Cathode + Bottle + Aquarium

Hey guys,

So I decided to take out my old purple (pink:() 4" cathodes from my car.

Intresting in, not spending money and being creative, i've decided to put these in my aquarium with my turtles.

I've decided 1 cathode in a beer bottle without labels would look pretty cool. But i'm having a hard time trying to decide how to waterproof it.



My idea so far:

Fill inside of bottle with hot glue with the cathode, so it will actually sink to the bottom of the tank instead of floating. Drill a small hole in a bottle cap so the wire can come out, and use hot glue/pliers to put and seal the cap. As well for the wiring, feed it through a rubber clear aquarium tube used for air stones.

Each wire would be spliced and extended so the transformer can sit outside of the tank, water free. Then attached to a 12v powersupply connected to a wall outlet.


How does this sound? Or is there a better way to waterproof this?

nice idea

i would use magnets to hold the bottle to the bottom of the tank instead of hot glue

i would take some cork and drill a hole through the center of the cork to feed the wire through it, then hot glue the wire hole the cork thus waterproofing it

then with the magnet at the bottom of the bottle with the tubing inside the bottle and the cork done, hot glue the cork meeting the bottle thus waterproofing it,

then your done,,, hope this helps

Actually sounds pretty good to me. I may be off my rocker, and not thinking good though. Be sure to hide the wires well.

Great idea with the cork! I have a ton of old wine bottles here.

Why not just put a bit of silicone on the cathode itself, and let the bottle fill with water in the tank? If it was an actual beer bottle on the ocean floor, that's more likely how it'd look. I'm not sure how you're wanting to position it though. Laying down? Standing upright? Laying would help with wire concealment.

LED lights run at 2-14 volts. The transformer of a cathode puts out 600? volts or more. Might be something to consider when placing them in with your pets.

I'll silicone the ends of the tubes before I put them in the bottle. Just to be safe.

As well i'll be putting clear glass gems in the bottle to hold it down instead of magnets, only about 1/2 full so i'll still get the majority of the light thrown out.

And don't worry byte, i'll be testing this setup in a large bucket for a day or so before putting it in my tank. While I agree 600volts even in a large tank (120 gallon) is still enough to worry about, done properly with good planning I will feel secure.

im deff keeping up with this thread, i'd like to see the finished product for sure