Macquarium

This is an old page from 1998 (FYI)

Many people have REAL old computers that they want to upgrade, but how do you upgrade a computer that you can buy for $10 at a local pawn shop?

I had heard about Andy Inkhanito’s “MacQuarium” a few years ago, but never had done it, mainly for lack of time, but also because a SE or Classic still cost a bunch of money. In December I decided to convert a Mac for my Dad’s christmas present, so I got the Mac first. A local pawn shop had one without a price tag, so I offered $10 for it, the guy told me that the mouse & keyboard were on a Mac II, but he could get them if I wanted. I told him that they weren’t necessary because I would be turning it into an aquarium anyway, that elicited a choice reaction! The people around me buying old bikes and such thought I was crazy, so did the sales guy. I probably was a little at that point because i hadn’t even looked up the plans on the net yet, I thought I would be putting a simple fishbowl in it. So later that day I grabbed the instuctions, printed them out and discovered that i would have to get some glass custom cut. I had to draw up a pattern (it’s easy) and take it to a local glass cutter. It was a saturday and they were about to close, but they were cool and cut it anyway. I told the secretary what I was going to use the glass for, she was sure I was kidding at first, but now thinks it’s a pretty cool idea.

Putting together the glass was a trip! my first attempt I used some silicone caulk from the garage, BAD IDEA!, silicone doesn’t like to be frozen, if you freeze it, it’ll never set-up, NEVER! I had that glass caulked and taped for about a week, red-green style, and finally decided to try putting some heat on it. This caused the bottom piece of glass to crack and, finally, break in half, so I made another trip to the glass cutters, I also bought some new caulk.

I was amazed that the next day, the caulk was completely set-up! gee, I guess this stuff really does work! (never look down over an aquarium with wet silicone, it’ll clear out your sinuses, olfactory bulb, septum, and pituitary gland!). Well, by now Christmas was already past so I didn’t have to worry about how long it took. But I still went out at 8:45 that night to get a piece of 3/4″ particle board to construct the stand that the glass rests on inside the aquarium. I also decided to glue the motherboard to the back of the mac, it gives it a nice touch even though it covers up the SE Design Team’s signatures carved onto the inside of the case.

Well, a few weeks passed by and I finally went to PetsMart to get the internat workings of the MacQuarium. I spent a lot more that I had anticipated, but ended up with some cool stuff, the only problem was that they don’t make lights small enough for the MacQuarium. I finally ended up going to K-Mart (yes Ray, it sucks) and getting an “Adjustable Halogen Table Lamp” about 2 weeks later.

After getting the thing up and running with water and all, I left it for a few days to settle down while my co-workers were harassing me, incessantly asking when we would get the fish. Well the day came and I purchased a small goldfish for $0.07. Everyone thought it was pretty funny to have such a cheap fish in such a costly tank (like I said, I spent a lot on this thing).