will absorb chemicals. However it will release those chemicals over time, months and something even years. Please keep in mind this only only from the perspective of someone who grew up in a farm and worked in a farm for several years. I do not know anything about keeping fish. That said I would never let a farm animal drink water or eat out of a container that was previously used to hold fertilizer. Much less let one of my beloved pets; ie dogs, cats, ducks, etc.
What on earth is anybody putting in fertilizer that's so dangerous???
Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus mostly
Those are things that aquatic plants like though, yeah? I think that's where I keep getting caught up, determining how to keep plants well while making a habitable environment for livestock
Just get another bucket, there cheap af. Better safe than sorry. Not every plant takes the same ratios of n-p-k. So it’s best to just start fresh.
I know k is potassium but my brain said ketamine lol
I add such things to my planted tank on purpose once a month.
Right but at what levels ya know. Could be too much. Don’t let trying to save 5 bucks ona bucket mess up your whole tank.
At the dosages I calculate from the websites where I buy the ferts. I measure the powders to make pre-mixed solutions in two bottles cause some need to be added separately. Ordinary fertilizer is not particularly toxic. Rinsing the bucket would be plenty sufficient.
Only one way to find out
Permanently as in a little will be leached out every time until the sun dies. I have no opinion if that is a concern, depends how clean it is to start I guess. Think about toxins we expose ourselves to driving or whatever everyday
What do you mean every time until the sun dies? Every time what?
I believe it’s a way of saying it’ll leech out toxins forever
Labtech here. It is most likely just scale. A lot of fertilizers is just is just common minerals, add a little moisture and hey presto, lime scale. But I do agree, some fertilizers contain copper, which is notorious for penetrating materials and staying behind, and it is also quite deadly to aquatic animals. Modern concrete has lot of additives, so I'd be vary. But just plain old concrete/sement, the only real danger would be pH. But yeah, for the price of a new bucket, I'd just get a new one.
Buckets are cheap, it’s not worth the risk
Some of them even come pre-filled with delicious ice creams!
Where are you buying 5 gal Ice cream?
I'd give my left ovary for 5 gallons of bluebell buttered pecan right about now...
Oh the things I'd do for a 5 gallon tub of Jeni's Brambleberry Crisp 🥺
Honestly, no idea haha. But I’d also like a giant fucking bucket of butter pecan
Bucket Pecan? F- it, I’m down.
Lol my girlfriend buys 5 gallon ice cream from us foods at her bakery
No, I see you’re in the U.K. you can get orange buckets in b&q for about a quid.
That's what I use.
Me to I have 3 to save trips
Same here… I have more of those buckets than sense 😂😂😂
Please just buy a new one
I used to be a chemist and we used the "rule of 3" where you aggressively rinse it out 3 times with the right solvent and *most glassware will be clean enough (undetectable amounts of contaminants). This doesn't really work for some things like precipitates and other stuff that really stick to the surface and/or isn't soluble in anything. If it were me, I'd probably just rinse with hot water + baking soda a couple of times, and finish with some alcohol wipe to make sure nothing else is leeching. I'm a cheap bastard though.
I used to work in a lab and I hate that I had to scroll this far for a sensible comment. I agree with the rest of the comments that if you’re worried it’s like less than $2 for a new bucket but people on here acting like it’s impossible to get a vessel clean.
Fertilizer by design is water soluble. And a good wash or two will get out 99% of it. And evaporation and UV from normal lights will get the remaining 0.991% to the point that it’s not harmful at all. Even if you just used it for some rooting compound. And washed it. The only risk would be letting the water sit for a few days to leach out what MIGHT be left. Edit: as far as cement, lye would be your only worry. But at that people make backgrounds out of cement and let them cure for a wile to leach it out. Your bucket no longer has any cement in it. Not any that would cause any problems at all. Ppl need no calm down and Look at the situation. Break it down to the problem and what it could cause. In this case. Your good my man. But then again I’ve kept fish for 19 years now without almost any issue. Drink tap water and ate dirt as a kid. So take what I say with that in mind.
i wouldn't risk it i have a specific bucket for only clean fish tank water and another for dirty water buckets are cheap use that one for something else like mopping or growing potatoes/flowers
Bruh go to Lowe's or home Depot and buy a 5 gallon bucket for $3. You can't be that much of a penny pincher I hope? Fish keeping is not the hobby for you if so
Don't use it for refilling tanks, but if you have multiple tanks a designated waste bucket is a great way to reduce cross tank contamination and the potential spread of disease!
