Time-lapse Photography

What software for stitching together?

Even on a tripod you're gonna have trouble getting it in the exact same spot every day (unless you kept your camera there) A little shifting might not really matter though. But probably wouldnt be worth the set up and the dedication of the tripod. You could build a little rig out of some stacked wood scraps or something, something that will just cradle the camera perfectly so that you can just put it down, hit the button and pick it up. You're not gonna want to screw and unscrew a tripod everyday, or deal with a quick mount that u'll need to take on and off (which by the way if you dont put it back on in the exact same positioning, you'll have some shifting even if your tripod is glued to the ground).

If you just took a photo every day handheld and just framed your image at the same focal length and lined up maybe one corner of the tank with the edge of the frame - your results might be pleasing enough - even with some shifting. I'd bet there is software that can automatically detect same-points and shift the images automatically to map them. I know Google Picasa has that with faces and it works really cool with zero effort. I dont know if they use face detect or they just look for similar points in the image - cuz if so you can theoretically use that program to do it for you.

Needless to state the obvious, but even DIY Joe is smart enough to realize that of course a permanently mounted solution would be optimal for a year long time lapse! (thats an exaclamation point). I was suggesting that idea as an alternative assuming you wanted to be able to use your camera for things other than it. I was suggesting she find a way that allows her to quickly put it down in the same spot she picked it up from ... otherwise if the practicality of the project doesnt work... I cant imagine it lasting too long. Either way, I didnt know she had a spare camera to dedicate to the project.

And by the way, I STILL wouldn't trust that equipment. If it were me and if it absolutely NEEDED to be perfect for such a long period of time, I'd mount it onto something completely immobile like a block of wood connected to the tank cabinet itself with a 1/4" screw in the bottom of it straight into the tripod mount. If you needed zero margin of error - I wouldn't accept any clamps (no matter how super or magic) that are capable of being unscrewed, swiveled, bumped, adjusted, etc. I'd want that thing hard mounted.