Can a fish tank be used as a reservoir?

[radikulram]

Hello.

I was wondering if there is a logical limit to the size of your radiator.
I'm planning to build an oak desk (I'll colour it etc) and it's going to have two cabinets. One on the left, one on the right.

So I figured that I should put the res. on the top half of the left cabinet and my components on the bottom half of the right cabinet but am left wondering if I could fill the cabinet with an entire resv.

Why?
To make my desk/computer look interesting I suppose.

Would a LARGE resv. interfere with any heat dissipation?
I think it may actually help as the cold water will be on the bottom of the tank, naturally flowing down anyway because it's placed above the computer, and the hot water will flow up.

Or will the radiator completely take care of that?

 

[radikulram]

Hello.

I was wondering if there is a logical limit to the size of your radiator.
I'm planning to build an oak desk (I'll colour it etc) and it's going to have two cabinets. One on the left, one on the right.

So I figured that I should put the res. on the top half of the left cabinet and my components on the bottom half of the right cabinet but am left wondering if I could fill the cabinet with an entire resv.

Why?
To make my desk/computer look interesting I suppose.

Would a LARGE resv. interfere with any heat dissipation?
I think it may actually help as the cold water will be on the bottom of the tank, naturally flowing down anyway because it's placed above the computer, and the hot water will flow up.

Or will the radiator completely take care of that?

Oh and ofcourse I'll be fitting holes for the tubing/fittings.

 

[rubix_1011]

A large reservoir will simply give you more time before your loop reaches working equilibrium. The larger the reservoir, the longer you have. You should really check out 4ryan6's sub-ambient loop- it operates on this principle of a very large reservoir and he uses frozen jugs of water to drop the water temp.

You might be able to use some of these ideas, so check it out. Is this your first watercooling loop? Have you checked out the WC sticky?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275185-29-exploring-ambient-water-cooling

 

[radikulram]

A large reservoir will simply give you more time before your loop reaches working equilibrium. The larger the reservoir, the longer you have. You should really check out 4ryan6's sub-ambient loop- it operates on this principle of a very large reservoir and he uses frozen jugs of water to drop the water temp.

You might be able to use some of these ideas, so check it out. Is this your first watercooling loop? Have you checked out the WC sticky?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275185-29-exploring-ambient-water-cooling

I have checked out the stick, and it is my first build.

So I guess the res. can be as big as you want, that's cool.
Another idea just struck me, putting a resv. inside a fish tank with actual fishes in the fish tank.
I'll deffo have to set up the resv. first to make sure it does't heat up the water etc.

Am I fantasizing too much? haha

 

[Motopsychojdn]

That is do-able, but you would have to ensure that the res was 100% sealed from the fishtank's water, poo in your blocks wouldn't be fun,
and what species of fish are you thinking of? they would have to be happy with cold and warm water, although enough rads and fans would limit the heat that gets into the fishtank,
I'm not saying don't try it, I'm saying that its highly impractical and requires a great deal of thought and planning,
I wouldn't do it myself (And I'm certifiable) but I'd be interested to see any results ofc
Ryan's thread
Moto

 

[rubix_1011]

The fish tank reservoir is one of those ideas that pops up once in a while and like Moto mentioned, you might consider a heat exchanger if that's ultimately the choice, as well as possibly another radiator to ensure your fish tank water temps don't rise too high for the critters living inside. This might be the biggest issue you encounter- how are fish going to like having heat pumped into their home sometimes and then the water at lower temps the remainder of the time?

Don't assume the fish tank will dissipate the heat you are dumping; you're going to need something dissipate it outside into the air.

Novelty and interesting, yes. Practical and easy to maintain...not sure on that.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Technically most of your typical fish tanks have heaters in the water so it doesnt get too cold. Especially something like Angel Fish, who require around 90f water. You could possibly kill two stones by letting your CPU heat your Aquarium...food for thought!

 

[radikulram]

That is do-able, but you would have to ensure that the res was 100% sealed from the fishtank's water, poo in your blocks wouldn't be fun,
and what species of fish are you thinking of? they would have to be happy with cold and warm water, although enough rads and fans would limit the heat that gets into the fishtank,
I'm not saying don't try it, I'm saying that its highly impractical and requires a great deal of thought and planning,
I wouldn't do it myself (And I'm certifiable) but I'd be interested to see any results ofc
Ryan's thread
Moto

I was thinking of putting the resv. tank, sealed, in the fish tank, but I'm not sure how hot the resv. tank will get, I'm perfectly fine with buying multiple radiators. But the algae that'll grow with fish will be a pain, and the constant filtering etc.

