Aquariums: Outdoor tank with bass, goldfish, crayfish, tadpoles

Complete newb, bought this stock tank at home depot a few months ago to use a planter. My 4 year old caught some crayfish and tadpoles and I added some water and the rest is history. Then I realized how complicated and fun this hobby gets.

The tank hold 55 gallons. I have 3 large mouth bass that will be moving to a huge 1-2 acre pond in Jan/Feb/March. I have 3 crayfish, 5 goldfish, 2 cichlids in there right now. The tadpoles turned into frogs and were returned to the wild. My plan is to wait until the bass eat the goldfish and then I will add them to the new pond.

I caught about 30 mosquito fish and put them in the tank, and about half jumped out one night and died :(. The other half were eaten within a week. I had 3 mosquito fish survive for about a month and but they recently became snacks.

Once a week I buy 50 rosy red minnows and 10 comets and dump them in there to snack on. I feed the fish 1-2 times per day with pellets, jumbo meal worms, and pieces of worms.

I clean the filters every Sunday night and change 1/2 the water.

The best part about this set up is water changes. I have a long tube laying behind the tank that runs 20 ft away in my garden. I use a gravel vacuum cleaner, connect it to the tube, and the dirty water is easily pumped away. To fill it up I just blast it with my garden hose. I don’t use any tap water conditioner.

I am really surprised how little I have to worry about the tank. I don’t measure anything anymore, I have had zero fish die (outside of jumpers or bait), and I put my hands in the water and add new rocks and fish all the time. (Including coral and lava rocks from a recent Hawaii trip.) I initially had high ammonia levels and I bought a bottle of “Dr. Tim’s One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria” and dumped that in there and after a week it cycled with the fish.

Anyway, I recommend definitely doing this. It’s been great for my 3 and 5 year old to learn about nature and they love catching bugs and feeding them to the bass. Having the tank outside makes maintenance so easy.