Old cooler for hydro

[Locrian99]

I’ve been cleaning out my garage the last few days and also thinking about trying hydro at some point. Apparently I have a small obsession with acquiring coolers and while moving them around it dawned on me these have a built in drain and come insulated wouldn’t these be great for hydro. But I’ve never seen anyone do it so maybe not.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Morning 99, don't know sh-t about hydro, but those coolers should do a great job.

[Chefbjy]

Maybe lol... I'd look up some diy set ups. My buddy thinks he can make them out of totes. Putting a hole in the top of a cooler lid haha never tried that.

[abadtrip]

That is a good idea I like it.

[Locrian99]

Your tangie grow I think has pushed me to try hydro

[Jr83]

That's genuis actually u can build it for about 30 bucks per cooler depending on size i built a Sirius bubbleponics system its a 30 gal 6 3in net pots

[Locrian99]

Yea I’ve been kicking around the idea between 5 gallon buckets and those totes in my research of what people use. I was stacking (yes I have that many) coolers just thought hey one of these would probably work and I shouldn’t need anything to pump it out as there’s already a drain. I’m a ways off until my next grow. So lots of time to plan it.

[RosettaStoned]

Do it.

[Locrian99]

I plan on it. I figure I’m going to have a 6 month break at least after harvest. Building a new home is the current plan, so I’ll get my fix by making something

[OzBud]

I've seen plenty of outdoor hydroponic plants here in Aus with coolers or as we call them, eskys for both the plant tubs and the external reservoir. You'll probably need something like a tank outlet/ bulkhead fitting for a seal if you want to join tubs to an external res since the walls of the cooler will likely be too thick for a rubber uni seal.
Although if you're just doing one plant in one cooler then a holesaw or jigsaw will cut a hole in the lid and that's about all you'd have to worry about