The Bushman 200 Gallon Aquaponics Grow Bed Tray is a blue polyethylene basin built for shallow, open-top plant culture rather than deep bulk storage. It holds 200 gallons across a wide 54-inch by 61-inch footprint at just 19 inches tall, so the water sits shallow and accessible for planting media, root zones, and flood-and-drain cycles. Empty, the tray weighs 100 pounds and takes an 8-inch lid opening for access. If you searched for a 200 gallon Bushman grow bed or aquaponics tray in blue, this is the tray that matches.
Will it work for your build
This is a grow bed tray, not a pressure or transport vessel — its value is the large, low profile. The wide 54 x 61-inch surface gives you bench-style growing area, and the 19-inch overall height keeps the water column and any media beds under 19 inches of total depth, within easy reach for planting and harvest. Confirm your stand or pad can carry the full load before you fill it: at 200 gallons of water the tray reaches roughly 1,668 pounds, and any growing media, gravel, or fish load adds to that. The footprint spreads that weight over a wide area, but the surface underneath still needs to be flat, level, and continuous — a sagging or point-loaded bench will distort a shallow polyethylene tray. Use the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide to plan your grow area and water volume.
Plan your ports before you plumb
The tray ships with an 8-inch lid opening for access and no factory outlet, bulkhead, or drain. For a flood-and-drain aquaponics build, the drain and return plumbing is the heart of the system, so plan on field-adding any bulkhead fittings yourself — the port loadout is buyer-supplied, sized to your pump, siphon, and return lines. Do not treat this open-top tray like a closed storage tank: it is a water-service basin for aquaponics and grow applications, polyethylene, designed to hold water and growing systems, not to be sealed, pressurized, or used for chemical service.
The mistake to avoid
Because the tray is shallow and open, plan for evaporation and freeze exposure if it lives outdoors — a shallow water column loses heat and volume faster than a tall tank. For an outdoor grow train that also captures site water, our guide on Bushman rainwater harvesting and first-flush diverter sizing pairs well with a basin like this.
Freight and how to order
This tray ships LTL freight from our Oklahoma plant, and because it is a wide, low shell that weighs only 100 pounds empty, it rides as a lightweight but bulky pallet that one person can maneuver on delivery. Freight is quoted live to your ZIP, never bundled into the list price — get your number in seconds with the Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will size the shipment and confirm lead time. Tell us your delivery ZIP and whether you have a dock or need liftgate service, and we will lock in the most economical route for a tray this size.
