9 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

I'm toying with the idea of getting an inverter and aerator to use in a fish-hualin' cooler my minivan. I would only need enough chutzpa to service a regular sized cooler, probably ~48 quarts at the most.

Any particular aerators you'd recommend and what wattage inverter would they require?

[Matt DeLaVega]

I would just pick up a middle of the road aerator and a 300 watt inverter.

[Michael Wolfe]

Air pumps don't use that much wattage.  I would get a tetra whisper 100.  They seem quieter to me (I have a few) and they have two outlets.  Driving two air stones for two coolers would be a good idea.  And they only draw 5 watts, so your inverter will not have to be extra large or be taxed in any way.

[Matt DeLaVega]

It seems like the most common size of small inverter is the 300 watt. Pretty cheap.  http://invertersuppl...oKuEaAu2l8P8HAQ

[AussiePeter]

You only need an aerater when you are stopped, when driving I think you are better not to have one in as it is something else for the fish to bang into.  Sloshing generates tons of oxygenation.

 

cheers

Peter

[Sean Phillips]

I'd go with a 300w inverter to a tetra whisper air pump, size of the pump depending on how many coolers you want. If you just want two coolers aerated then I'd do a whisper 50. If you want something like 3 or 4 aerated, I'd go with a whisper 100 because you could run two base lines out which could be separated with T valves to get 4 lines total.

[Josh Blaylock]

I use a small inverter to power an air pump and multiple intank(cooler) filters all at the same time, no issues here.

[Irate Mormon]

I picked up an inverter at Home Depot for $5, I think it was maybe 100W or something.  You could run a bunch of aerators offa that.

[jetajockey]

Why not just get a 12v aerator and cut out the middle man?

[Casper]

Why not just get a 12v aerator and cut out the middle man?

 

That's a good idea which brings up another consideration.  When staying overnight somewhere, camping or in a motel, would leaving a direct 12 volt aerator plugged in and running overnight, would your vehicle battery be drawn down to "no start" in the morning?  These modern car electronics are getting finicky.  When i was young i could leave my 8 track player running all night with no issues.  Today after just an hour or 2 the battery is battery drained.  And some 12 volt ports are only on when the car is running or the key engaged.  On other vehicles they are "live" all the time.

 

Also i had a nice little 12 volt invertor, very small but ideal for running my small air pump.  I thought it a good idea to just leave it plugged into the port instead of storing and hunting for it.  Not good... as it burned out.