Aquarium
A Project From 2019-2024
YEARS AGO, a neighbor gave us a goldfish. Our neighbor’s fish came with a bowl. Goldfish produce a lot of waste, and we were changing the water in the bowl every few days. So, we bought a filtered 10-gallon aquarium. Then the fish promptly died. But at that point, we had invested in the aquarium, so we bought more fish. They also continued to die until we stumbled upon the ancient and esoteric secrets to keeping goldfish alive. (Hint: add live plants.)
Eventually, the fish graduated to a 20-gallon aquarium and for that one, a stand was constructed from poplar. The top featured custom integrated LED lighting.
The 20-gallon aquarium is now replaced with a 30-gallon tank, but it still fits the stand. It’s just taller. We’ve been through a few versions of the top, though. The first two were basically solid, flat surfaces, elevated a bit off the aquarium’s edges. But they provided too much surface area for condensation. Mildew accumulated and they slowly decayed. The most recent version is sort of a louvered top. We also resorted to using a commercial aquarium light, which is probably better for the plants.
The finished aquarium
The top¹s underside showing the LED lights
The original top had some branding
The most recent incarnation of the top
