Turn Your Old CRT Computer Monitor Into A Fish Tank ! ! !

Talk about a great screen saver! I've been wanting to do this build for a while now. Just about every time I see and old CRT computer monitor by the side of the road on trash day I think to myself ...that would sure make a cool looking fish tank. So here is my first attempt at turning and old computer monitor into a fish tank.

Step 1 Gather your materials.

Materials
An old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) computer monitor
Plexiglas (I use 1/8 inch)
Two part epoxy
Clear bathroom/kitchen grade silicone caulk
Paint for the background of the tank
Duck Tape
Hot Glue
Permanent markers
Expanding insulation foam

Tools
Safety glasses or face shield
Thick work gloves
Hammer
Screwdrivers
Utility knife
Rotary tool with cutting bit
Pliers
Speed square
Measuring tape
etc. ...whatever works

Comments

[Michaelthedestoyer]

Could the same be applied to a small Television?

[mason0190]

or a big television? i found a 52" Sony on the street and it was *'*FREE!!!*'* because it had 2 busted circuit boards, so lucky me :3

[mason0190]

And I would assume so, because it's essentially the same thing on a larger scale. It would certainly be more of an ambitious project, though.

[mason0190]

Would this work with one of those gargantuan 56" Sony flatscreens? I have one in my garage (free at a garage sale because two circuit boards were fried) and was waiting for a project like this.

[ryandean98]

You could actually do that! THere are actually very thin aquariums out there! Check this out: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=picture+frame+aquarium&um=1&hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1440&bih=813&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7490070703706333955&sa=X&ei=ViP4TeSaNYfEgAfJtKSkDA&ved=0CFQQ8wIwAA

[mason0190]

I meant one of the old-school CRT ones that took up about two refrigerators'-worth of space.

[videogamemaster]

Lol, that'd look so cool. Heh, but I don't think using a flat screen television would work too well (Too thin). Unless it's a chunky one, with the big tube in the back like old school  TVs, then theres possibilities.....

But I think I'd rather buy/swap out the new cirucit boards and have a big flippin' TV. But thats just me...

[DIYandSIMPLIFY.Blogspot]

hahah - very nice project, my man.

[Fail whale]

:-p this looks like a great, i havent tried it yet but im gonna try to

[SIRJAMES09]

Q:
if you build the whole thing out of Plexiglas, what do you need the inner workings of the monitor for?
can't you just build a tank that fits inside the "outside parts" & call it a day?

Keep in mind I would have no idea on how to build this had I not seen your instructable...

I like the way you explained everything, it was easy for me to follow & looks really awesome!!

[Ickletas]

Great build. The only modification I would make would be to put in underwater L.E.D's for the lighting, this would mean you could fill up top the top of the "screen"

[cclark-1]

Awesome project! Didn't Pee Wee Herman have an old box style TV that was a fish tank on his Saturday morning show? If so, I have been coveting it ever since. I have an old CRT monitor that I'm going to start taking apart today and next pay day, hit up the pet store for the silicone and such.

As for the disposal of the dangerous parts, you may actually want to to check with your local Best Buy or we have a store around here that people donate computer pieces so that kids can learn computer repair skills. I'm sure they would have a recycling area for that.

[Nxtfari]

Where did you dispose of the CRT?

[Goodhart]

It CAN be a tricky thing.   You could ask your local TV repairman, & he'll "make it safe for disposal" for you,  or you could just take a pair of pliers and break of the tiny knub at the very back of the tube. There will be an inrush of some air,  it is a vacuum after all, and then it won't implode anymore, and the trash man should have no trouble taking it then.   YMMV,  so consult local laws, and someone for safety tips on how to disable the tube for safe disposal.

[red9er]

Although that is good advice, there is also toxic chemicals in CRT's (mercury?) and so you have to take them to a recycling center if u wish to be environmentally responsible.

[Goodhart]

Yes, you're right, still it is best to "disable" thier implosive nature so the center will accept it.

[Goodhart]

IIRC it is mostly LEAD, but that is still a toxic metal....

[rangkale]

great!!! love this :)

[brennacs]

nice instructable :) i always wanted thought about doing something like this. so i know this is random, but is that a cf that screws into a standard light socket? i've been looking for one this shape for a project i'm working on and cant find one anywhere.... :(

[JonBoy470]

IKEA sells bulbs that shape... 11W, 600Lumen IIRC

[anpelleg]

What brand of dremil is that? mine is a lot bigger and not as nice

[tinker234]

nice be funnny to print the windows desktop and lamate love fish there cute just have to get my cat away

[Floyd_Droid]

Lets be honest... This is an extreme waste of time, money and effort. If you take the amount of money spent + put a price of time it took to create it... you could have bought a very nice aquarium.

If one still feels compelled to build something like this I would suggest NOT to use the CRT and building the tank directly inside the monitor shell with plexiglass. So that your not risking injury breaking the CRT cleanup and so forth.