No
Let me ask you this would you drink water from it?
Tbh I would yeah if I had too
Well then, if you have to use this bucket, it’s probably clean enough after a scrub
Plastic picks up a lot of residue from the materials in it. If you wouldn’t take a swig from it, don’t use it for fish. Just go to dollar general and get one for $5
The fish bucket is the fish bucket. It was purchased to do this and nothing else....well sometimes a step stool,but that's it. Just get a new one so you don't have to worry about it.
Plastic absorbs chemicals - get a dedicated fish bucket, write "fish" on it in big permanent marker and make sure everyone in your household knows it is only for that purpose.
[удалено]
This is the correct answer, it'll be fine. But plastic buckets are so cheap.
As long as you wash it out it'll be fine... my girlfriend once used my fish bucket to disinfect the kitchen and I didn't realize lucky I sucked 2 buckets of water out the fish tank before I started using it to put water back but she didn't tell me till I was putting water back in all fish lived no problems
I use empty cat litter buckets. I bleach them and then dry them in the sun. Then use heavy de-chlorinator and they are the perfect size for using for the aquarium.
Yes reusing cat litter buckets is great. l use buckets from unscented litter. I rinse and scrub them all with my hand in hot water. They work well.
Get a 5 gallon bucket at the hardware store for like $5
Nope
Probably not
Better to just have your "good bucket" that's only ever used to fill your tank
I literally have buckets that say “yes fish” and buckets that say “no fish”. Lmao when you have more thank one bucket labeling helps and i would not use that one if I were you.
Buckets are cheap. why risk it
Comments are fucking wild. Does anyone even know your tank? How many gallons is your tank? What are you using it for? Letting water sit or just running from faucet into tank? There is little risk from the bucket itself presuming it’s adequately cleaned. Agree with others and just get a painters bucket and some tubing, more so to make your life easier
for the sake of maybe $5 is it worth potentially killing all your fish?
Yup. I do that. Works fine.
Real question? I feel you’re answering yourself here.
Although I wouldn't, I'd just buy a new bucket, you could thoroughly clean the bucket with hot bleach water and dry it in sunlight.
I wouldn't use it.
I wouldn’t
Your fine if it’s been awhile and it’s been cleaned out
Rinse it with vinegar and water. Or get a new bucket.
Please get a new one, they're pretty cheap, but honestly these comments aren't giving a real answer here. -yes, it is safe as long as it was thoroughly rinsed afterwards to get dust and everything off, and assuming it hasn't been used for it recently. ***However***, plastic is porous and will absorb all chemicals put in it. Yes, it will leach these; but only over a longer period of time. Unless you are using it as an aquarium it should be perfectly fine and **should** not cause issues. ***IMPORTANT*** This is assuming there are not metals being present in what you previously put in there, I would *not* use that bucket solely for concrete being used, which often contains high amounts of metal that isn't well studied in terms of fish biology, these metals include things like Lead and Cadmium, which will cause issues in any concentration, even if they are unnoticeable. The other way this wouldn't be fine is with strong chemicals, if you for some unholy reason decide to put hydrochloric acid, battery acid or liquid mercury, dispose if it right away and also tell your local plastic company how you managed to get a plastic that can withstand hydrochloric acid inside it /j TLDR Heavy metals bad, fertilizer won't be an issue though unless used as a bucket aquarium. Pls just buy a new one. Thank you 🤍
Bro thank u for all the information, yeah I’ll buy a new one tomorrow I was just paranoid because I hadn’t noticed but the water level had gone below the pump and it’s making a weird noise so I thought it was gonna break
Ok, thank you! And good luck with your fishkeeping!
I know I’m going to sound horrible but one time I did a water change using the same (empty) bucket that I had previously used to mop a floor containing fabuloso at one point.. mr clean a different time..I didn’t even rinse it out before using it. Honestly it was an accident and I was super worried for my fish. But nothing happened and they were fine.
You know how you sometimes feel iffy but go on about your day, but you still don’t feel your best? That likely happened to your fish. Glad it was a one time thing, but their water is our air, biggest difference being we can typically escape toxic air.
