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

Step 11 Finishing up

Fill your new tank up with water, add gravel, rocks, fish, etc., plug in and enjoy.

Extension ideas:

Make a clear plastic hood to keep any water from splashing up to the light.

Connect the light switch to the on button on the monitor.

Comments

[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....

[Mudbud]

that is one DIRTY tank!!

[tanks4tanks]

Hi,

I came across this instructable by accident and was actually looking to build something out of some spares that I got from some RC Tanks .

I have a really old fashioned screen like this which would look great as a fish tank. I was contemplating getting a Biorb but will try this first.

Thanks for sharing!

[ilikepieinmyshoe]

yo, i tried this and i accidentally smashed the whole thing on the first swing ot hte hammer. I probably should have read your instructable more carefully

[mattimusmaximus]

Thanks I'm building a similar one off of your instructions. The only creative difference I'm doing is modding the old mouse into the bubbler.

[mason0190]

i went to a rummage sale and they had broken (stuck pixels, etc) CRTs for F R E E!!!

[AAurion]

I've been trying to do the same thing, only with my old 14" tv since it doesn't work anymore because of the change to digital =P

But I had a little too much fun with my hammer, and when I turned the crt over, the bottom of the front of the screen was cracked T_T

Now my parents are telling me to take it to this place where you dispose of things like crts, and I'm hoping someone else brought their tv that I can use... or if I'm lucky, a tv that's the same size as mine so I can replace the crt! I want to use my tv's plastic, just because it's been in my room for years and I want to see the look on people's faces when they realize it now has fish in it >=D

So yeah, wish me luck!

[diegolay]

I've also cracked the front or my screen when smashing it

[geekdude]

that poor fish. its probably dead by now from being exposed to all of the poisionus things inside a crt.

[mcanderson76]

Nope, still going strong :)

[3r4ndo]

Hello there, I hope your fish made it a long after this comment!! AVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS: After using wd-40 you have to clean it up even better than you would do if u were going to drink water from this tank remember,your fish is going to live in there. mcanderson76 by now you should know that you cannot use glass with plexi because you cannot glue it together. Silicone would hold really strong on glass but cannot glue plastic(plexi), as far as i know there is no way to combine these two materials. If you want to use glass try finding silicone suitable for aquariums, it will make no difference but its not toxic and will not harm your fish. if you want to use plexi you can just take the curved glass with u and ask for a plexi with the same curve, they will make it for u just for few bucks. I realy love this idea, hope you dont take this comment wrong. I believe i know a few things about fish keeping and i have done many mistakes, there is no need for other people to go through them again. Thank you for sharing this, it will be one of my next projects!! Best regards, Alexander.

[punchedname]

very well done i started today getting the monitor apart just have to go out and get the plexi glass and caulking. I figured this would be a great end table feeder tank for my 5 piranha. Thanks for the walk through : )

[Gwar92664]

this is awesome, how much time and money did u spend making this?

[sigg3.net]

I've been thinking about this for ages. Guess it's not that original :) Great work! Just a note to everyone: Live animals require good care. They feel hurt and fear just as we do. Before adding fish to a tank (or setting up a tank), check out available literature on the kind of tank + fish that you want.

[frikkie]

I have the same idea but with an old television set.Saving a few bucks to buy the rest of the stuff I need.

[sory24712]

accually the fish is 1.99 not 1.88

[ringleader369]

this is am awesome idea..good job!!

[no_fear]

about how many gallons does this hold?

[mcanderson76]

Good question... I'd say about 4 or 5.

[mcanderson76]

(removed by author or community request)

[minfu2]

Hey, I have had fish for a long time and this looks pretty cool. You should probably buy a cheap water filter for the tank. You can buy a small one for 5-7 dollars.

[no_fear]

O, alright. I was hoping for around 10. How big was this monitor? I have a 19" CRT that I want to try this on. I think it will get to around 8-9 gallons, hopefully... Also, if I do make my CRT into a tank, I'm gonna try to snake-proof it. ;)

[mcanderson76]

Mine is only a 13 inch monitor, so you'll probably hit the 10 gallon mark. Computer monitor terrarium! AWESOME IDEA!! LOVE IT!

[no_fear]

One more question from me.... Would this be possible with a T.V.? I have old broken TV's that are even bigger than the 19" CRT just in case this one isn't big enough for my snake.

[no_fear]

I am just not finally getting around to doing this. I'm using a TV that broke. The screen is about 20" wide by 16" tall. It should make for a pretty good snake cage. The only thing I'm worried about is that this isn't just a little $5 gold fish that I might be sacrificing. I don't really trust myself with getting all the crap out of the CRT that could hurt/kill my snake. Is there anything I could do to insure that I get it all out?

[no_fear]

*just now getting around to it* That's what I meant to say... sorry for spamming

[Rishnai]

It would be possible, but depending on how big the TV is, I'd be worried about the curved glass failing. I know that the reallly big ones used to implode except for at high altitudes. The water is probably going to be providing way more than one atmosphere of pressure, and it will be positive, not negative pressure, on the inside of the curve, making it even more likely to fail. Of course, large glass aquariums seem to work okay, some maybe I'm just spittin' into the wind. Did you try it?

[mcanderson76]

I don't see why not. You would probably need to get thicker plexi though. I always thought one of those old LARGE wooden exterior console TV's would look awesome as a fish tank; I'd think a terrarium would be even easier. You could put a couple of hinges on the back and make the whole top lift up for easy cleaning.

[God Under Siege]

This will also answer Skellington's comment down there! My roomate already did this with an old TV. Although it's not as clean as what you did with the computer screen, it was a lot easier! He happened to find an aquarium that filled the hole left by the CRT perfectly. He just mounted at the right level, pushed the aquarium to the frontput hinges on the cover and even wired the lamp to the main power switch! It doesn't have the curved window like yours does, but it was a little more easy to do! Alas, I don't have pictures because he is now my EX-roomate.

[no_fear]

That's exactly what I was thinking about the hinges. Thanks for the help, and if I do end up making one of the things we talked about, I will send you the pictures, if you have any interest in that. Thanks again for everything.

[mcanderson76]

That would be awesome! I look forward to seeing them.

[magro444]

I am in the making of a fish tank out of a tv. all i have to do is glue it and i am done i did all this with a knife and 1 screwdriver

[dustinandrews]

This is really cool. Adding some kind of water filter would be a cool upgrade. A Beta would be another good type of fish for this project.