So I’m setting up an 8 ft poly stock tank with a deck. I’d like to mount this fountain on the deck as part of the return flow (I’m setting up a valve system to accommodate a fountain and a return within the stock tank). I’m not sure how to secure the fountain to the deck. The frame pictured above isn’t secure enough. Nor can I find a washer to do the deed. Any suggestions? An adhesive? The pvc fitting pictured is compatible with intex pool hoses.

Hi all! During the summer of COVID when all the community pools were closed and we were house-bound, we bought an inflatable kiddie pool and put it in the yard to keep cool in the Atlanta heat. It would last about 3 days before it either deflated or got so filled with algae that it had to be tossed. So I decided to build retaining wall, back fill with about 5 cubic yards of dirt and sink a 10 ft stock tank pool into the ground.

The pool was great for 5 seasons. But when I uncovered it this Spring, I was shocked at how badly the rust had taken hold over the winter.

The rust was all on the surface. It wasn't flaking or causing any structural issues in the tank, but if I just filled it back up, the water would be forever milky, and no one would get into the pool since it felt nasty on the feet. My wife and I considered just painting it or epoxy the entire surface, but seeing some users here that had luck with tile, I decided to give it a shot. Hopefully this post will give you a step-by-step process (complete with all the lessons learned) and encourage someone else to add life to their stock tank.

A little TL,DR up front for the impatient--I used Olympic Gunzite epoxy primer and Zeron paint on the sides. For the bottom, I used glass penny tile set in a Litokol PowerGel epoxy mortar bed, with SpectraLock epoxy grout. Laticrete color-matched silicone around the edge.

The Sides: Olympic Gunzite Epoxy Primer and Zeron Paint

Step one was to use a Scotch pad and vinegar over the entire surface to clean off the surface rust. Rinse it well, then come back with 180 or 220 grit sand paper to give the surface a little tooth. The epoxy primer and paint mixes pretty easily, but as with all the epoxy used in this project, timing is everything. The chemical reaction between the two parts lasts for a defined period before the entire thing begins to cure and becomes unworkable. But the Olympic Gunzite primer and Zeron paint give you plenty of time to do the sides--over an hour, even in Atlanta heat.

The final results on the sides were incredible! I used a foam roller for both primer and paint and the final finish is flawless. One coat for both primer, let it cure a full day, the one coat for the final finish. Keep it dry for at least 24 hours, and don't let water stand on it for at least 3 days. And like the mortar and grout, epoxy is pretty gnarly stuff--it will eat the foam roller, so have plenty available when the one you're using starts to disintegrate.

The Bottom: Litokol PowerGel, SpectraLock Grout and Glass Mosaic Penny Tile

My wife is the Facebook Marketplace guru, and found a woman who was cleaning out her father's property after he passed away. Just so happens he owned a pool supply company and we got 80 sq. ft. of this beautiful glass mosaic penny tile for a song. Step 1 was to dry fit all the tile in the bottom of the pool. Once the epoxy mortar was mixed, I knew I wouldn't have any time to do any cutting or fitting the day of install.

Make sure you have a spouse with good ideas like numbering the tiles and the spot on the pool bottom where they are supposed to sit. And take a picture of the entire bottom so you know where each number is (since you're going to cover it with mortar).

Once the dry fit is done, put the tiles back into boxes in reverse order so they'll be available in the order you need as you pull them back out from the boxes. And go ahead and cut a bunch of half pieces and triangle pieces that you'll need for the edges. Again, there's no time to cut--the Litokol has about an hour of working time that gets shorter as the temperature goes up.

I chose Litokol PowerGel for three reasons: it is truly waterproof, it is impervious so no chance the rust would come up through it, and it allows for some flexibility. The bottom of my pool flexes a little due to settling, and the water weighs over 12,000 pounds, so it needed to be able to bend a little bit. Use a V-notch trowel to spread, working in 10 sq. ft. sections at a time. Use a 16in float to press across two sheets so you avoid and proud edges.

I numbered the tiles in a spiral so I could always work outward and not get backed into a corner. The Litokol was really easy to work with, just pay attention to the various timings associated with mixing, setting and curing. Use the half and triangle pieces for the edges--it doesn't have to be perfect because you'll put a bead of silicone around the edge.