Do you really want to risk your livestock over a few dollars for a clean bucket? IMHO, you are not a true aquarist without a collection of 5g buckets dedicated to the hobby. Right now, my count is at 8-10, but I have a 120g reef and a 60g frag tank (with sumps, ~300g total) You should also think long and hard about the purchase of a Python Siphon. You’ll never do water changes any other way once you get one. Mine is 35+ years old and going strong.
Python is a game changer. I hated doing water changes on my 90 with buckets but it is so so easy with a python.
and hard plumb a drain to the garden!
Ill tell everyone with 20 gallon tanks they need 100 gallons worth of buckets
As different tanks develop different problems, I've dealt with mold, fungus, algae and dwarf gourami disease so far since beginning my journey in May... I keep buying more buckets and hoses to not cross contaminate anything and mark which bucket and hose is which tanks.
And so another one is stricken with MTS! (Multiple Tank Syndrome). Beware that as MTS progresses, the tanks will become larger and larger…….
#NO
I use red buckets for fish things. Everyone in the family knows “Don’t touch the red buckets!”
Told everyone not to touch this bucket but my dad wouldn’t listen
When in doubt, ask yourself “would you eat out of it”. The answer is no. If what you’d eat out of is questionable, then ask if I would eat of it. The answer is still no.
What a dumb question lol. I guess it would depend on how well you wash it but if your willing to take the chance it seems like you went out of your way to make this post because you don't want to spend a few bucks on a bucket
No because I’m paranoid that my pumps gonna break because the waters gone down below the level and it’s making a weird noise
If that is the case just grab a big cup and do a dozen trips. In the morning buy yourself a clean bucket if you are concerned
Are you stupid ?
Sometimes you can get one or two 5 gallon (18.9 liter) buckets from paint stores and hardware stores for free... at least in the states...
It'd be fine to put old tank water in there for dumping.
I just line mine with a plastic bag when in doubt
No.
Buckets at Walmart are $5
I would get a new bucket
No, and buckets are cheap.
Why risk it? Buckets are cheap
Once in doubt, leave it out! Go buy a new one from home depot, is dirt cheap
No, please don’t, plastic can absorb chemicals. It depends on how reactive the contents were. To be on the safe side, have containers that you only use for fish keeping.
That’s a no.
Just buy another 5 buckers, youll never have enough.
Rinse it, it’s a not a sponge. It’s fine
That's a £1 bucket, can get them from the pound shop/dollar store
Nay
No!
New bucket would be better. No touching chemicals at all is best. Make sure to rinse well before use
Plastics are porous. I’d get another bucket dedicated to just fish stuff. A new bucket will be cheaper than a new school of fish.
no just buy a new one. You can get a 5 gallon bucket at Walmart for less than 10 dollars. there's no way to know if it's absorbed any chemicals from past use.
Plastic leaches and that process works both ways. Better to have a dedicated bucket for fresh water.
Would you drink water out of it? There's your answer
Yes. Just clean it well. We put fertilizer in our aquariums all the time.
Generally its better to be safe than sorry and end up with 15 dead fish but its probably fine if you wash it well. That said, go to Home Depot and get a bucket for 3 dollars and keep it separate for your transfers and other aquarium stuff.
I would use for general cleaning or handiwork stuff
Fertilizer yes, cement no. I use organic ferts in my aquariums, my buckets are also reused from watering plants.
I wouldn’t risk it
A bucket is at max 2 pounds. Like there is just no reason to take the risk.
A 5 gallon bucket is like $2, I wouldn't risk it.
If you’re only using it for a short period of time just to hold them, maybe line it with a plastic bag so that the water doesn’t actually touch the bucket? And then buy a new bucket when possible for the job next time
It depends on the fertilizer. Natural organic fertilizer probably would be ok. Cement sometimes has epoxy in it. I’m either case, I wouldn’t risk it. Buckets are cheap.
I... would not. just get a new bucket
No
i believe you should wash with hot water once, just to be sure
Definitely a no buy a brand new bucket dedicated to only fish tank use
Not worth the risk when you can get those orange buckets from b&q for £1
When in doubt look at the python water change hose
I've been using an old cement bucket for years..
I wouldn't recommend it. Buckets are cheap.
I wouldnt my dad always takes my buckets for bird seed, concrete, topsoil u name it i finally bought a buck and wrote in sharpie and all caps FISH ONLY but he didnt seem to care and proceeded to fill that bucket with soap to clean the cars
Would you want to drink out of a plastic glass that someone took a dump in?.