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I am worried about using a metal stock tank for my worms. I heard that is is ally bad for fish, so wasn't sure about worms. Just starting out and it is what I have on hand to begin with. Hoping this works out really awesome since I would like to grow worms into a promising business venture:) Thank you so much in advance for all your knowledge.

benn
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Evone
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  • Like @elPolloLoco already mentioned in his answer, it is considered rude to use all CAPS in the title. It comes over to most people as if you are shouting, or as if your post is more important than other posts without all CAPS. – benn Feb 14 '19 at 12:15
  • Wife's granny grew goldfish in her Windmill pumped water stock tank for the cows for decades. Cows not being carnivores, the fish lived. Lifetime of a worm is likely too short for heavy metal toxicity to be much of a problem. – Wayfaring Stranger Feb 15 '19 at 19:07
  • If I were going to try and raise worms, I would probably purchase some cheap plastic storage bins on sale at Walmart. Just a thought about avoiding the metal - no potential metal problems. You could use them for other things as well. – user22542 Feb 16 '19 at 00:23

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EPA says no! https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-create-and-maintain-indoor-worm-composting-bin But it seems like they are only concerned about rust.

Stephie
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elPolloLoco
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Yes and no , iron is no health problem regardless what the bureaucrats at EPA say; iron compounds are very common in soils. However , in the moist conditions , corrosion pinholes will develop in the steel. Also ,because "metal " likely means galvanized steel , the zinc will also corrode and it may be a problem . Plastic stock tanks are very common and not expensive, they would be a first choice. If you already have a free galvanized tank , you could line it with plastic sheet ;I recommend the rubber liner material sold to make ponds but that can be costly depending on size. If I was going to raise worms in quantity I would forget the tanks and dig a shallow hole in the ground and put in a pond liner. It would be simpler than actually making a pond. ( I have a liner pond with a bog section and earthworms seem to be pretty happy in the bog section.)

blacksmith37
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