Newbie here - can I keep my fish in a bathtub?

[nchips]

I promise I searched 'bathtub' before posting. And googled my little heart out.

I have a Convict, that I inherited. He's in a 15gl tank, which seems to be large enough. However, I would love to give him more space, and I can't afford a new tank, and I have a spare bathtub.

What would a person need to do to make a bathtub fish-friendly? What would the filter situation be? The one I have is built to sit on the edge of a tank...

Thanks ahead of time. On an unrelated note, I never thought I would have a fish. There was this guy at a party, who drunkenly shouted that he was moving and if no one took his fish, he was going to flush him. So I took the fish. His water was so dirty that unless he was right up against the glass, you couldn't see him. He had no gravel, no plants, and inconsistant food. This guy had him for three years, and got him from someone else - who knows how old this fish is? Anyway, now he's got gravel which he piles around in strange patterns (very quickly, too!), a filter keeping his water nice and clean, a cave to hide in, and some plants - real and fake. ...Is it typical for Convicts to try and attack you through the glass? Heh. We call him Fluffy. Or Gertrude, sometimes.

 

[hende]

im unsure but if you do it make sure the drain is in very good and scrub the tube out with water no soap and do it very good

 

[RockabillyChick]

i've had to put my pond fish in the bath tub in an emergency (moms potted norfolk pine fell into the pond during a wind storm and filled it with mud) and they are still totally fine and were afterwards too. i dont see why it couldn't be more permanent.

 

[aquarob]

Water changes sure would be easy to do =) Only problem I see is filtration. I suppose you could rig a cannister filter up with some suction cups for the return bar? Dunno. Dont see why it wouldnt work though.

 

[hurricanejedi]

Yah a canister filter sounds like the best thing for filtration.

 

[budrecki]

I would advise against using the whirlpool as a powerhead

 

[mandimoron]

I'd be worried that any aquatic bathtub occupants would jump over the sides-- I guess that could be addressed with a couple slabs of MDF or something, though.

 

[YuccaPatrol]

I would really suggest not doing this. Not worth taking the chance that the bathtub might drain very slowly overnight.

How about one of those plastic rubbermaid storage bins? They are cheap and clean.

 

[Star_Rider]

heating and filtering would be your big concerns..you have a lot of surface space and a lot of room to lose heat...I'd go for the bin thing myself

 

[joephys]

Clean it out with bleach and then rinse it out atleast 10 times, then put a whole lot of dechlorinator in it and rince it out once more. An internal filter should work ok. Maybe 2 or 3 big sponge filters.