But most importantly is to consider that most fish are very sensitive to chemical contamination: WD40, Glass Cleaners etc... not to mention the phosphor and gases + God-knows-what-else. Unless you want to have a tankfull of goldfish and black mollies... go right ahead. Marine fish would not survive in such conditions.

[nerfinaticRN7]

It's obvious to anyone that read the article that you skimmed it because there is an instructable about safely disassembling a CRT monitor. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-safely-disassemble-a-CRT-monitor/ They evidently not used the CRT because the surface is flat. Flat screen monitors use lenslike glass and a flat sheet of glass to do it. That means the fish would look distorted. There is a screen inside every CRT to ceep the electron beam from spreading out too much and/or go off center. So you can't put the fish inside the CRT because shadow masks have miniscule holes in the sheet. Aperture grilles, wich have better picture, have wires instead of miniscule holes, so the water will leak a lot faster. My grandma's CRT monitor has controls on the front, so I can put those controls on the fish tank. They are not simply a menu button, there is contrast, brightness, input format and power as physical switches to put in the tank, so I can turn it into a very nice aquarium. The menu will be an easy feeder where the food will come out of the "electron guns" made of brass. There is my message for you.

[1spartan95]

You have no DIY in you at all. Get off of the internet. NOW!

[VanillaXtiffy]

You could say that fish keeping in general is a waste of time money and effort. Not to mention natural resources since in order to keep your fish humanely, you should be doing large weekly water changes.

[pyroarchist]

unless your aquarium is extremely overstocked, and tiny anything more than 20 percent every other week is extremely stressful for the fish

[Jack A Lopez]

Yikes!  Chemical contamination!? 

Does that mean the goldfish isn't safe to eat? 

[santy22]

But it looks cool!

[poolshark162006]

thats not the point.

[Nxtfari]

Of course it is. Why else would you build it.

[nerfinaticRN7]

LCD or any flat-panel moniter would be too thin to be made int0 a fish tank, but they CAN be made in2 an ant farm lol. The CRT moniter i'm planning to use has contrast, brightness, power button (definitly) and menu control. I'll try to incorporate those buttons into the fish tank with the menu button being the filter and oxygen input levels.

[nerfinaticRN7]

A VeiwPanel VP150 (a late 90s lcd monitor) is 3 inches thick, thin enough to eliminate the biggest fish varieties. That monitor i'm planning to use is a Nokia Multigraph 446xpro

[nerfinaticRN7]

There is a big metal screen because all CRTs have holes to fire a cathode through. Invar shadow masks have miniscule holes, slot masks have vertical rectangles and aperture grills have a sereis of wires to fire through. Why would they fire through holes in the first place? Because a cathode, like a flashlight, gets wider as it gets further away from the source. The holes make the beams narrower.

[QueenQuill]

 Damn you!  I had this idea many years ago, and always wanted to do it.  Then I saw the Instructabled "Dead PC" contest and thought that now would be the time to do it!  But noooo...you have to go and do it first!  *cries*  Ah well, I'll still probably build one, because I've wanted one since I first thought of doing it so many years ago!  BTW, good job in the Instructable!

[Cobalt59]

Calm yourself.........

[Homemadeslop]

Many have contemplated using crt tv's and monitors for fish tank I thought of this idea years ago with a funny tv show took an old piano and turned that back part into a fishtank or a fishtank holder of sorts. I havent done it cause I know a little to much about electronics including these chunky tvs/monitors. If you still want to do it, then do it you will be the one that uses a bigger or smaller screen, you can customize it as you wish to make it "your own". Just be careful, do outside with a mask might be a better idea than being in the house due to dusts and all.

[faithisroo]

yup....i saw that contest too, and wanna make one...but...i guess it's yours...
T____T

nice one btw...

[sqeeek]

I just read an instructable for a mineral-oil filled fish tank computer. I think I might just combine the two. That'd be pretty cool :D

[dkskinn]

this is a great hack. I have 5 or 6 CRT's I wasn't sure what to do with. I have gutted a few for the fly back, but i think I'll do this with at least a couple. as for the fools that think that there is radiation or other dangerous things in there, most of you are wrong. yes there is phosphorous, and a dangerous (sort of) vacuum. to crush the nipple at the connector is the safest way to take care of the vacuum, and as for the phosphorous, don't breath it and you should be fine. As for the radiation... seriously people. only way you get radiation from this is if you have it on, if you are doing this, you have no business being on any DIY site. there is no residual, radiation left when unit is off. not even inside. the biggest risk is the capacitors used to charge the deflection screens inside the tube. those can be extremely painful, and rarely leathal. just ask a cat I used to have... (long story, jut keep the cats tail out of things when you have this apart...) Just use a mask and beware of charged components. Even after months of no use.