Maintenance
Keeping your tank safe and clean
Stock tank pools generally require a small pool pump and additionally some form of water treatment to keep the water clear and free from bacteria. Our 8ft round tank holds approximately 700 gallons or 3,200 litres of water, so a small 300 GPH (gallons per hour) pump would keep it clear. You may wish to opt for a 530 GPH pump which will certainly clear the pool better, but will cost a little more to run. Both these size pumps usually use 32mm hoses as discussed in our hot tub section.
To keep the water clear and free from bacteria most people choose to use a small chlorine floater which takes a small chlorine tablet which slowly dissolves. Please do not allow chlorine tablets to simply rest at the bottom of the tank, as it can affect the galvanised coating.
We would advise that you purchase some pH test strips and aim to keep the pH of your water between 7.4 and 7.6.
If you are using one of the smaller oval tanks for an ice bath or hot tub you may wish to simply change the water more regularly. You can extend the periods between refilling our smaller tanks as follows. Using baby bottle steriliser (we use Sainsbury's "Little Ones" baby bottle steriliser which is double concentrated) you simply add the following to our oval tanks:
- 4ft - 12ml
- 5ft - 15ml
- 6ft - 20ml
- 7ft - 25ml
- 8ft - 30ml
If you use other brands of steriliser you will need to check the concentration and may need to double the above quantities.
After a week or so you will want to check the pH of the water and may need to adjust by adding 50g per 100 litres of bicarbonate of soda (the volume of our tanks is listed with each product). You will also want to repeat the addition of sterilising solution.