rubbermaid brute

[monotreme_man]

i am confused. i am about to get some containers for water
and the common word here is to get the "gray rubbermaid brute".
normally, it is described as "food grade", and this is important
so as to minimise the leaching of stuff from the plastic
into the water (or whatever is being stored there). also, people
commonly talk about getting these bins from HD or Lowes.

so i looked into this and find:
1) the "food-grade" appellation means that it meets NSF #2
(a standard for food quality materials and items)
2) the NSF site lists which Brute containers meet this standard
(basically model numbers of 26xy); full list at
http://www.nsf.org/Certified/food/Listings.asp?TradeName=brute&CompanyName=rubbermaid&
3) the colour doesn't matter. you can get food grade in gray, white,
blue, yellow, or red.
4) the lowes/HD versions are a different model number (and are therefore
not food grade)
5) food grade are significantly more expensive

have i somehow gotten this wrong?
is there some hidden knowledge i don't yet know?
where do people normally buy food grade brute containers?

[shadowbearwv]

Tagging along cause I need one too.

SB

[joeychitwood]

I'm not aware of anyone in all my years of keeping aquariums, both reef and fish-only, who has had a problem directly attributable to a Rubbermaid container, food-grade or otherwise. As long as you clean it initially, I don't think you need to worry about significant leaching from a standard grade container.

[MYDRAAL]

The brute container your talking of only comes in that color as far as I know. That's why you keep hearing about that specific color. The bottom of it has an area where you can place wheels under it so it can easily be moved around even full of water. It's what (a lot) of people use so everyone knows it's safe to use and can be easily desrcibed to someone else.

[46FiatYamaha]

mine are the standard 32 gallon Brutes for $29 each and Lowes and I've never had any problem with them leaching anything, I keep RO/DI, kalkwasser and mix saltwater in them and no problems from any of them, so I would just get the regular ones. Plus all the LFS's here use them, and a large number of people on here as well, so if they did leach anything I'm sure somebody would have made that public by now

[Blown76mav]

Ok, from what I've been told the food grade Brute is the same chemical comp. as any other rubbermaid trashcan, the difference is when they make it the workers have to wear hair nets to keep hair out of the plastic. You can ge the food grade containers at usplastics.com but you don't really need them. I don't know anybody who wears a hair net around their tank.

[brynkal]

We were using a 32 gallon green brute, because the Rubbermaid website indicated that it was food safe. I read some threads on RC suggesting that the green was not safe, and I sent the following email to Rubbermaid:

"On your website, in the description for the 32-gallon Brute container, it states "All colors are NSF/USDA Approved for food contact and NSF tested/certified." But, we have heard that only the white, gray, and yellow containers are foodsafe. We are using a green 32-gallon Brute for storing/mixing our synthetic saltwater for our reef tank, and have been told by other reef
keepers that the green is definitely not foodsafe. PLEASE let us know, whether safe or not!"

The response from the Rubbermaid Customer Service Center:

"I looked into your question and it looks like you are correct. Gray, White and Yellow are USDA Meat & Poultry Equipment Group Listed and assist in complying with HACCP guidelines. Certified to NSF Standard #2 (gray, white and yellow) and Standard #21 (gray, white, yellow, blue, red and black). We will have to look at our web site and see if we have to make those changes."

So, gray, white, or yellow are foodsafe, and therefore should be safe for holding water.

[kraze3]

FWIW I use a rubbermaid roughneck, its blue, as part of my sump/refugium. I have had no problems with it at all. I use another roughneck to store my RODI water in my basement. Never any problems.

[monotreme_man]

brynkal,

your information is consistent with the NSF site (which
explicitly mentions just yellow, gray, white). i note that
the explicit models listed by the NSF don't seem to be sold
now (and certainly aren't the ones in HD/Lowes), but that
may easily be a voluntary reporting issue.

thanks for sorting this out. i will buy my brute at lowes
in good faith now.

[Ronny#66]

I'm a truck driver now I haul the plastic beads they they make these containers out of . There all the same I've asked the company who mkes them. They make millions of them a year and just put customer emblem on them. I also haul the finished product. They make containers for everyone. Just logo is different. Buy them where ther the cheapest.I baught mine from local hardware that was going out of the specific can for $5.00 each . I got ten .

I will sell ya one $ 25.00I got to make a profit overhead ECT. ECT.!! Just like the LFS. LOL !

Ronny

[fatdaddy]

I just bought two 100 gallon rubber maid water troughs. I'm going to make a sump out of one and fug w/ a very DSB out the other. I have plenty of room downstairs, so I'll just use a pump to exchange water in my display tanks a few times a day.

[Ronny#66]

Whats a fug same as sump tank also whats a DSB I hate these abriviations .

Ronny

[fatdaddy]

fug = Refugium - used to grow macro algae, copepods, and amphipods. So, they aren't preyed on my fish.

DSB - deep sand bed. Used to remove nitrates.

DT - also used, to mean display tank.

[Ronny#66]

^Thanks Fat dady

[bradbmbj]

Here is a link to a page that you may have to use from time to time as I do,
http://reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&name=Encyclopedia&op=terms&eid=2&ltr=all