Fish Tank PC

[roguerower]

I got bored browsing the interweb and decided to look the ole fish tank pc up and found a couple of cool vids on it. I was just wondering if anyone here had done it. I thought it would be a pretty sweet thing to do, however I'd feel really bad about dropping cash and building it to have it short out the very first time it was powered on...anybody?

Moved from General Hardware
General Hardware Moderator -- MarcVenice

 

[jkresh]

You can fill a pc case with some nonconducting oils and run it (though outside of looking cool you generally dont get much out of it) but I am not quite sure what you mean by fishtank (and you cant use water or even a "nonconductive coolent" like fluidxp)? Even with most oils you have a limited time (before enough metal comes off the boards that it starts to conduct).

 

[nerp]

For a while, there was this Lian-Li aquarium panel floating around. I remember seeing a couple forum posters on another site using it with live goldfish. This could be an option. My main concern would be how to regulate the water temperature and prevent algae/bad smells and cleaning the tank out reliably without making a huge mess.

 

[Blain]

Use distilled water and change it often, before it leaches enough to be conductive.

 

[MarcVenice]

Think this is more a thread for the cases and cooling forum. So hop hop, here it goes.

 

[aigomorla]

1. You cant because of the copper blocks, and copper radiator. Copper kills fish in large quanities, and having the blocks constantly touch it, your going to transfer free metal ions in the water.

2. You cant use alu, cuz you'll get corrosion.

3. Keeping the water temp stable wouldnt be too hard. Large volumne of water, and lots of evap on the top, but point 1 would kill everything alive in your tank.

4. Fake fish, with fake corals and fake plants is the only way you can pull this off.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
1. You cant because of the copper blocks, and copper radiator. Copper kills fish in large quanities, and having the blocks constantly touch it, your going to transfer free metal ions in the water.

2. You cant use alu, cuz you'll get corrosion.

3. Keeping the water temp stable wouldnt be too hard. Large volumne of water, and lots of evap on the top, but point 1 would kill everything alive in your tank.

4. Fake fish, with fake corals and fake plants is the only way you can pull this off.

Addition of chelation agents would prevent the cu from being toxic to freshwater fishes. Of course fish need dissolved oxygen ~ 6ppm or better - to survive. DO in a closed loop system is bad. If one really wanted to they could make a water to water exchanger OR use inert parts such as a water block machined out of PTFE with a coldplate of titanium. For heat exchange a trickle filter arrangement works nicely, provides excellent gas exchange, evaporative cooling and a favorable living place for beneficial nitrosomonas and nitrobacter colonies necessary for proper nitrogen cycle in a freshwater system housing fishes.

That's a LOT of trouble to go to for an aquarium!

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
For heat exchange a trickle filter arrangement works nicely, provides excellent gas exchange, evaporative cooling and a favorable living place for beneficial nitrosomonas and nitrobacter colonies necessary for proper nitrogen cycle in a freshwater system housing fishes.

That's a LOT of trouble to go to for an aquarium!

B_B_B_B_B_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG

lol... its called a bong chiller if you do it this way.

LOL... Also needs to be well ventilated otherwise you'll catch pneumonia like a member did here while making it.

Make sure you get a lot of ventilation, this method will increase humidity up the sky.


And if your going to invest in titanium blocks, and parts, i have no comment. LOL, you're gonna have one bling bling of a computer.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
B_B_B_B_B_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG

lol... its called a bong chiller if you do it this way.

LOL... Also needs to be well ventilated otherwise you'll catch pneumonia like a member did here while making it.

Make sure you get a lot of ventilation, this method will increase humidity up the sky.


And if your going to invest in titanium blocks, and parts, i have no comment. LOL, you're gonna have one bling bling of a computer.

I've seen bong coolers before on enthusiast sites. They remind me more of a counter current downdraft foam fractionator than a trickle filter. A downdraft FF would also work and some argue if implemented correctly can blow off sufficient ammonia that secondary harboring sites for aerobic biological filtration are not required as long as the bioloads aren't excessive.

How one catches pneumonia from this set up is beyond me. I was serious about the Ti parts. At least HQ SSTL. Even then with water with polymicrobial activity slime develops in all moving sections that has to be dealt with. H202 and KMn04 treatments (FW 03 reactors are difficult to run by untrained individuals creating a hazard so I would not even mention their operation!) help but complete system breakdowns are required in active support systems. With computer hardware it would be even more critical. That water-water exchanger is looking more attractive by the second eh?

Sorry this got way off topic here!

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
That water-water exchanger is looking more attractive by the second eh?

Sorry this got way off topic here!

LOL... yes that cooling system will look more blingier then the entire computer.

 

[roguerower]

ddduuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

My brain hurts...

I didn't mean an actual fishtank w/ living fish, more like a pc in a fish tank. Come on...i'm in college, how am I supposed to afford titanium @ present cost?

EDIT: What are your guys jobs that you know so much about this stuff anyways?

 

[covert24]

Originally posted by: roguerower


EDIT: What are your guys jobs that you know so much about this stuff anyways?

part time Jesus/Moses

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: roguerower
ddduuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

My brain hurts...

I didn't mean an actual fishtank w/ living fish, more like a pc in a fish tank. Come on...i'm in college, how am I supposed to afford titanium @ present cost?

EDIT: What are your guys jobs that you know so much about this stuff anyways?

OK mods,,,, fess up,,,, the op changed the topic and asked a question I'd love to hear a resonse to, who gave you the smart pills and where can I get some?
Aigo and I have spoken quite a bit, but I never asked. Almost a newlywed w/ a good looking young family, what do you do for employment?
Ruby, your in the navy, right? Did you educate there? I hope your on our side!

roguerower, think your brain hurts? You should see it through my old eyeballs, as my nick implies I'm a carpenter. I've been bangin nails full time since I was 14 so I didn't quite make it to "higher education". Take full advantage of your teachers, squeeze their gray matter and steal their smart pills.

