Aquaria by Jim

Friends and I had joked about building a fishtank into a computer for at least a decade and finally I decided to try. I'd never owned an aquarium before and knew nothing about fabricating with acrylic. I'm much smarter now...

I built my first Macquarium in June, 1995. It was a 2 1/2 gallon acrylic tank fitted into a Mac 512kE case. It looked good but burst a seam a couple hours after filling. This was no suprise since I know A Great Truth - I never do anything right the first time. Unfortunately, no video of this tank was taken and so no pictures are available. I ripped it to shreds in a fit of disgust and went back to the drawing boards.

My next aquarium (and first success) was a 5 gallon tank in an Apple Lisa (a.k.a. Macintosh XL) case that I call the Lisaquarium. In continous use since July 1995, this tank now decorates my living room and was home to a couple of fat-n-sassy Fantail Goldfish. They outgrew the tank and have moved to larger quarters. The current occupants are a pair of Dwarf Goramis.

Next, I built a 12 gallon tank into the case of an Apple Monochrome Two-Page Display. Utilizing the original tilt/swivel monitor stand, this aquarium can still be (gently) turned to face any direction. I went shopping for a rock to add to this tank and discovered cool rocks cost as much as pumps, heaters, and lights! So I collected my own rocks and built a cave.

The next tank was Lisa II. I videotaped the entire construction process and used that tape to create a pictorial I call Building Lisaquarium II. Several improvements over the original Lisa design included a 'speed bump' at the edge of the drop-off to hold gravel and larger size (now 6 gallons).

Returning to the scene of the original crime, my next project was the Mk II Macquarium. Made of much stronger stuff, this aquarium currently resides at the home of my father in Ark City, Kansas.

My first non-computer related project was a hexagonal tank that fits into an oak end-table, completed at the end of January, 1996 and rebuilt in September, 1996. I've also 'done' a Macintosh TV. The Mac TV was an all-in-one design with a 14" monitor and was cast in all black plastic.

In April 1996, I built 4 "classic" Mac tanks using a new design, the Mk III Macquarium. They are a Mac 128k, Mac Plus, Mac SE, and Mac Classic.

In March 1997, I redesigned the Mk III tank to simplify construction, improve the angle of the light, and again increase water capacity. The result is the Mk IV Macquarium.

Lots of people have asked for plans for this tank. Originally there were none, I made it all up as I went along. I'm now working on a comprehensive set of plans. While far from complete, you can follow my progress.

In June, 1996 I built a 14 gallon tank into the case of a Mirror Technologies "PixelView" 19" b&w Monitor. This time I incorporated a couple of new ideas. I tilted the monitor all the way back on its stand so that the viewer wouldn't have to bend over to look into the tank and I put a curved plate on the front of the tank to more closely resemble the original monitor tube. This tank currently holds saltwater and serves as my hospital/quarentine tank.

I recently set up a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium. Here are some pictures of the live rock a couple days after it was added. The live rock was purchased from Tampa Bay Saltwater.

I drew up some plans for a River Tank that I'd like to build - someday. And what possible use would all these tanks be without fish? Here are some pictures of my fish.

In a (very) minor fit of creativity one day I found a good way to recycle an old IBM PC.

Special thanks to Monte Fruits, of Computer WAREhouse for providing many of the computer and monitor cases and for all the encouragement and for letting me show my work at his store. Thanks, Monte!

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