So I was thinking of buying some Turtles instead, because all you gotta do is feed them. Plus with the UV lights I'll have to install and the way I build my desk, they'll have a place to dry off.

Um, I really gotta finish drawing up my plans for my desk for that to make sense, but the Turtles will never mix up with the resv. water.

P.S: My friend has a few Turtles, so she can advise me on this haha.

 

[radikulram]

Technically most of your typical fish tanks have heaters in the water so it doesnt get too cold. Especially something like Angel Fish, who require around 90f water. You could possibly kill two stones by letting your CPU heat your Aquarium...food for thought!

Yeah I was thinking about Goldfish/Betta fish which can live in 28ish Celsius, but will probably make the cabinets of my case into a tank for a few turtles to live in.

Why? Because I'm cool like that.

 

[4Ryan6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Giq8KcDzg

I was thinking of putting the resv. tank, sealed, in the fish tank, but I'm not sure how hot the resv. tank will get, I'm perfectly fine with buying multiple radiators. But the algae that'll grow with fish will be a pain, and the constant filtering etc.

Why?

The only ones that would look good are the T-Virus line like Moto is running.

How will you keep it clean?

You'll have to remove it to refill or top off.

I'm sure regarding tubing routing you won't go to the trouble of cutting the tubing into the aquarium wall, so the res will be a low point and you'll do a tubing drop from the top of the aquarium, the res is normally the highest point for filling and such, or else you'll drain the whole system.

IMO it's an idea but not a good one.

Kinda on the line of not the Mama.

No offense! Ryan

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Techincally...if you were only using a 5-10 gal tank you could put something like a Beta in there. 1 fish will not produce that much waste, add a little extra filtering (so your little critter doesnt get sucked up either) and it sounds possible. You would still need to do regular cleanings of the tank, as in dumping nearly all the water out and replacing it with fresh water. Turtles produce ALOT of waste, I wouldn't recommend an amphibian for this.

Gold fish also produce ALOT of waste. Probably one of the most dirty fish, which is why they can be great for jump starting a new tank setup. Beta's though do not need all the bacteria normal fish require to remove nitrites and nitrates. That is why you always see them in non filtered bowels/cups.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Algae is one of the reasons to make sure that the res is 100% insulated/sealed from the tanks water, UV light will help keep that down in the tank though,
UV cathodes won't heat the water if you do go with cold loving fish instead of turtles
Moto

 

[rubix_1011]

I'd consider several reservoir options far before I'd consider the 'fish tank' reservoir.

Too messy.

What kind of maintenance are you going to do for both fish tank and the watercooling loop?

Is this a 24/7 solution? If not, you'll need to consider the swings in water temp changes when it's running and when it isn't.

Much more a novelty idea than beneficial.

 

[Brian Junkert]

I would build the setup, and test the empty tank, see what kind of water temps you are looking at. then look for a fish species that likes those temps. you can add a thermostat controlled heater, to keep the water warm enough that the fish will be ok, with a bubbler and water circulating filter you can keep the tank from getting too hot for them. as your cooling system starts adding heat to the tank it will mean less work for the extra heater. I have been considering making a seperation in the tank so that the water that comes into direct contact with my heat sinks will not contain any of the fish wastes or algae. May even go as far as using chemicals in that rear portion of the tank to eliminate algae as i'm thinking the tank temps are likely to be perfect for promoting algae if precautions are not taken to control it. either way the radiator will be fully sealed keeping my tank water separate from my cooling fluids (haven't decided on what to use in the system yet.)

 

[sadoeng]

A large reservoir will simply give you more time before your loop reaches working equilibrium. The larger the reservoir, the longer you have. You should really check out 4ryan6's sub-ambient loop- it operates on this principle of a very large reservoir and he uses frozen jugs of water to drop the water temp.

You might be able to use some of these ideas, so check it out. Is this your first watercooling loop? Have you checked out the WC sticky?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275185-29-exploring-ambient-water-cooling

Wow, Thanks, this is coming at the right time.