Refrigeration tech here. The condensing coil on most modern fridges run along the outside walls of the unit. I'm thinking you got really lucky in not popping one. That unit also has a flammable refrigerant, just felt you should know. Over all, I think this diy is really smart. It should work well for a long time I suspect.

I have no need for an aquarium chiller - I'm just here to catch a glimpse of Leon! But I have to say that this was a fascinating and educational video. And it was very enjoyable to watch. I bet you could make a video about changing a tire look enjoyable! Great job!

Leon hit the Jackpot when you rescued him. He one lucky lobster 🦞

If only all dads treated their kids as well as you treat Leon ❤

This was an interesting build! 👍 If you revisit this chiller in the future, I'd recommend taking that stainless coil down to a hydraulic shop and having the ends flared so the hose is less likely to ever come loose or leak. I'd also suggest bulkhead fittings on the pass-through locations on your fridge so you have less of a chance of abrasion ever wearing through the hoses, improved air sealing, and less foam exposure (Cabinet foam is extremely flammable. That cyclopentane (analogous to butane) sticker on the back is a warning that the foam is literally full of it). I'd also consider putting the pump on a moisture sensing outlet and routing the hoses above the height of the tank (maybe they already are?) so they could never siphon it empty. I use a 5/8" siphon hose to transfer fuel from cans into my vehicles and the flow rate is is about 1.25 gallons/minute with about a 24" fall. If heat gain through the hoses becomes an issue, pipe insulation is pretty readily available and reasonably inexpensive. It's worth seeking out the stuff with a rubber outer shell that has an adhesive sealing flap. The stuff HD usually carries is just foam with a barely glued lip. The rubber stuff also doesn't "hate" being spray painted so you could somewhat make it match your decor.

As suggested by The Broken Life, you need to grommet where the hoses pass through the metal cabinet. The vibration of the compressor, along with the sharp edge of the hole in the sheet metal will eventually saw through the tubing. While actual passthrough grommets are ideal, one possibility is to force silicone rubber caulk in and around the hole. This will cushion and trap the tubing in the hole, thereby eliminating the sawing motion of the vibration.

Helping Leon keep his COOL!

I came here for Leon, I'm staying for your interesting projects and very chill attitude, voice and editing style, which is such a refresher in this era of flashy and in your face media. Keep up the good work! :)

Brady you did such a good job! i first saw this concept about 30 years ago in the aquarium room of my biology teacher. he used the same method to cool down an mediterranean aquarium im summer.

I love DIY projects! This doesn't look too hard for anyone with any skill level to pull off. It's an interesting project. I had fun watching you make it! ☺️

Came for Leon, didn't expect to see Leon. Was pleasantly surprised by Leon and listened to the entire thing in the background with 0 intention of ever needing a chiller XD. Good times were had.

Don't hesitate to get your Leon merch. I just got my Leon mug and I love it. Should have got two because I have a sneaky suspicion my husband might steal it, I've seen the way he is eyeing me down as I drink my morning coffee. Thank you Leon, I'll think of you everyday now.

I've got 2 of those same Craftsman drills from my Dad. I used them when I was a kid 45 years ago and they are just as brutally strong today as they were back then!

Nothing stops you from.keeping Leon happy and healthy and I'm SO HERE FOR IT💙💙!!

What a lucky lobster Leon is to have such a caring guardian! Peace and blessings.

I enjoy your videos so very much! They keep me interested, entertained, and educated… and your narration is especially soothing. I lost my rat terrier a year ago last week and Leon has become a little joy and therapy to look forward to. Keep up the fantastic work and I look forward to many more videos! ❤️

The metal coil should be immersed in water inside the fridge, remember that air is an insulator so the current setup isn't efficient whatsoever. The fridge then cools the water and it acts like a heat sink, look up home brewing and distilling and you'll understand. The temperature of the fridge can be set much higher thus it won't run constantly and waste electricity.

Nicely done! You can also increase it's effectiveness buy insulating the clear tubes externally. The more insulation, the less strain on the compressor. I had used a long freezer (a GE I believe) and dedicated most of the right side of it for my 45 gallon tank chiller. It worked well (dropped the temp on average of 15 to 18 degrees in a fairly warm basement) and I had plenty of space left over for other frozen goods to boot, so it was a nice thing to do all around. Say hi to Baxter and Leon for me!

Thank you for the "how to" video! And of course ....thanks for saving and filming Leon❤️😇

So glad leon is here for us to document! Lobsters are so neat, unique, and amazing. Leon has really grown, and us viewers have learned to love him!

