I don't live particularly close to any reef shops. The closest one is about 2 hours away. I try to buy from local reefers when I can, but of course there are always pieces of livestock that LFS shops can get that local people don't have, or aren't willing to part with. This presented me with the problem of how to transport the stock long distances while keeping them alive. After doing a little research, I found that many people convert a cooler into a little storage container. I wasn't able to find many guides or videos on doing this however. So I just got to work. I tried to document as best as I could in case anyone else is interested in following. Here is what I came up with:
First, I needed a container. My wife wasn't thrilled about me destroying our larger cooler so I found one at Walmart for $12.
It's 9 quarts, so it's kind of small. But I think it's a great size for just some frags or smaller fish.
I started off with cutting some egg crate to fit in the bottom of the cooler. This would allow for frag plugs to fit in.
For cutting, I went a little overboard and used a multi tool. I just find that it cuts through like butter and leaves a fairly clean edge that I don't have to clean up.
I wanted the heater to sit at the bottom of the cooler so I needed to elevate the egg crate.
I got some leftover PVC from a previous project and cut it to about an inch and a quarter.
I then drilled holes through it and threaded zip ties through the holes.
Then I secured them to the egg crate. One in each corner.
Once I got the base sorted out, it was time to get to the cooler. I needed to drill some holes to allow for cables to go through. I decided on using an external filter for this rather than an internal (mainly because I had one laying around not being used) I went with the ZooMed TC-30. It's small, relatively quiet, and fit my needs. That meant that I would need to drill holes for the intake and return as well as for the heater cable.
The external filter.
Finally, I needed a way to power all of this while in the car. I found a small power inverter at Walmart that would have no problems running the heater and filter.
And here is the finished product!
First, I needed a container. My wife wasn't thrilled about me destroying our larger cooler so I found one at Walmart for $12.
It's 9 quarts, so it's kind of small. But I think it's a great size for just some frags or smaller fish.
I started off with cutting some egg crate to fit in the bottom of the cooler. This would allow for frag plugs to fit in.
For cutting, I went a little overboard and used a multi tool. I just find that it cuts through like butter and leaves a fairly clean edge that I don't have to clean up.
I wanted the heater to sit at the bottom of the cooler so I needed to elevate the egg crate.
I got some leftover PVC from a previous project and cut it to about an inch and a quarter.
I then drilled holes through it and threaded zip ties through the holes.
Then I secured them to the egg crate. One in each corner.
Once I got the base sorted out, it was time to get to the cooler. I needed to drill some holes to allow for cables to go through. I decided on using an external filter for this rather than an internal (mainly because I had one laying around not being used) I went with the ZooMed TC-30. It's small, relatively quiet, and fit my needs. That meant that I would need to drill holes for the intake and return as well as for the heater cable.
The external filter.
Finally, I needed a way to power all of this while in the car. I found a small power inverter at Walmart that would have no problems running the heater and filter.
And here is the finished product!
