Coleman Cooler....the Ultimate Temperate Sump?????

So in my search to find a good way to plumb my two marineland systems together I've come across some 100 qt (approx 25 gallon) coleman coolers. My plan is to put the cooler on a stand in between both tanks at a height that will eliminate any problems with overflowing. I'll need to drill 3 or 4 bulkhead fittings into it and I'll probably use some directional valves just in case.

I can pick one up for about $50. I dont think I could get a similar sizes extra thick acrylic tank make for cheaper.

Also could potentially be a place to put more filters, probes, skimmers, calcium based live rock, etc.....

What do you guys think? Would it be worth it? Ideas? Concerns? Input?

Discuss

that is what I would do. it is a great idea. cheap alternative to.

I imagine it would make a good sump for any aquaria that are temperature controlled.

What's a coleman cooler? Sounds like it would work though. When you say "put the cooler on a stand in between both tanks at a height that will eliminate any problems with overflowing", how high would it have too be?

Coleman is just a brand, really any large cooler would work but Coleman is just the most known.

For the height I'm trying to get it level with the height of the tanks surface. I think one way valves may be the only way to do this the way I want it.

Gonna go shop some garage sales and cruise craigslist for one tomorrow. I still haven't decided if I will install baffles inside the cooler to make it like a traditional sump, or leave it as an open volume of water.

Oh I see.

Good luck!

Picked up 3 coolers for $40 off of craiglist today. Looks like I have a project for my day off : )

AquaticEngineer wrote:Picked up 3 coolers for $40 off of craiglist today. Looks like I have a project for my day off : )

Your set. Be sure, if you plant to drill, to drill the sides of your coolers. This way you are able to open the cooler and look at the contents without unhooking or otherwise disrupting function.

Michael Milligan wrote:
Your set. Be sure, if you plant to drill, to drill the sides of your coolers. This way you are able to open the cooler and look at the contents without unhooking or otherwise disrupting function.

Yeah definitely going throuh the sides for that reason. The lid will be nice also to prevent evaporation. The cooler I'm going to use is a 52 QT, about 13 gallons, which is smaller than I eventually want to have. But for about $13 I figured this would be a good one to use a test sump before I drill holes in a huge expensive cooler.

I'm going to plumb the lines with ball valves, one way valves, and disconnect points so that when I get the bigger cooler I can hook it into the existing plumbing.

Figuring out the interior of the sump layout I'll have to spend some time on still. It'll probably be quite simple with this first one since it is a test sump. Also, since I'm not decided yet on what additional filtration to put into it yet, it will mostly be to connect the 2 tanks together.

Here's the cooler I'm using, its an Igloo 52 qt. The drain plug came out with a twist of the nut. The area where the drain is is hard flat plastic with no insulation, it will be real easy to drill larger and add a drainage bulkhead. It also has the notches in the interior sides to slide dividers into, should be easy to put some baffles in and silicone them in place.

It's good that you're finally getting somewhere with the sump!

Pufferfreak wrote:It's good that you're finally getting somewhere with the sump!

Its slowing leaking out of my brain, onto the internet, then into reality

Right now all of my plans are still in my head. My only problem is lack of money .

Pufferfreak wrote:Right now all of my plans are still in my head. My only problem is lack of money .

I feel ya, why do you think everything I get is off of Craigslist

well I totally f'd up the first hole I drilled on the larger cooler and cracked the inside plastic, but on the plus side, the second cooler I did came out pretty sweet

Here's the sump so far, gotta get some more threaded barb fittings and the tubing. Then I can water test it and make sure its all sealed up right before I hook it up. I need to add the baffles still or a stand pipe on the return.

I wouldn't have even attempted this as I know I would have cracked it haha. Nice job on the second one though! What kind of drill are you using?

Real basic hand held battery operated electric drill with a set of multiple hole saw bits.......and a very steady hand,

I'm going to put this project on hold for a few weeks until I get all the substrate, lighting, and flow figured out on the big tank.

That should only take a week .

Well, yeah But I still need to order the LED strips and sell my old airsoft gun so I can afford a pair of MP10 ES Vortechs. Or I might just get some koralias and save the money

I think lighting for the big tank will be $40-$80 at most. Then the powerheads so I can kill the filtration and feed the tank. Its mostly the cost factor of trying to setup 2 tanks at the same time, just gotta weigh it out and get what I need most first.

Selling the airsoft gun!? Oh nooo D:. Haha.

That's one thing I love about temarine tanks: they can be so cheap! .

Here's a quick lay out of what I'll be doing I think with the sump for the second coldwater tank. The whole idea for this sump is to add some mechanical filtration with the filter sock and add biological with all of the submerged bioballs. They the solenoid valves with allow the auto feeder to circulate the food in the system for a while without being immediately filtered out.

I'll be adding a loop on to the sump to plumb a skimmer into with an external pump as well.

Any suggestions, comments, please add

that looks cool

Looks nice and neat. Are you going to have a refugium for the tank?

Pufferfreak wrote:Looks nice and neat. Are you going to have a refugium for the tank?

I think I will eventually since the stand I got has plenty of room on it to plumb in another tank on this system. I'll probably go with a thick acylic cube and build it myself. It'll give me something to do once the second system is up and running. I have a spot right in front of a window for the fuge tank so it'll get natural sunlight and I'll do some other kind of LED setup I'm sure. But that wont be for a while.

I've been pretty happy so far with the big tank not having any algae at all in it and it not getting any direct light except when I'm looking at it.

once my tank is ready ill get some cool nems for you when i come down there if you want them