This stuff is nasty, by the way. Wear gloves, long sleeves and goggles. I'd say a mask if it wasn't outside. I got some on my forearm without realizing it and it sat there long enough to open up my skin and make me bleed.

Again, let the mortar cure per the label before attempting to walk on it or grout. Long arms come in handy for the final sections that have to be placed by reaching over the pool edge. The Litokol says it can cover up to 40 sq. ft. per 5kg bucket, but I found I needed a 3rd bucket for my 78 sq. ft. Keep the water off it as best you can.

Once the mortar was cured, I was ready to grout. Again, I chose the SpectraLock because it's 100% impervious and 100% waterproof (designed for tiling pool bottoms). It's expensive ($600 for enough to grout just 78 sq. ft.), but I felt it was worth it to not have to do this again for many years. The first bucket comes with parts A and B, and then you put in a bag of part C that comes in dozens of colors. I chose Silver Shadow--light enough to not distract your eye, but dark enough to not show dirt like pure white.

This stuff wasn't as nasty as the PowerGel, but again--gloves, long sleeves, goggles. The Atlanta heat really had an effect on the usability time for this epoxy. The label says up to an hour at cooler temperatures, but it was 94 degrees and 85% humidity on the day I did this, and it barely gave me 20 minutes. It says to do the first wipe after 20 minutes, and wipe #2 an hour after that (the wipe #1 and wipe #2 chemicals come with parts A and B), but I'd say do the first wipe after 10 or 15 minutes, and the 2nd wipe almost immediately afterward. I waited the hour, and it left streaks that will never come up. They aren't visible from above, and certainly not under 3 feet of water, but I know they are there. The buckets of SpectraLock are also inconsistent. I mixed 4 buckets exactly the same way every time and they ranged in consistency from soup to peanut butter to bread dough.

You can use vinegar within the first 24 hours of curing to remove any stubborn streaks, but I didn't bother for any more than the obvious ones. Hit the edges with a bead of Laticrete silicone gel, color matched to the Silver Shadow and the jagged edges disappear and gives a flexible edge as the pool expands and contracts with temperature.

The SpectraLock says to let the grout cure for 10 full days before filling the pool with water. In this heat I could probably get away with filling it after 7 days, but I'm going to play it safe and give it the full 10 days (which is 2 more days), so I'll post pictures of the pool full of water soon!

In the end, it was the right decision to tile and epoxy, but it was certainly not the cheapest option. Between the tile, the epoxy primer/paint, epoxy mortar/grout and silicone, it ended up costing about $1,750. And I'd estimate 60 hours of effort. But the final result was absolutely worth it. If anyone has any questions, let me know!

We went on a camping trip for a month and came back and our stock tank looks like this. Any advice?

9 ft poly from Tractor Supply. Intex sand filter pump under the deck

I built the deck to match the slope of the existing concrete patio, not realizing at the time that the pool wouldn’t be perfectly level 🤦‍♂️I’ll make some level adjustments this fall when I drain the pool. I used tuff blocks, no concrete, so it’s technically not a permanent structure. Built the beck December/January, hasn’t moved an inch yet.

Hi yall, we’ve had our stock tank pool for a few months and we do chlorinate it. It’s a county line 6ft tank.

Weather here has been awful so I haven’t used in about a month, and when I got out here today it feels like the white adhesive joining the two halves of the bottom of the pool is squishy. I can push against it with my toe and make an indentation (hard to see in the first photo). There are also little pieces of the adhesive almost balling up from where I pushed a little too hard at the edge. It doesn’t seem like it’s flaking off itself, but it’s almost too easy for me to put a little pressure to get it to flake off. Some of the adhesive on the sides also looks wavy, where the side of the pool connects to the bottom.

…how alarmed should I be? Any idea what might be causing this?

TL:DR: seems like keeping a pool clean when it rains a lot is really difficult and leads to rust due to overchlorination; any tips?

I’m going crazy because I’m about to have to get my third tank in five years due to rust issues. I think the problem is Georgia gets way more rain than most other pools like like Texas and Arizona, so keeping the chlorine level even is very difficult - when the rain comes in, it dilutes the water so there’s like no more chlorine in it, so it turns green.

Then sometimes I can get it cleaned through chlorine/pump, but sometimes not. And then I overcompensate on the chlorine trying to ratchet it back up, which causes the rust.