 

[aigomorla]

lol... Financial Consultant.

But watercooling is a hobby of mine which i got myself into way too deep. Became an addiction, and now im trying to save people from the bad stuff, and recomend them all the good stuff.


Ruby is the one who will suprise you. Sometimes the things she spits out gives me headaches. I need a flex compacitor for waaaah?

 

[Rubycon]

LOL no navy here. Sound/lighting/technical on a cruise ship. (close enough? )

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I suppose you could seal a motherboard with a clear silicone with just the plexi or acetal tops and barbs of waterblocks for the cpu, gpu, chipsets and mosfets exposed with a closed loop for the cooling with a water/water heat exhanger.

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Ruby is the one who will suprise you. Sometimes the things she spits out gives me headaches. I need a flex compacitor for waaaah?

QFT. I used to design lasers and guidance systems for missles or military aircraft and ruby throws me for a loop just about every time she posts.

 

[MarcVenice]

I think Ruby gets +100 intelligence being a Highly Technical Moderator Wow probably lamest joke I ever made ...

Btw, if you're gonna sink a PC into a fishtank, don't they usually use cooking oil ?

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I think Ruby gets +100 intelligence being a Highly Technical Moderator Wow probably lamest joke I ever made ...

Btw, if you're gonna sink a PC into a fishtank, don't they usually use cooking oil ?

It's been tried with a submerged AC evap in cooking oil and even in some VERY expensive dielectric oil but, long term it's completely and utterly infeasable and impractical.

 

[PCTC2]

You know there's a youtube video somewhere about a guy with mineral oil, a few fans for circulation, and a computer submerged in the stuff in a fish tank.

EDIT
Not that it means anything, but here's my "jobs":
Full time electrical engineering undergrad, part time Computer IT/Admin for the college, part time pizza shop manager, extreme sports enthusiast, and an overclocking + watercooling enthusiast. I have a lot of time on my hands.

 

[Manic1]

you could do a tank within a tank. Inagine a large tank with a smaller tank inside placed upside down sealed with silicone with all the acrylic underneath removed.
Something like this:


I.....................................................I
I.....................................................I
I..................I IIIIIIIIIIII..................I
I..................IcpucpucpuI..................I
I..................IcpucpucpuI..................I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIcpucpucpuIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


The dots are water. My poor attempt but I hope you get the idea.
The computer would be surrounded by watter and all the ports would be at the bottom.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Manic1
you could do a tank within a tank. Inagine a large tank with a smaller tank inside placed upside down sealed with silicone with all the acrylic underneath removed.
Something like this:


I.....................................................I
I.....................................................I
I..................I IIIIIIIIIIII..................I
I..................IcpucpucpuI..................I
I..................IcpucpucpuI..................I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIcpucpucpuIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


The dots are water. My poor attempt but I hope you get the idea.
The computer would be surrounded by watter and all the ports would be at the bottom.

like this

 

[Rubycon]

Submersed computers - a very novel idea and definitely not something I'd depend on for day to day computing. Even if fluorinert is used one must remember:

Motherboards themselves and all the connectors (particularly the cpu "socket" and peripheral slots are designed for open air use). Fluorinert is probably the best coolant to use however its characteristics can only be guaranteed in its container and when used as intended - in a hermetic system. All bets are off when it's in constant contact with the atmosphere picking up particulates and other damaging contaminants.

Not to mention the pad interface between (particularly the cpu) parts on the motherboard. They just weren't designed for this operation. Throw a fluid with constantly changing electrical characteristics - particularly capacitance - into the equation and the result is the biggest potential headache for troubleshooting. People have been known to go to extreme measures to get their computer (and sanity!) back to normal afterward!

Fun project for a that BX6 with the 300A in the closet? Sure thing. Doubt that you will see many Yorkies with 9800GX2's submerged.

The fishtank concept is attractive. I can see why spending so much time at sea. If you're bent on mixing fishies and water I suggest perhaps setting up a decent aquarium (learn how by frequenting the many forums on the subject if you're not already familiar first!). The room divider type tanks are the best for this as the long sides are completely free of any hoses/wires and this affords installation near the workspace. The fancy pc - with lights and all the other stuff (cable management etc.) can be staged on the other side of the aquarium. This way in your workspace you see the innards of the PC through the water column AND you can choose the environment you wish from a freshwater community system to a full blown reef system!

Now the geek factor would be (very) high with a translucent LCD panel as a side window playing one of those 3D aquarium screen savers. Bonus points for having a screaming troll "jump out" out at un invited guests sitting at your desk - complete with 5.1 so as they run from the chair it appears to be following them out of the room! :laugh:

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Now the geek factor would be (very) high with a translucent LCD panel as a side window playing one of those 3D aquarium screen savers. Bonus points for having a screaming troll "jump out" out at un invited guests sitting at your desk - complete with 5.1 so as they run from the chair it appears to be following them out of the room! :laugh:

I must be tired, that made me laugh so hard I cried!!!! I nearly fell out of my chair!

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Now the geek factor would be (very) high with a translucent LCD panel as a side window playing one of those 3D aquarium screen savers. Bonus points for having a screaming troll "jump out" out at un invited guests sitting at your desk - complete with 5.1 so as they run from the chair it appears to be following them out of the room! :laugh:

I must be tired, that made me laugh so hard I cried!!!! I nearly fell out of my chair!

lol.... this is kinda common for ruby to pull something like this out.
LOL..

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
I must be tired, that made me laugh so hard I cried!!!! I nearly fell out of my chair!

Ruby's troll gotcha!