reefkeeper1
11/30/2003, 10:57 PM
Well, I received my December 2003 issue of MaximumPC and lo and behold, the Winner of the Coolest PC Case Modding Contest was the beauty you see below:
http://reeftank.com/photopost/data/505/1full_caseonly600.jpg
Here are the details according to the builder's website:
I began this project in early July 2003. While it was "done" when I put the fish in September 2, 2003, I never really plan to be finished with it.
The entire frame is made form 1/8" thick aluminum (3/4" L shaped and various flat) and machine screws. The black panels are painted pieces scrap case panels from some old Enlight cases, compliments of Hoch Insurance Agency, Inc.
The tank and all clear panels are made from 1/4" thick Lucite. I pasted the tank together myself using Nick Pelis' (the Caffeine Machine) recipe for homemade acrylic cement. I also went over all the joints with silicone sealant, just for some added protection against leaks. The reservoir for the watercooling system was a stock Criticool piece. I cut out a hole in the aquarium tank, and cemented it half in/half out. I did that because I thought it looked cool. Note, the aquarium and water cooling are separate systems, at no point does the water from the two mix.
The back panel of the computer holds the mobo, hard drives, and radiator. It's fastened with screws at the top and hinged on the bottom for easy access to the internal components. This was one of the most challenging parts of building the case. I ended up scrapping the first version because the mobo didn't fit well. I drilled holes for the mobo standoffs, and used nylon bolts, with nylon nuts as spacers under the board, then secured the board down with more nuts on top. The PCI slots in the back were formed from some scrap metal and parts of the back of an old case. The hard drives are mounted on a slide off hdd rack I cut out of an old case. It's attached to the panel with machine screws and nuts. The radiator is on the inside of the case, and the radiator fan is on the outside. I had to put the fan on the outside of the case because of space issues.
The optical drives face the side of the case (the main view of the tank) and sit on the bottom right. A hinged door allows access to them, and stays closed by a magnet just strong enough to keep the door closed, but weak enough to all the door to pop open from the force of a drive tray opening to eject a disk. The drives are mounted on sliding drive rails and rack, again, stolen from an old case. Most of the non visible parts of the case on the interior are covered or spaced with very thin craft foam (about 2mm thick). I did this to prevent noise and vibrations from parts rattling.
The power supply is seated under the tank in the back of the case. There are 2 80mm blue LED Antec fans for case air flow. I find that these are only necessary on hot days (no air conditioning). One is between the optical drives and PSU on the side of the case, and the other on the top, just above the CPU. The electronics panel has 4 toggle switches (blue cathodes, UV cathodes, case fan, case fan), and power and reset switches and LEDs.
The watercooling pump, and air pump(for the bubble wall) for the aquarium both sit in the bottom of the case between the optical drives and PSU. It's a very tight fit. I brought power into the case for these items, as well as the aquarium filter through a standard power cable, so all these parts plug in inside the case, making only one extra cord coming out the back of the case necessary.
The top of the case consists of an aluminum bar and vertical piece below it separating the tank/computer portions of the case. On either side sits a piece of Lucite. The piece over the computer portion is secured with screws, while the piece over the tank can be easily lifted off for feeding and care of the fishies.
The bottom of the case has 4 small rubber feet to prevent scratching and vibrations no the desktop. I think that about does it.
Hardware currently in my rig:
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
Shuttle MN31N (microATX formfactor)
2x 512MB KingstonVR PC2700 (DDR333)
1-60GB and 1-100GB WD 7200rpm hdd
TDK 40x12x48 veloCD burner
Artec 16X DVD
watercooling:
DangerDen Maze4 CPU block
Hydor L20 pump
Black Ice Xtreme radiator
fish stuff:
Rena Air 50 air pump
Whisper 2-5 gallon filter
15" bubble wall strip.
other:
2- 80mm Antec blue LED fans
1- 120mm Vantec Stealth fan (radiator fan)
Everything was from my old computer except for the mobo, watercooling stuff, and of course, the fish stuff.
