DIY Stock Tank Pool: Everything You Need To Know

Let me start by saying that this project is not for the faint of heart. I don't mean to discourage anyone from doing this project, as long as they know what they are in for. There are many things that could go wrong during setup (I am a witness to this), so there could be a lot of troubleshooting. Anyway, I'm here to hopefully save you some trouble by telling you all the things that went wrong for us and how we fixed them. This should make it way easier for you!

And once you've finished setting up your pool, check out how we heated our pool and made it a hot tub by clicking here!

Other posts you may be interested in:
- 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Stock Tank Pools
- DIY Painted Tile On Concrete
- DIY Stock Tank Pool Bench
- How To Paint Your Stock Tank Pool

We had our stock tank pool last year and it was set up by our landscaper (who also does ponds.) We knew we wanted our pool to be chlorinated and with the mosquitoes here in Tennessee, we definitely didn't want standing water. This is where a pump comes in.

Our landscaper used a pond pump/waterfall pump and we soon discovered we needed something else. We dealt with the pond pump through the summer, but knew we would get a filter pump (for real pools) this summer. Without it you are left with sand/dirt/tiny molecules of things that aren't being filtered out. This made us drain and refill the pool way more than we wanted to. The whole purpose of the pump is to not have to refill the pool all summer because the water is being cleaned.

When I ordered the pump, I realized that a lot of random parts don't come with it. It came with the input parts, but not the output parts. So I've made a list of exactly everything I purchased to make this happen.

Things you will need:

- Stock tank (size of your choosing- ours is 8 ft. and we got it at a local co-op. Here is a plastic one.)
- Above Ground Pool Pump
- Weatherproof Silicone Sealant

- Hole Saw with Arbor
- Plunger Valves
- Pool Outlet

- 1-3 Rubber Washers (or Gaskets)
- 1 Strainer Nut

Other things you will need for maintenance:
- Chlorine Tablets
- Floating Pool Dispenser
- Water Testing Kit

The pool pump setup guide packet says you only need 2 rubber washers (the pump comes with 1), but I ended up using 3, and you could end up using 4 depending on preference.

In lieu of step by step pics, I recorded a video of the process. The steps are listed below, but I hope this visual is more helpful!

Step 1- Find a nice level area to lay the stock tank on. If the area where you have chosen isn't level, use sand or rocks to build up whatever side needs it. It is very important that your stock tank be level so there aren't any unexpected leaks.

Step 2- Cut holes in your stock tank. I'm not going to lie- this is a pain in the butt. We bought a hole saw with an arbor and it took two people to get through the metal. You will need two holes, one at the top and one at the bottom. In an above ground pool, these aren't usually right on top of each other, but ours are. We haven't ever seen this as a problem.

Step 3- Start assembling the parts. In the pool pump package there is a packet with instructions, warnings and troubleshooting. This packet proved to be vital in the setup of the pool. I did end up getting 2 gaskets for the bottom section (the drain section), one for the inside of the pool and one for the outside. It only says you need one for the inside, but this was causing a drip for us. I also put thread seal tape around the connections that were closest to the pool. There are a lot of connections, and each one has a gasket, so you could probably get away without the tape. I didn't put it on all the connections, the only ones that really seemed to matter were the ones that are connecting the hoses to the pool.

Step 4- Apply silicone waterproof sealant around all crevices involving the input and output parts. I did this on the inside of the pool and the outside. And I applied it VERY HEAVILY and did two layers, allowing one to dry before the second was applied. Sealing these crevices is one of the most important parts. This is what is going to keep the water in the pool. Well all of these steps are leading up to keeping water in the pool, but if there is any chance that it's going to be getting out, this is what will save you.

Step 5- Test for leaks. Before I added water to the pool, I took a water bottle and poured a good amount of water on the input and output parts. You could also just use a water hose. I would make sure the hose wasn't on full blast. You don't want to accidentally penetrate the sealant.

Step 6- Once you are sure there aren't any leaks, fill the pool just above the bottom hole/output. Check again to see if any leaks have started. If there aren't any, fill the rest of the pool up!

Step 7- Turn the pump on. Make sure both plunger valves are open/unlocked. When you first do this water may not come out of the output, but there is a solution! Twist off the knob on top of the filter pump to let some air out. Some water may escape too and that's okay, just be ready to screw it back on as soon as the water starts coming out.

And then you are done!

Since I had many problems while setting up, I'm going to list them below and tell you how I fixed them.

