Fishputer

I’m working on building a submerged HTPC.
For the tank I settled on the Mini-bow 2.5 gallon tank. However, totally teal was not my prefered color.
I quickly upgraded to black trimming. I also mounted a small green LED in the center of the top cover. I’ll likely use this as the HDD indicator LED.The next crucial piece was the computer itself.
It fit perfectly along the back wall of the tank.
This is a normal ATX power source with the cover off. It takes the power from the wall and converts it to the lower voltages used by the computer. I extended the power plug so that it can reach up out of the water.
I picked up some rocks for the bottom to make it seem more fishy.Next up is the top. This piece I had to custom build.
Here it is installed at the top of the tank. On the left is where the main power cord will be plugged in. This is the extension that I added to the power source. The hole on the right is for the power and data cables for the hard drive since the hard drive cannot be submerged.
I’ve cut the back off of the top so that it can sit flat when all of the cords are plugged in. I also mounted the power switch which you can see pictured on the right.In the mean time I’ve picked up a PicoPSU to replace the ATX power source. This moves a lot of heat and mess outside of the tank.
Check out the video of it completed, booting xbmc.

2 thoughts on “Fishputer

  1. Nice build! I’ve seen some build like this before and to be honest have thought about trying to build one some day. One idea you could try to help further with controlling the heat is filling the tank with mineral oil. It won’t short circuit any electrical components and when circulated with some PC fans is supposed to have excellent heat management. A possible downside could be when you need to do hardware replacement or upgrades since everything will have a coat of mineral oil on it. Nice mod!

    • heathbar

      Actually the tank is already filled with mineral oil. I’m surprised I forgot to mention that in the post.

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