The website of Katie Hoch, the builder of the FishmoBabyWhirlimagig can be seen at:
FishmoBabyWhirlimagig (http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/k/l/klh340/)
Maybe this will inspire someone to build something similar to this rig, but with a nano-reef instead!
http://reeftank.com/photopost/data/505/1full_caseonly600.jpg
Here are the details according to the builder's website:
I began this project in early July 2003. While it was "done" when I put the fish in September 2, 2003, I never really plan to be finished with it.
The entire frame is made form 1/8" thick aluminum (3/4" L shaped and various flat) and machine screws. The black panels are painted pieces scrap case panels from some old Enlight cases, compliments of Hoch Insurance Agency, Inc.
The tank and all clear panels are made from 1/4" thick Lucite. I pasted the tank together myself using Nick Pelis' (the Caffeine Machine) recipe for homemade acrylic cement. I also went over all the joints with silicone sealant, just for some added protection against leaks. The reservoir for the watercooling system was a stock Criticool piece. I cut out a hole in the aquarium tank, and cemented it half in/half out. I did that because I thought it looked cool. Note, the aquarium and water cooling are separate systems, at no point does the water from the two mix.
The back panel of the computer holds the mobo, hard drives, and radiator. It's fastened with screws at the top and hinged on the bottom for easy access to the internal components. This was one of the most challenging parts of building the case. I ended up scrapping the first version because the mobo didn't fit well. I drilled holes for the mobo standoffs, and used nylon bolts, with nylon nuts as spacers under the board, then secured the board down with more nuts on top. The PCI slots in the back were formed from some scrap metal and parts of the back of an old case. The hard drives are mounted on a slide off hdd rack I cut out of an old case. It's attached to the panel with machine screws and nuts. The radiator is on the inside of the case, and the radiator fan is on the outside. I had to put the fan on the outside of the case because of space issues.
The optical drives face the side of the case (the main view of the tank) and sit on the bottom right. A hinged door allows access to them, and stays closed by a magnet just strong enough to keep the door closed, but weak enough to all the door to pop open from the force of a drive tray opening to eject a disk. The drives are mounted on sliding drive rails and rack, again, stolen from an old case. Most of the non visible parts of the case on the interior are covered or spaced with very thin craft foam (about 2mm thick). I did this to prevent noise and vibrations from parts rattling.
The power supply is seated under the tank in the back of the case. There are 2 80mm blue LED Antec fans for case air flow. I find that these are only necessary on hot days (no air conditioning). One is between the optical drives and PSU on the side of the case, and the other on the top, just above the CPU. The electronics panel has 4 toggle switches (blue cathodes, UV cathodes, case fan, case fan), and power and reset switches and LEDs.
The watercooling pump, and air pump(for the bubble wall) for the aquarium both sit in the bottom of the case between the optical drives and PSU. It's a very tight fit. I brought power into the case for these items, as well as the aquarium filter through a standard power cable, so all these parts plug in inside the case, making only one extra cord coming out the back of the case necessary.
The top of the case consists of an aluminum bar and vertical piece below it separating the tank/computer portions of the case. On either side sits a piece of Lucite. The piece over the computer portion is secured with screws, while the piece over the tank can be easily lifted off for feeding and care of the fishies.
The bottom of the case has 4 small rubber feet to prevent scratching and vibrations no the desktop. I think that about does it.
Hardware currently in my rig:
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
Shuttle MN31N (microATX formfactor)
2x 512MB KingstonVR PC2700 (DDR333)
1-60GB and 1-100GB WD 7200rpm hdd
TDK 40x12x48 veloCD burner
Artec 16X DVD
watercooling:
DangerDen Maze4 CPU block
Hydor L20 pump
Black Ice Xtreme radiator
fish stuff:
Rena Air 50 air pump
Whisper 2-5 gallon filter
15" bubble wall strip.
other:
2- 80mm Antec blue LED fans
1- 120mm Vantec Stealth fan (radiator fan)
Everything was from my old computer except for the mobo, watercooling stuff, and of course, the fish stuff.
The website of Katie Hoch, the builder of the FishmoBabyWhirlimagig can be seen at:
FishmoBabyWhirlimagig (http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/k/l/klh340/)
Maybe this will inspire someone to build something similar to this rig, but with a nano-reef instead!