1. Cutting the holes too big. We cut our holes 3 inches across because there were only two hole saw sizes at our Home Depot, one 2.5" and one 3". The parts are about 2 3/4" so we went up. Ideally we would've realized that we just needed to go to another store, but at the time 3" made sense. This caused a lot of dripping problems because there is a small gap between the edge of the hole and the input and output pieces. We combated this problem by adding another rubber washer/gasket on the outside of the pool, before the nut is screwed on. Plus plenty of silicone sealant!

2. Not making sure the pool was level. We actually just had our concrete poured before we set the pool up so the ground was sure to be pretty level. Where we placed the pool was pretty level, but apparently it dipped down a little in the area where we had the holes. This caused all the water pressure to be leaning on the same wall, so there was leaking no matter what we did. All we did was rotate the pool and put a thin piece of plywood under the edge where the holes are and this leveled it out!

3. Using foam sealant to seal the crevices. No. Just no. Our landscape guy did this last year and it worked, but this year when we changed out setup, it never helped. First off, if you are going to use foam sealant, make sure you get a polyurethane based one. The other ones simply don't cure. I originally used one without polyurethane and I left it for 10 hours and it still hadn't cured. No thank you! Also, silicone sealant does a way better just, maybe just because it's easier to get it in the crevices since it doesn't expand. Wear gloves! Everything mentioned is extremely sticky and will become part of your skin.
If you liked this post and would like to see more like it, please pin the image below!

xo, Savannah

P.S. Want to see how we painted the lounge chairs? Check the post out here!

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Where You Should Stay In Tulum

We are back with part two of our in-depht Tulum guide! (View post 1 here! )Now that you know a little about the area, you're going to need to decide where you want to stay. This part should give you a feel of different options and a look into the places we stayed.

Where to stay

This is probably the biggest question you'll have and probably the most important decision. There are a few things you need to think about when finding a place to stay. Think about what is important to you. Things you'll need to think about:

- Do you want to stay in town or in the jungle area?

- Do you want to be right on the beach?

- Do you want A/C?

- Do you want to stay some place with a pool?

- Do you want to be close to things or do you not mind having to bike/taxi/drive places?

- How important is internet/ phone service to you?

- How many people are you traveling with?

- What is your budget?

For us we wanted to be right on the beach, we wanted to be in the Tulum jungle area (not where the resorts are), we absolutely had to have A/C and we needed 3 separate rooms. This actually narrowed it down for us because a lot of hotels on the beach don't have A/C. Price also narrowed it down for us. If you are just two people traveling who will sleep in the same bed, there are plenty of options at all price points. If you are traveling with a group, like we were, it can be a little more complicated.

We ended up staying at CoCo Tulum and booking three separate bungalows right on the beach. We had to book three bungalows because there aren't many options for groups right on the beach anywhere. We found one place that had multiple rooms in one home, but it was already booked. But I don't mean to make it sound like we only stayed here because it was our only option- this place was delightful. I mean we were literally on the beach.

This was the view from our bungalow porch. We could hear the ocean waves over the sound of a full blast fan. It was magical, but maybe something to consider if you don't like noise when you sleep. The sound of the waves were very relaxing to all of us, but the sound is no joke.

Here are a few more pictures from our stay at Coco.

So. much. hammock. time. Maybe one of our favorite parts of Coco actually! There is a hammock right outside each room and then there are hammocks right on the beach. But don't sweat it if you don't stay at Coco- lots of the hotels, Airbnbs and restaurants have hammocks. It's definitely a thing down there.

This is our bungalow.

The sunrises were to die for. We saw the sunrise every day we were there, as there are some lovely tropical birds that start chirping as soon as light starts to fill the sky. We thought of them as our Mexican rooster friends. This is just part of life down there because you are right in the jungle. If this might bother you, I'd consider some ear plugs!

Another thing to consider is Airbnb (this is our Airbnb). As you may or may not know, we run an Airbnb in our house and fully believe in staying in Airbnbs when traveling. We actually stayed at Coco for 5 days and then moved to an Airbnb in the town for 2 days. I would highly recommend a stay in both areas. As I said earlier, the vibe is very different. If you are looking for the best deal you can get and don't mind not being right on the beach, an Airbnb is going to be your route for sure. There are plenty of fabulous Airbnbs in town with lots of internet and A/C!

Our Airbnb was about 2 miles away from Coco. They had bikes you could use and a little kitchenette in each apartment. We chose our specific Airbnb room because it had two beds and it was adorable.