Brady, this was an awesome DIY. I would like to suggest, just for a little more efficiency, some spacers in the coils to allow air to pass between them more easily. I may be wrong as your refrigerator environment may be rather static in regards to airflow, but thought I would suggest it anyway as I suspect a coil spacer would be relatively cheap and easy to find.

You are a genius you showed kids how to be empathic and a scientist at the same time! I love Leon!

I've been watching Brady's vids since day one of Leon and it just now dawned on me: his voice is nearly the same as the narrator of "How its Made." Good luck getting that out of your head, viewers.

This is awesome! Thanks for the info and tell Leon we say hi

I built one for my 100 gal tank with a much smaller refrigerator and a dinky coil compared to yours , the only difference is my coil is submerged in a bucket of water ! The water temperature is almost a constant temp with no fluctuations when the refrigerator kicks on and off..

This man is very smart and very creative! Well done, you’re continuing to make Leon feel more and more at home! 🙂

Seems like an awesome diy for future axolotl owners, including myself!

Fairly new viewer here, (Leon Fan) Love your smooth and easy delivery, I could listen to you narrating tying your shoes. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were Bruce Brown (Endless Summer).

So happy to see Leon doing so well🥹

IMPRESSED: The most I could've done is pick up the fridge! Love ya Leon: You got a Great Papa! deb in Sunny SC🕶

Nice little build, I've been thinking of doing something similar to this for home brewing for a while. A small electric fan to circulate the air around inside the fridge will help with heat transfer.

Is it just me or do all his videos give off a peaceful dream like vibe?

That was cool and great choice of beer, Stella my favorite 😄

Good job, somewhere around 1/3 - 1/2 price and it stores beer! It's so good Leon did a solo on castanets at the end!

Leon is looking good! Rich color!

Great video. Love peoples advise & comments. We are all learning, all the time.

You saved a ton of money with your diy project.

You are very crafty! Great freezer 👍

I'm so glad you put bottles of water in the fridge! The whole time I was hoping you would

I like this!!! Chill your beer and fish!

At first i was wondering why this aquarium video was in my recommended - but then i realised its Leon's dad!

pure pleasure to watch someone work :) cheers!

Such a great solution, Leon is one lucky sea-bug!

I'm currently working on building a paludarium for some Kaiser newts, and seeing that I live in the scorching central valley in CA, I'll definitely need to get a good chiller for these cold-loving amphibians. Though I'll probably just end up buying a prefabricated chiller, the idea of building one from scratch is certainly intriguing. I might try this project myself once I have a bit more experience under my belt; I'm not a very handy person, and I'm sure I'd find a way to screw this up somehow if I tried it now.

I wish I would have seen this a few years ago. Maybe Scarface would have made it. Let me explain. So I worked in a grocery store and wanted to rescue a lobster that we had for weeks. Apparently people were picky about eating a lobster that had a scar on its head. Not sure how it got there but needless to say he was the only one left week after week after several replenishments. Scarface was the perfect name for the fellow on death row. There was hope. I wanted to purchase him and take him to the ocean but here in Florida that would of been another death sentence. So I thought about an aquarium but well that was pricey. That along with keeping the aquarium at a low temperature was another problem. Long story short, I went in for my shift one day and found that someone didn’t mind the scar. Thanks for saving Leon and for the learning experience you gave me. Wish I would have done the same. RIP Scarface.

Wow. Really impressed! I know nothing about the process , but really admire what you are doing for Leon ! You are awesome!

I ❤️Leon

was not sure about this set up until you stored additional things in the fridge like food for the aquarium, i got sold.

Started this video to support the Chanel. i put videoes with Leon On when i fall asleep, and have to put the same video on several times to see the end. So started this one just to support but ended up enjoing it. So smart!

Thank you for this! Answers my question about required temperature.

A man showing off something he is passionate about. This is 'youtube back to basics' when money came second and the will to show something that makes you happy came in first hand. Money is the driving force for 99,99% of youtubers today.

hey! Brady! keeping more beer cool is always a must and, keeping a hot lobster cool in the process that's a bonus!!

You’re are truly skilled my guy. Really enjoyed this DIY and it is amazing to think how many things it could actually be used for. Thank you so much. Love you guys.

So cool! Waiting for the Leon update...

Wow, Leon has AC! World's most pampered lobster haha 🦞🦞🦞

I came for the Lobster, I stayed for the cool projects this guy does!

Hi Leon Hi Brady 😙😙😙

I like my house temp at 65 so he’d be ok here. But I love this video, I didn’t know we could build something like this!

Omg I needed this idea so bad, Ive looked into aquarium chillers for hydroponics and this is the way! Thank you!! I found you with your wholesome lobster video and the algorithm gave me this! Genious! 1/3 - 1/2 price of chiller and a useful fridge. Good tip that a full fridge/freezer is more efficient than empty too.

