How to Make a Light Bulb Fish Bowl

Burned-out light bulbs can be repurposed for other uses, including a home for small fish. Making a light bulb fish bowl allows you to make a unique home for fish. Light bulb fish bowls cannot be used to accommodate very large fish, but they can house small fish, such as the beta fish, or small shrimp. Although some people make and sell these fish bowls, you can also make your own fish bowl out of a standard globe light bulb.

Things You'll Need

  • Globe light bulb
  • Wire coat hanger
  • 4-inch piece of a 2 x 4 piece of wood
  • 1/4 pound aged aquarium gravel
  • Hammer
  • Skinny-nosed pliers
  • Screwdriver
  • Tin snips
  • Stapler
  • Old toothbrush (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Grip the solder point at the bottom of the light bulb with the needle-nosed pliers. Give it a strong twist to break one of the wires leading to the filament and the metal contact. Remove the metal contact ring.

    • 2

      Crack the glass insulator, which contains black glass. Insert the screwdriver into the indentation where the metal contact was and twist to break the glass. Break all of the glass insulator and remove the pieces from the light bulb.

    • 3

      Insert your screwdriver farther into the light bulb and use gentle pressure to break the internal "fill tube." Point the stem away from you when you do this in case a glass shard is expelled after you break the tube. Remove all pieces of glass still stuck to the stem.

    • 4

      Shake the bulb gently until the filament falls out.

    • 5

      Thoroughly rinse the inside of the bulb with water. The inside of a glass light bulb is coated with a powder called kaolin. Most of it will come off with rinsing. If there are pieces stuck to the inside of the bowl, you can insert a long length of toilet paper to help you remove the remaining bits. Alternately, you can fill the bulb with a small amount of salt and shake the bulb to scour the powder off.

    • 6

      Add aquarium gravel and water treated with a chlorine/chloramine neutralizer, as tap water frequently contains these chemicals that are toxic to fish.