DIY - icechest aquarium?

[clarence]

So, I've had this idea kicking around in my head for a few days, and wanted to run it by folks to get some feedback.

What about taking one of the 30-40 gallon icechests/coolers/whathaveyou (like the ones Coleman makes), removing or altering the lid, and replacing one side of it with glass or acrylic, thereby converting it into an insulated enclosure?

Think it could work?

 

[edward]

Hi Clarence.
I've had this idea also a time or two. I just have never tried it. I keep getting put off on how to cut the side for the pane of glass without it looking terrible.

Ed

 

[michael]

I use a small ice chest as an axolotl tank. I don't have the side cut out . I just look in through the top. The plastic doesn't seem to hurt the animal. One concern I have when using new containers is sometimes nasty chemicals and release agents are used in manufacturing them. Sometimes these chemicals might leach into the water.

 

[pin-pin]

Clarance, I do in fact use a cooler to raise eggs to juveniles before sending them off to new homes. It works quite well, but I've had temperature-tolerant species.

Here is a photo of my set-up. I used screen mesh because I had an aquatic set-up and because I was too lazy to cut glass/screen is cheap

The water (only 2-5 inches) stays a cool 60F if you add about 1 Qt of refrigerated water (~50F) once a day. It's not as pretty as a glass tank with a cooling system, but it's a whole lot cheaper.