The Monitor Aquarium

Completed September 1995

This tank made me nervous. Even though the monitor was heavy before the conversion, it is considerably heavier as an aquarium. The tilt/swivel stand is made entirely of plastic and nylon and would be asked to support over 100 pounds.

My inner reptile was telling me to go for it, that the stand would take the punishment. So I did...

Construction Notes

Case preparation is important to both the appearance of the final product and its success as an aquatic habitat. In the pictures above the four main pieces of the case are ready for assembly. They are:

The Bezel - All of the structural splines on the inside of this piece have been ground flat. As always, I wanted the front of the tank as close as possible to the bezel opening.
The Tilt/Swivel Stand - Has been permanently glued into a level position and (hopefully) will never tilt again. It does still swivel, however. To test its strength I balanced myself on the base and rocked back and forth.
The Outer Case - Has a huge hole cut in the top. This is always a hard part because these cuts will be visible. Don't cut out more than necessary. I usually cut the hole the little small and then finish it with a file. Find a file made specifically for plastics.
The Inner Case - Also has a huge hole cut in the top. Several structural ridges inside are ground flat and the interior is painted chrome silver. I painted it because grinding the ridges off left ugly white scars on the otherwise gray interior.

The hardest part of designing most of my tanks has been placement of adequate lighting. This monitor had enough room for an eight watt flourescent fixture on each side of the bezel. While this provided excellent light it also added to the complexity of the tank shape and made changing the bulbs a major task.

First, enough water must be removed to allow sliding the tank a few inches forward. The back case is held on by four screws. Before removing this piece all of the air hoses and electric cords must be moved out of the way.

The front bezel is held in place by four screws that can only be reached after the back case is removed. After removing about 3/4 of the water the tank can be moved foreward enough to allow access to the light fixtures.

The light fixtures themselves are standard hardware store issue stuff and are glued in place with aquarium sealant. They are absolutely not waterproof and must be placed where they can never get wet. Aquarium spectrum bulbs are available in this size but aren't cheap. Buy 'em anyway - daylight spectrum bulbs are too harsh and don't bring out the colors of the fish.

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