DIY Life

After you learn how to clean out the inside of a burned out light bulb, you'll be ready to embark on a number of unusual projects. For instance, you can make an oil lamp. Never would have thought of this one, but all you need is the light bulb, a shoe lace, a bottle cap, two magnets, and a washer. Of course you'll need the oil, some sand, and a few tools to put it all together, but it is a simple project that seems like it would be fun. There is even another way to make it.

If that project isn't inspiring you to save your burned out light bulbs, maybe you'd like to make an aquarium for your fighting fish or a laser nightlight.

Check in with HackNMod for all of the projects, but feel good in knowing that you'll give a whole new meaning to 'reuse' if you create one of these old light bulb projects.

Nothing sets off a room like a well-lit aquarium filled with fish zooming all over the place. But why settle for a conventional fish tank? For a really cool-looking set-up, convert that old console TV into the sharpest looking aquarium on the block.

All you need is the old TV (of course), an aquarium that's the same size as (or slightly smaller than) the TV screen, and all the usual aquarium accessories. The TV console will look better if you refinish it. Leave the old knobs on; you can reconfigure them to control the aquarium lights.

Just carefully remove the crt and guts and replace them with the fish tank. Once you get the whole thing set up, you'll be set to watch the show that never has commercials or re-runs!

Make a little aquarium with lamp oil, an old glass jar, and a few toy fish. It might take some shopping for a few supplies, like a diamond drill bit and glass tube wicks. For a basic oil candle, there isn't much to do but drill a hole in the lid, and add a wick.

Materials and tools:

• Glass jar with lid
• Glass tube wick holder + wick
• Clear paraffin lamp Oil
• Clear resin/epoxy
• Toy fish and shells
• Drill
• Special tools: Glass and tile drill bit or diamond bit

For the instructions, please join me after the break.

Sometimes DIY projects are not the prettiest models in the parade, but they get the job done and don't cost a whole lotta' cash at the same time. Being an avid aquarium owner, cleaner and admirer, I have to really (really) admire this water skimmer project.

If you have an old five-gallon water bottle lying around somewhere (yes, check those attics), you might be tempted to drum up your own skimmer using it and some pumping lines (and a pump) along with assorted items to get the finished product operational for that larger-style aquarium. As in, 50-gallon or more.

If you've got a cabinet that surrounds your larger home aquarium, this Lexan bottle skimmer system may be a neat project the next time you completely clean and empty your tank. That' or it will look like a commercial water filtration system for all those shower needs.

[via Great Reef Tanks]

A few months ago, a reply to an Ask Metafilter post about goldfish (mildly salty language warning!) blatantly stated an upsetting fact: the majority of pet goldfish die by drowning in their own... er... urine. Mistakes made by even well-meaning pet owners include overfeeding, feeding the wrong kind of food, putting the fish in a bowl that's too small (goldfish do better in a filtered tank), and not letting water de-ionize for at least a day or two before putting the fish in it (without this waiting period, the goldfish are likely to suffocate). It seems like most goldfish -- even ones loved by the kids who own them -- live short, unhappy lives.

I had goldfish as a kid: since I lived in a small apartment, and my mom hated rodents, goldfish were pretty much the only pet I could have. There was Frank (named after Anastasia Krupnik's goldfish) and, eventually, Spike, who each lived for about a year or two. We thought we did pretty well by Frank and Spike, both won from school carnivals, but as it turns out, the poor little fellas went to an unnecessarily early grave.

The Ask MeFi link is a sad one, but fortunately, I can balance it with a happy one. It turns out that, when given proper care, goldfish can live for at least a decade! Some of the suggestions at WikiHow's wonderful How To Make A Goldfish Live For Decades page include feeding food made just for goldfish (not generic "fish food"), making sure that the tank has at least 10 gallons of water per fish, and making sure that the tank stays "interesting" for the fish by giving them lots of places to explore that change every month or so.

With these instructions, you can have happy, healthy goldfish for years to come!