the tank looks like a 55 gallon tank. They are okay to start a water out in with a bit of experience with waters but quite honestly I would look at doing a custom cage rather quickly. Especially considering the airflow issues you are having.

From what I see in your photo I would have a lot more substrate in the tank and personally I use larger water containers for waters even small ones. As long as they can easily get in and more importantly out of it they are fine. There is a reason they are called water monitors.

This tank btw would at best only be good for 4 to 6 months if your water is fed and kept properly and even that is stretching it. a lot of the issues you have could easily be solved by building your own enclosure. There are lots of ways to do that at a relatively low cost if you take the time to look at it from the right point of view. You don't necessarily have to go out and buy a giant stock tank and build a box on it as lots of others do on here. they are just an easy way to start. Quite honestly a simple stock tank with a plexiglass top would be a much better start for you than the tank you are using now.

FYI the first monitor I ever got years ago was a nile. when I first got him a got a 29 gallon long fish tank to put him in. I knew this was a temporary situation and looked at all my options. At the time I had lots of money to burn and could have bought as big of a fish tank as I wanted but knew it would outgrow whatever one I got. So I built a custom cage early on. I did not even own a saw and had limited construction skills at the time but did just fine. That monitor lived over 15 years. I still use that 29 long as a day gecko tank (works better than tall tanks for them btw.) and wonder to this day how I ever managed to keep that nile in it at all.

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