Aquarium

[kalor_alros]

Ok. For my first mod, I've decided on something with my girlfriend. We're turning my ancient desktop tower into an aquarium computer. I'm still trying to identify half the parts, but its nothing special:

Gateway Performance 1000
St Francis Mid-Tower case Revision 1
IBM 7200 RPM 45GB Telestro Ultra ATA-100 HDD
512 MD SDRAM
Intel Fedora Motheboard, P3, 1GHZ CPU
Random Generic CD-ROM
200W PSU
Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound card
ATI Radeon Graphics, model unknown... manufactured in 2000. Not labelled

Yes, at 10 years old this computer is nearly a paperweight. But it should work.

The idea is to remove the side panel, top, and HDD/Drive enclosures, and make space to put a small aquarium into the case. Relatively simple, but it's my first mod, so yeah :D

Also included will be lighting effects, a plexi enclosure for the components, as a failsafe, in case of condensation or leakage, and an exterior redesign, probably something sea-like. If it works, it should be interesting, If it doesn't, I'll have spare parts for my next mod, which won't include water.

The biggest pair of problems in this are relatively simple. The heating/cooling for the case, while maintining a livable atmosphere for the fish is going to be difficult. The second is case structure. This case is sturdy, but wobbly. Everything is riveted together, with entirely too many rivets. Easy enough to fix. I'll get pics up of whatever happens to be left of the case when I can.

[nevermind1534]

That's more than enough for the average user. Looking forward to seeing it.

[kalor_alros]

True enough. I'm used to being somewhat spoiled (though not really, curse you Vista...) with my machine, an inspiron laptop at 2GHZ (now with XP :> ) and my gf's dual core 1.8GHZ... so this machine seems a bit... special ;)

So I got the measurements, and figured out I can have a 3 gallon tank, give or take a bit, allowing for plexi/glass thickness, and configuration... I'm thinking along the lines of two tanks, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q988GC/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

which would give us 4 beta's to check out while playing around. I want to do a bit more than just drop a fish tank in and call it good though, so I'm looking at other ways to do this, and get the same result. I'm thinking of making a pair of cubes, divided in half, and open-topped (close to open, at least), and stacking them.

If anyone has any cool ideas on a fishtank design, I'm definately open to em :D

[kalor_alros]

We might make one change to it, but that is going to depend on spacing. Currently, we have figured out that we can have a single 7"*7"*15" tank, or two 3*3*15 tanks, as long as all my measurements have been right, with room for switches for the pump on top, a top-mounted CD/DVD drive, which will be concealed, somehow (still working that out), and all the components fit (which they do, if the CD/DVD isn't in the case.). We're considering making a 2012-type theme to the case... after the world has been submerged, by a world-ending tidal wave. I'm thinking of the trailer, where the Tibetan monastary is sitting on top of the mountain, before being destroyed by the wave. The monastary model would conceal the CD drive, and a third slim tank could be added along the side panel window, giving the illusion of the entire case being submerged.