Fish Tank ''lava Lamp''

[fish-r-fancy]

Hi I just came up with the wacky but cool idea of a DIY lava lamp that you could put fish in! Of course not with actually atuff used in lava lamps I just didn't know what else to call this. Well here is what I was thinking of doing:

Take of the paper around a 2 liter soda bottle and clean it out really good.

Now cut the top of the bottle off so that the space is big enough to fit the fish you want to go in the bottle. (in my case I will be using a betta but it is just temperary because I'm using it as a decoration for a birthday party for only 3 hours then the betta will go in a 5 gallon fish tank)

Cut a out a circular piece of cardboard and glue it to the bottom of the bottle

Now pick a piece of construction paper in the color of your coice and glue it so that it is in the shape of a ring and is only about half an inch thick

Glue the paper to the bottom of the bottle so that it is kind of like the base in a lava lamp.

Fold a piece of construction paper so that it is on the shape of a cone and place NOT glue it to the top of the lava lamp. If you glue it you will have a tough time getting the fish out,cleaning, feeding the fish exc.

Now make a small hole in the base of the lava lamp and put a Christmas light in the hole so that when the bottle is filled with water the bottom of the bottle will be darker and the color will fade as you get to the top. This and the shape of everything will give it the effect of a lava lamp. We will be stringing Christmas lights around the room for the party and we will only pull 1 light under the bottle.

Now you can add pebbles to the bottom and and a fish!

Does anybody have any suggestions or think this will work?

 

[erk628]

Hi I just came up with the wacky but cool idea of a DIY lava lamp that you could put fish in! Of course not with actually atuff used in lava lamps I just didn't know what else to call this. Well here is what I was thinking of doing:

Take of the paper around a 2 liter soda bottle and clean it out really good.

Now cut the top of the bottle off so that the space is big enough to fit the fish you want to go in the bottle. (in my case I will be using a betta but it is just temperary because I'm using it as a decoration for a birthday party for only 3 hours then the betta will go in a 5 gallon fish tank)

Cut a out a circular piece of cardboard and glue it to the bottom of the bottle

Now pick a piece of construction paper in the color of your coice and glue it so that it is in the shape of a ring and is only about half an inch thick

Glue the paper to the bottom of the bottle so that it is kind of like the base in a lava lamp.

Fold a piece of construction paper so that it is on the shape of a cone and place NOT glue it to the top of the lava lamp. If you glue it you will have a tough time getting the fish out,cleaning, feeding the fish exc.

Now make a small hole in the base of the lava lamp and put a Christmas light in the hole so that when the bottle is filled with water the bottom of the bottle will be darker and the color will fade as you get to the top. This and the shape of everything will give it the effect of a lava lamp. We will be stringing Christmas lights around the room for the party and we will only pull 1 light under the bottle.

Now you can add pebbles to the bottom and and a fish!

Does anybody have any suggestions or think this will work?

Don't see why it wouldn't work. I have seen lava lamps at Wal-Mart that are for fish like Betta's. They light up different colors, I really don't think the fish would be happy in such a small tank. But if you only plan on keeping it in there for a few hours like you said, I don't see any problems.
If you decide to do that post some pic's I would be interested in seeing it.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

I will post pictures as soon as we have the party. The parties not until December 27th but I figured if I was going to do this I should start collecting stuff now.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Does anybody else have any thoughts on this?

 

[DarkEntity]

If you want an honest answer, i personally think its a stupid idea to put a Betta in a plastic bottle for your party, irresponsible and and not how you should treat animals in your care, even if it is only for a few hours.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

If you want an honest answer, i personally think its a stupid idea to put a Betta in a plastic bottle for your party, irresponsible and and not how you should treat animals in your care, even if it is only for a few hours.

If I used 1 gallon bottles, the minimum tank size that a betta should be kept in, do you think it would be okay then. The bettas would be returnd to a 5 gallon tank after the party. Also would you mind me asking why you think it is irresponsible? Also do you think their would be any other fish that would be more suitable for something like this?

 

[shellyboylan]

maybe the chocolate fish in b&j's phish food? can imagine any other fish getting pretty stressed out in such a tiny warm badly airated "tank", i expect the betta would suffocate by the time your guests arrive! not trying to be nasty, just find the idea a little cruel.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

maybe the chocolate fish in b&j's phish food? can imagine any other fish getting pretty stressed out in such a tiny warm badly airated "tank", i expect the betta would suffocate by the time your guests arrive! not trying to be nasty, just find the idea a little cruel.

I don't mean to argue by no means but how would the fish suffocate? Woulden't it ne just the same as placing a hood on a fish tank? Maybe I could find another fish more suitable for something like this like say a guppy or something else. What do you guys recommend for relatively cheap fish that could be used for something like this? Thank you



I forgot to add that the party would be in December so the tank woulden't heat up quickly.

 

[afireinside]

I personally think this is a good idea. It's not that bad. It's a temporary thing. Think about it, when bettas are being shipped through the mail, they are in less water, and they have to go through the stress of being handled. I say go for it.

 

[erk628]

I personally think this is a good idea. It's not that bad. It's a temporary thing. Think about it, when bettas are being shipped through the mail, they are in less water, and they have to go through the stress of being handled. I say go for it.

fish-r-fancy I see were there coming from with this and I agree to a point. But look at it this way go to a pet store or Wal-Mart and look at were there Betta's are. There in very little plastic containers with no light, filteration, heat etc. There there basically until they die or someone buys them, which could take a long time. So I don't see how if you are only going to have him in there for a few hours that there would be a problem. And surely if they can survive in small plastic containers they can survive in a 2 liter. And don't worry they won't sufficate.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Now make a small hole in the base of the lava lamp and put a Christmas light in the hole so that when the bottle is filled with water the bottom of the bottle will be darker and the color will fade as you get to the top. This and the shape of everything will give it the effect of a lava lamp. We will be stringing Christmas lights around the room for the party and we will only pull 1 light under the bottle.

Ehhh...you lost me here. Put a hole where? On the bottle or cardboard? If you put 1 light under the bottle and put gravel on top of it, the light won't be strong enough to shine through (even if it's transparent colored gravel).

Sorry this was something that was very hard to ezplain. You would be cutting a hole in the piece of colored construction paper so that you would be able to put a Christmas light in the hole and hide the wires. Hope I cleared that up for you.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Oh and about the gravel I will be using some of those pebbles that you get from the dollar store. They come in transparent coloes like clear, blue and green. I was also thinking that instead of just putting 1 light in it why not put like 3 lights under it to give it more color?

 

[afireinside]

It's be a good idea, just don't use color changing bulbs, or ones that blink on and off. Bettas are very stressful of light. Otherwise, that should be a good idea.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Ok so I tried the idea and made a couple of ajustments to make it work out and look good. Well what I did was that I got a silver stainless steal thermose cover to make a better base. I fliped the soda bottle upside down and place it in the thermose cover. I then found out that it would not stand upright when filled with water so I glued the bottom of the thermose to a butter container cover and now it stands upright! To make the cover I used a cover that you get from the movies that are made of hard plastic and have a cap that you can open a hole for the fish to breathe. I covered the top in tinfoil to make the base. Now I just place the cover on the top and opened the cap so that the fish will be able to breathe. The thermose cover has a little hole in the back that I iwll be able to put the lights in. I will not be using blinking or flashing lights just the normal kind. I will post pictures as soon as I get batteries for my camera!

 

[Spinal]

This idea is irresponsible. A fish is a living creature, NOT a toy and NOT a piece of furniture. If I were your guest, I would call the RSPCA. But then again, I'm an extremist tree-hugging freak...