fishtank

[alleycat13]

i have been surfing these modding sites lately and have noticed how people have built cases with fishtanks attatched and i came up with a great idea that i am going to try

the fish inside the computer case!

yes it will take a lot of water cooling and some very very carefull planning but i think that it could be done!

every socket would have to be covered and water proofed but i have the patience for that the only thing i was wondering about was the fan is there ahyway that i can water cool it to the point where a fan would not be needed?

any tips and ideas that people have would be much appreicated becuase funds are low at the moment so will not be starting project for a month! have the actual pc at the moment!

its an only family pc 256mb pentium 3 20 gig harddrive and windows 2000 thats all it has soundcard four USB nothing special.


i was thinking fibreglass of some sort round the sockets with a water proof coating like they have on boats but then again acrylic glass could be used only thing with acrlyic glass is the pressure.

what do you guys think??? and has anyone seen it done before?

[Frakk]

i havent seen it done and it is not impossible. it is however very delicate especially if you want fish in it. you have to seal everything with some sealer that doesnt wash away which is hard to do when it is surrounded by water. you can cool it easily, you need heatsinks on the chips and water moving through them. you also have to suck the hot air and run it through a radiator or find an other way to cool it down. it is complicated but not impossible and it would be totally cool with all the fishies swimming around the memory and videocard

[Xato]

Another problem i can see is keeping it all clean. Fishies need food and they poop alot too!

[redhalo]

Temperature fluctuation will likely kill off your fish anyways. There are non-conductive fluids that people have submerged their computers in before. Probably not fish friendly, but you don't have to seal anything up.
http://www.xoxide.com/fluidxp.html

[jonopaul01]

Trust me, keeping a fishtank clean with just fish in it is hard enough. If you have to clean them and everything as well it could get very problematic. Also, have you got a fishtan? If you do then you will know that a fishtank is very heavy. A hundred litre tank (probably the best size for a computer) weighs 100kgs. This means that once you have a computer somewhere it is a big issue to start moving. However I don't think that temperature fluctuations should be a big problem. A 100litres will take a lot of heat before warming up and the sides of the tanks will be glass, a very bad insulator which will allow most of the heat to easily escape. I suppose if you have tropical fish then all you need is a good heater (which tropical fish will need anyway) which will monitor the heat and turn on or off depending on your heat. Anyway, give us some more details. I would love to see this mod in action.

[Malatory]

maybe try building a small take in the window area and putting in a beta would be the best thing. Still cleaning and adding water would be dangerous in the machine is on.

no longers being made ..
http://www.xoxide.com/liliaqsipa.html

[eXtremeWeb]

Well if this can be done, I think what you are planning to do is also possible. good luck with it!

http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...421///aqaurium

Sorry for the page-language, couldn't find one in english...

[Whisp]

no offence but someone mentioned a betta in a small window. Im not one of those nature nuts but it is a mis conception that bettas like to live in such small areas that it is disturbing the ignorance on the subject of this fish. All those sites that show those little fish tanks and say the betta like them are full of beans lol and I can gurantee the fish won't be happy in there. Some of those people wil argue they live in puddles and such but they are WRONG. Rice paddies are deep enough and lots of swimming room. Anywyas I just like to see a happy betta. To be able to tell if a betta is happy he will bubble nest unless of course he is really old when it comes to a male. female is a bit harder to tell. I can say that I have a betta and he wasnt even happy in a 3 gallon tank. As soon as i put him in a 6 gallon I have since then had bubble nests every night. Anywyas just a bit of info.

As for temperature this could be an issue. Depending on the fish you want it to sit anywhere between 25 and 29 (30 is ok but pushing it . I prefer a temp of 26. Betta wont be happy either unless at the right temperature too since I have played with that.

As for cleaning if you do do it I would get some good sand substrate. Dont need to go all out on it and get the most expensive stuff unless of course you have a planted tank then I would recommend like some onyx black sand from seachem and such. Anyways pertaining to the sand it is easier to clean since all the food will sit on the top and makes vacumming a hell of a lot easier unlike gravel. While doing the vacuming the water that is removed is the water you should replace with fresh water that has been treated. Some say to do a 50% change every week. I do less since I have a planted tank.

So it boils down to will you be able to easily clean it, feed them, and have the right temperature.

As a suggestion for a sealer i would use the stuff for glass aquariums since this is fish friendly and works very well.

For a heater the rule of thumb is 5 watts per gallon.

Also for how many fish it is one inch per gallon when it comes to fish hard on the bio load.

Anyways I would build it, test it for leaks along with temperature for at least a week and see how the temps are then when you know your range pick spcific small fish that will be light on the bio load and can withstand the temperature range. ( also take into consdieration if teh computer is going to be on 24 hours or not). I personally wouldnt add fish tothe tank has been cycled for at least 2 weeks at a minimum and i personally wait a month.

Now an other point on cleaning. If you want something in there that is a nice little fish I suggest a pgmy cory. Should have 3 or more but i have 2 and they are my little vacuums lol. If their is a problem with algae which may not since not a lot of real sunlight getting in I would then suggest a dwarf pygmy. This has your waste food covered and your algae. Only need one oto. Both of these fish are a very hardy fish.

Rest of fish is up to you but becareful.

As for teh tank itself I would use acrylic/plexi glass but would want to reinforce all the corners and edges with the sealent and some type of support bracket .

A total solution to temperature issue inside would just to add a heater and a chiller system and that will get rid of any issue of that. Every time i see a post with this question there is always those that throw out the temperature issue so that is teh answer to that. Chillers are not cheap though as a note.

[daratbastid]

Are you implying to submerge the electronics in the water itself? I built
a fishtank mod however it dosnt involve getting the components wet. There is one betta in there now but it will accomidate 3 fish. I am going to replace the betta with a few neon tetra, should make for a nice glow under the UV

www.paulrutigliano.com

[MisterChief]

Maybe you could place the fish in their own enclosure inside the tank beside your computer? I can imagine keeping fish alive next to a computer will be extremely hard. Not only do you have to worry about temperature, oxygen, filtration, ph levels, etc. but now you have to think about water contamination (all those chemicals involved in making a computer can't be good for the fish!) And how exactly will fish survive in non-conductive fluid, since you can't use regular water?

Sorry to sound negative, but I wouldn't try a project if I knew it wasn't possible to do. I think the seperate enclosure in front of all the components would be the best idea.

MC