Introduction: TV Fish Tank \ Aquarium
Hi All,
I thought i would give something back to the internet. Here is the TV Fish Tank \ Aquarium i made.
Warning: Ensure that the TV has been unplugged from mains for a while, it can still hold a charge in the capacitors
Tools:
Gloves
Screwdriver
Hammer
Glass Cutter (possibly)
Sissors
Pliers
Step 1: Step 1
Get yourself a Vintage TV. Heaps of them on EBAY or you may get lucky on hard rubbish.
I got mine on ebay for $40AU dollars a little pricey but it was in really good condition and actually still worked.
Step 2: Remove the Electronics & Waterproof
Step 2:
Open the back of the TV and start dismantling the electronics. Try and leave things like the power button so you can use them for things like lights or filters or other controls if possible. Be very careful with the CRT as older models have been known to explode, my CRT had a sticker indicating that it wasn't explosive. At this point make sure you clean the inside of the television and waterproof the inside of the TV with a spray or a paint that contains polyurethane.
Step 3: Removing the CRT
Step 3:
You can try and reuse the CRT tube which would look brilliant and then create the rest of the tank around the CRT which is what i tried to do but while smashing the back of the CRT out (with a hammer) a huge crack appeared on the front of the CRT and it was rendered useless. I managed to go to an aquarium and get a tank the exact dimensions i needed. i think it is very important to cover the entire television screen from as many angels as possible so if you do need to put a custom tank in your TV make sure it is bigger than the TV bracket in my opinion they look terrible if the tank isn't big enough or there isn't enough water in the tank.
Step 4: Placing the Tank Inside.
Step 4
you will probably need to raise the tank up or at least support the tank on something other than the bottom of the TV. so i got some planks from Bunnings (a Hardware shop) and drilled these into the bottom of the TV. when i got the tank the guy was nice enough to give me a polystyrene base which the tank is resting on.
Step 5:
Step 5:
At this point you should carefully remove the top of the TV as you will need to do this to fill the tank add gravel, filters etc. this was probably the most difficult tasks as you really are messing with the look of the television. i used solar LED bulbs which are waterproof and cheap and rigged them into the Televisions power Button.
Enjoy!
13 Comments
4 years ago
I am working on one right now they are so fun to build. I have a friend who has offered me $500 to sell him this one that i am working on.
4 years ago
Nicely executed !
5 years ago
As I said in the other tutorial, this is fantastic. I think it's a great idea to make a different aquarium. And also, you can see a better quality content on your tv;)
Imagination to the power.
Thank you very much for sharing.
9 years ago on Introduction
what a great idea! brilliant!!
9 years ago
But how do you feed the fish?
9 years ago
This is such a creative idea! I love how it looks like at the end
9 years ago
had the same idea! still trying to figure out if using the crt is a good option. I was going to use the crt then fiberglass the inside but after researching I've found that the glass of the crt contains lead and phosphorus so not to sure if I'll go thay way. Having a premade fishtank looks better than I might do that instead. Thanks! :-)
9 years ago on Introduction
awesome project !!!!!!!!!!! glad to see you didnt reuse the CRT : its highly toxic !!! according to wikipedia : "Older color and monochrome CRTs may contain toxic substances, such as cadmium, in the phosphors. The rear glass tube of modern CRTs may be made from leaded glass, which represent an environmental hazard if disposed of improperly" :/
9 years ago on Introduction
Nice. It picks up only one analogue channel of the FishTV Network?
9 years ago on Introduction
I've seen TVs turned into tanks before, but this is the nicest one i have seen. Great job.
9 years ago
This is something I've planned on doing for a while but never new how I would go about it!
Thanks for posting!
9 years ago
this is one of the very finest and cool ideas i ran acoss. thank you so much for sharing this with us! and probably is the better show than anything else on tv...
9 years ago
This is so cool. I would have never thought of it