There are a good amount of Airbnbs with pools, so if that is something that is important to you, you'll be able to find this! You'll quickly find that not too many hotels on the beach have pools. 

Side note, if you do decide to use Airbnb, you can get $40 off your first stay with our code here!

Okay so to sum this section up, to look at hotels on the jungle/beach road you're going to need to look at the map- every one is listed exactly where it is- and then search the internet for each one specifically. Searching "Tulum hotels" won't bring even half of them up and you'll get results of places that are in a completely different area. And if you plan on staying in the city, there are numerous fabulous Airbnb situations, you just have to do your research!

If you liked this post and would like to see more like it, please Pin the image below!

If you missed it, check out Part 1 of the guide here.

xo, Savannah

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How To Know Your Way Around Tulum

Well our Tulum vacation has come to an end and we are pretty sad about it. We took so many pictures, acquired a whole lot of information and had a blast! We knew we would want to write a post about our trip when we returned, so we figured we should go ahead and give you all the information we have. Before we went we did a lot of research and honestly couldn't find answers to many of our questions. Don't get me wrong, we loved every minute of our trip and never felt like we were unprepared. We just thought it would be nice if we could give you all of our resources! Originally we were going to put this in one post, but it's a lot of information so we have separated it into 4 parts. (Come back next Monday for part two.)

So if you are planning a trip to the lovely beach town of Tulum, buckle up, here we go!

Knowing the Area

First things first, this map. This map would've been great to have while we were trying to figure out where to stay. It explains where everything is. It is a map after all. Casey and her mom had been to Tulum the year before and stayed in "Tulum" but as we found out, a lot of things are considered Tulum and those places are all over the place. Where they stayed (Dreams Resort) is not where you want to be, I promise. They did love their vacation that year, but knew if they returned that they wanted to stay where we stayed this trip.

The green on the map is the jungle, as you can imagine.  This is where you want to be. When someone says something is "on the jungle side" they mean on the jungle side of the main road. As you can see on the map, there is one road that runs straight through the jungle. This is the one and only road that goes along the beach and on one side you have all the hotels that are on the beach (the beach side) and on the other side you have more hotels and restaurants on the jungle side. It's a small road.

Before we went, "the jungle side" and "the beach side" seemed like they were different parts of town the way people talked about it. But they are actually just a couple steps apart. And when you are on the road you will think "this is strange because there is jungle on both sides." That is correct, but the side that has the beach and the jungle is the beach side.

Okay so the beach is fabulous, but it's not the only part worth seeing. The city part is also very important to experiencing Tulum to it's fullest. Look for "Tulum Pueblo" on the map. The town and beach area are really close to each other, yet they feel like completely different worlds.

There are two main roads that intersect so it's pretty simple finding things, but addresses aren't really a thing in Tulum. It's more like "pass the second speed bump and turn right." For real. We learned pretty quickly that you just really have to pay attention when looking for a place because putting an address in your phone isn't really going to help much. Especially with the internet/phone service near the beach. I mean you wouldn't even have an address to put in, you'd just have to search and hope that business is on google. This is only the case if you are driving- we rented a car (we recommend renting a car. It's pretty cheap- like $150 for a week). If you are using taxis, they will know where they are going and if you are biking, you won't be going fast enough to miss something...probably.

Other Random Tips

Exchange your money to pesos before your trip if you can. If you give your bank a week you can get the best exchange rate. If you don't do that, then just get money out of an ATM. We did this at the airport. You can use American dollars in Tulum but you will get the worst exchange rate that way and it's also a lot easier for people to rip you off- especially cab drivers. 

Be prepared to have spotty internet and phone service. Even at our hotel, it was in and out. We had better internet in town in our Airbnb. Embrace the disconnectedness. I'm not going to lie- that was one of the most frustrating parts. Also, add an international cell phone plan to your phone so you can use data when there isn't wifi. 

Things to remember before you head to Tulum:

1. Mosquitos and the protection against them will be a part of your life.

2. Sunblock will also need to be a part of your life.

3. The speed bumps are pretty disguised and plentiful.

4. A little Spanish will go a long way, although not required.

5. Seaweed could definitely be a part of your life. (We used these days to explore other areas.)

Okay this is a great start. Come back next Monday when we'll be talking about where you should stay! (You can now check out post 2 here!) If you'd like to see more posts like this, please pin the image below!

xo, Savannah

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