Very cool man! Haha no pun intended 😉

Nicely done! I love projects like this because I’m always thinking of small improvements and tinkering with it! Joey Mullen (before he started vlogging) would be proud!

Every time I go to toss out a new suggestion you come around and do the thing before I have a chance to open my mouth. Fantastic work man, brilliant little bit of thinking with that DIY setup as well!

The best part was the ice cold beer in the fridge at the end! Very cool build. Can’t wait for the next Leon update!

This is fantastic you are building this for Leon

This video made me finally realize who you remind me of, at least your voice. How it’s made!

Have you thought of keeping the coil submerged in a bucket in the fridge? Maybe it could help with the thermal transfer and cool down the large tank more efficiently. Just a though and cool project.

I like your project video... thanks...

I love this guy and anything Leon

Great low-cost dual-purpose solution. However if you'd like it to function even better you could have the refrigerator and the aquarium in different rooms. The calories removed from the water being released into the same room from the back of the fridge will eventually at least partly end up back in the aquarium water otherwise. One could imagine the refrigerator immediately on the other side of a stud wall to mitigate this with the pipes coming through the wall. Also won't your refrigerator end up wet from the freezer dripping with the drip tray removed?

I stopped eating lobster long ago; now I know more about why! Thanks Leon!

We're making one too...Cowabunga.! Hello Leon. We love you.

Maybe not the most effective way, but sure a fun way. Since air is great insulator, and the fridge is filled with air, you need a lower temperature in the fridge the if it was filled with water. If you want to be even more cost effective, there are probably a lot of second hand fridges, ppl tend to get new when changing up the kitchen and fully working ones end up on the second hand market. Lastly, i love these videos. The production is great and your voice is relaxing and nice. I'd like audiobooks read by you.

I’ve become emotionally invested in this lobster lol.

Great project, you are relying on the air flow within the fridge to circulate around the stainless coil, you could increase the cooling capacity by adding a low voltage fan to blow the cool air through the coil, you can buy usb powered fans from Amazon with speed control for a few dollars.

I figured it out - you're the "This old Tony" of lobsters!

I like me a cold Stella too! Great work, very impressive design!

this guy cares sooooo much about his animals

you should have put silicon culking in around the tubing to seal the holes to prevent air leaks, keep the cold air in the fridge and warm air out.as the cooler works best when air tight, silicon culking should go both on the inside and on the outside.

As a failsafe, I'd add a thermostat to shut down the fridge incase it gets too cold. I'm not sure how sensitive he will be to temp swings but a lot of inverts are. Overall a great job!

Very nice...I am trying to see if I can put my dream tank in my man cave garage using this method.

Great job I really love this video thank you for sharing

Leon became the luckiest Lobster in the world when you stepped into his life...or into the Seafood Mkt. Hooray for your new creation, Leon's new water cooler. Great job! (Btw Zoomies, ref. Ader Farm Great Pyrenees guard dog).

Great job!

Appliance repair tech reporting in for leon. Condescending coil runs along the left, top and right walls. Lower right back wall is safest for drilling. You can get lucky but lower right (facing you)

Very cool, I'm glad it all worked out buddy. We'll done, I'm sure the fish and/or Leon will love the cooler water

Nicely done.

You did a great job,So smart,you are so good to Leon interesting video ,Thank you🧡🦂

I came for Leon and stayed for the DIY. I love your ingenuity!

One other consideration to bear in mind is space. Having sufficient room next to your aquarium to house a mini-fridge is a must. Not to mention a couple more power outlets for the fridge and the pump.

Wow this is by far your best video yet, keep up the awesome work! Your voice reminds me of watching how it's made when I was younger

Probably some insulation on the external tubing and perhaps making the internal coils run around the inside of the fridge instead of just staying in the middle would increase the effictiveness, but this is a great project with very little effort. Wonderful work!

Aluminum tape with insulation tape around the outlet tube could help keep temperatures down even lower, also seal the holes on the refrigerator with foam fill let’s get that thing chilling

Note to self, Brady's finger is the same as a 5/8 drill bit. LOL you're a super interesting guy! And you're the only man I've ever seen that knows how to use a dustbuster! 😍😍😍😍😍 😆😆😆😆😆

That was very intelligent....thanks for sharing!!

Ahh stella artois I see you too are a man of culture!

Did this for a 29 gallon axolotl tank works super effectively u can keep them at natural temps

love your videos

Definitely a fun project! Thanks for sharing!

DIY!!! This is so helpful!!

I had a similar design idea to yours, good job