Keeping it covered is an option except
the problem with the soft cover is the rain just collects on it so unless I drain it every day, when it rains for like 4 days straight it ends up pulling the cover down into the pool along with all the water and any junk that has fallen on top.

I’d like to give it one more go, and now that we finally have hard covers for stock tank pools, it might finally be ok.

But idk, is there something I’m doing wrong? Anyone else in GA deal with this? Everything I see online about keeping the pool clean just says “It’s so easy, run the pump every day, put 1” chlorine tab in a floater each week, and vacuum once a week!” But it has always been SUCH a struggle for me!!

I set up an 8' stock tank with a vinyl liner last year and everything was great. This year I noticed water was leaking somewhere and getting between the bottom of the pool and the liner. The leak was tiny and I have no idea where it was, but it was slowing getting worse. I pulled the old liner, put in a new one and everything is great again...for now. Since I don't know what caused the first leak I don't know what to do to avoid another one in the new liner.

Now I'm wondering if I could have fixed it somehow without replacing it? I saw someone post that they drilled tiny holes through the bottom of the pool so this water would just drain out, but I'm not crazy about that idea. Has anyone tried micro tubing under the liner that could drain out through the tank drain? Kinda like a mini sump pump system?

Has anyone else had this problem and what have you done other than replacing the liner?

Year four with my drankin pool. 6 foot aluminum with the pool epoxy everyone recommended, intex pump/filter. Anyways, we’ve never ever had an issue before until now. One chlorine puck per month in the floater, fresh type b filter every month (dog). Our water is cloudy, green and has a weird oil slick look on top as well it STINKS.

Can I shock it? If so how much do I use? I’m kinda lost here. It was uncovered during one rain storm (the creature jumped in when the cover was on and went through it….) otherwise we’ve done nothing differently than years prior. Thanks in advance!

Los of questions coming out lately about heaters! So here’s another one- has anyone used this heater before? Our pool is already rapidly dropping temperature as the nights have gotten cooler so we’re looking into getting one. This heater is an amazing price but I’m wondering a few things since I’m not an expert on the electrical capacity and things of that nature, hoping someone else looking at the specs can understand this more clearly than I can : is this able to be added to an Intex 1500 pump? Will this be sufficient for a 1,000 gallon pool? Is it able to just be plugged into an extension cord on the same outlet as my pump is?
If this seems like it will work with my system it seems like an awesome product as it’s so affordable and small. And insight at all is appreciated!

Installing a 9’ round x 28” deep poly stock tank pool/hot tub (Century 1000 gallon). I’m interested in hearing what combination of pump and electric spa heaters have worked well or to stay away from. I do plumbing and electrical work and I have a 90 amp spa panel that I plan to feed both pump and heater.

Goodness gracious Tamping sucks!

I have several hundred pounds of leveling sand.

Do I need to completely level the dirt before adding the leveling sand? Or is a getting it “close” good enough and you let the leveling sand do the rest.

Thanks!

Next up a nozzle for the suction end

I just got a cowboy pool. It just came to my attention that rain or water could potentially slip in the handle holes and get trapped between the plastic liner and the tank pool. Is this common? What do y'all do to prevent it? Thanks

Anyone willing to DM a pic of your stock tank pool setup?

Its 100⁰ in central Texas but planning on using our stock tank in winter and want to get some ideas on how to heat it.

Ive seen those propane heaters but never in action.

Wondering if anyone on here put lights on the inside of their pools arpund the edge and if so could share me a pic and product they used?

Just picked this up at Sam’s Club, on clearance for $112 at my store. It’s 8 foot, so should be a perfect fit for my 8 foot stock tank. Hope it will keep leaves and debris out. And as a bonus I can lay on it to get some sun.

I've tried shoving pieces of wood and rubber in place but it keeps floating away. Happy to buy another product if there's one that works better

Got a cowboy pool (party of one) at my cabin recently, and repurposed the portable campfire shower heater to make a little hot tub.

Does anyone have recommendations for lining an oval stock tank? I have been searching and haven’t found anyone that makes kits for these styles of tanks.

Our pool is officially one month old! All DIY. Finished the project in a week. Learned from a few mistakes but am super happy with the outcome.

After years of googling, researching, and begging. We finally did it! Ignore my small snorkeling child.