DIY Mobile Travel Tank

[NSS]

I will be traveling with some coral frags (LPS & Soft) for about 1 day, then a 3 day hotel stop and another day by car. Thinking about putting together a travel tank/box. I would think a preset heater, small curculation pump and a cheap light would do the job. I can make new salt water on the go if needed. Most of the time this mobile tank would be close to a power outlet, only the days in the car would be on 12V. Any ideas/experiences on equipment and how to best setup a mobile tank like this? As cost effective as possible!

 

[ZoWhat]

You talking a glass rectangle tank?

Where is this tank going to sit in your vehicle? You plan to strap it down with industrial straps?

You get into an accident and a flying glass tank inside your vehicle will kill anybody it hits including you.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Use a cooler.

 

[NSS]

obviously not glass. I'm wondering if anyone has any good ideas how to DIY something practical.

 

[DaJMasta]

I don't know if I would bother with lighting - if you want something, just bring a lamp you can connect up when you've stopped for the night or similar.

I agree that cooling may be a critical factor, ambient temperatures will be much less stable than a tank. There are some small scale cooler kinds of things that may do the job, but they won't be powerful, so thick insulation and maybe a cold pack that can be frozen at stops are good bets. If you're going the powered route, it's probably best to use a temperature controller, ideally one that can do heating and cooling, as it would be easy to need both in the same trip and a small volume of water will change rapidly in either direction.

For circulation and oxygenation on a low power budget, it's hard to beat bubbles. A small battery bubbler does a reasonable job of both, and if you had it with a sponge filter or something you could even maintain a little bit of bacterial filter.

Something like a plastic cooler or a plastic vessel inside a styrofoam cooler would probably be my choice. Try to get something taller than it is long, then find some sort of baffle that you can put on the top to keep splashing down (sealing will be difficult with the extra stuff in it, so tall and minimal splashing should probably be the priority).

 

[Reffetsevla]

+1 to cooler. I've moved/picked up coral and driven 12+ hours using an Igloo cooler with a heater and powerhead in it plugged into my cars AC outlet. You could get a power inverter if needed. It worked extremely well. I do this everytime I go get coral or livestock now with a smaller cooler too.

Edit to call out the benefit of the cooler holding your water temperature against both hotter and colder temps than the water. I use a preset heater so it can't get bumped or changed, they're almost all set for 78*

 

[Projects with Sam]

plastic bottles in a cooler with hot/cool packs is the simplest I can think of. At night when you have a chance, aerate the water. (pour it from container to container)

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

@Eagle_Steve has this system down for travel. @DiefsReef recently made one also

 

[NSS]

Thank you thats all very good input. I'll report back with some pics.

 

[Malcontent]

Use a cooler.

Use a cooler with a gasketed lid. Ask me how I know...

 

[DiefsReef]

@Eagle_Steve has this system down for travel. @DiefsReef recently made one also

I used my little Reef Cooler (kudos to @Eagle_Steve for the idea) continuously for 4 days without any issues.
I used a 300 Watt (125 watt continuous) car lighter inverter that worked like a champ. It only has one outlet so I bought a heavy duty 1 to 3 splitter to connect the inverter to the pump and heater.
50 watt heater and the above filter mentioned by ES was enough for me.

Fluval® Underwater 3 Filter | fish Filters | PetSmart ​

Fluval® Underwater 3 Filter at PetSmart. Shop all fish filters online

www.petsmart.com

Make sure to get the water heated up before moving to the vehicle so your heater just has to maintain. It was always the last thing in my truck before pulling out (people included )
I didn't do any water changes but the sponge filter has a cavity so I added carbon to help with any warfare.
I had the filter right at the water level to not only provide flow but agitation for air exchange. I put filter floss in the lid/plug hole to help catch splashes and filter the air a little.
After the 1st night in the hotel, I moved the cooler to the bathroom so I could shut the door due to noise

I modified the rack to allow for the filter pump to be lower in the cooler. Less water so not as heavy

original build before rack modification

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I used my little Reef Cooler (kudos to @Eagle_Steve for the idea) continuously for 4 days without any issues.
I used a 300 Watt (125 watt continuous) car lighter inverter that worked like a champ. It only has one outlet so I bought a heavy duty 1 to 3 splitter to connect the inverter to the pump and heater.
50 watt heater and the above filter mentioned by ES was enough for me.

Fluval® Underwater 3 Filter | fish Filters | PetSmart​

Fluval® Underwater 3 Filter at PetSmart. Shop all fish filters online

www.petsmart.com

Make sure to get the water heated up before moving to the vehicle so your heater just has to maintain. It was always the last thing in my truck before pulling out (people included )
I didn't do any water changes but the sponge filter has a cavity so I added carbon to help with any warfare.
I had the filter right at the water level to not only provide flow but agitation for air exchange. I put filter floss in the lid/plug hole to help catch splashes and filter the air a little.
After the 1st night in the hotel, I moved the cooler to the bathroom so I could shut the door due to noise

I modified the rack to allow for the filter pump to be lower in the cooler. Less water so not as heavy

original build before rack modification

I have seen this thing in action and it is sweet!!

That filter is awesome. I've got the size 10 and 40 model.