It’s been a while since we’ve brought you a Fishtank Friday post, but we’re making up for the long break with a real doozy. After a visit to the Blackpool Aquarium when he was 10 years old, Jack Heathcote, who’s now 37, has had a lifelong obsession with fish which led him to convert the cellar of his Nottingham home into the largest private aquarium in Britain.

The tank measures 12 1/2 feet by 12 feet 8 inches by 7 feet and holds 4,800 gallons of water. When it’s time to change the water, which usually involves replacing about 1,200 gallons, the process takes around 6 hours just to re-fill it. All-in-all the aquarium, which Jack has to clean by literally diving in the tank using an access panel in the living room upstairs, cost him about $8,000 (£5,000) to build. And that probably includes the cost of the actual aquatic wildlife like the 8 stingrays, 2 turtles and large collection of other massive fish that I’m going to assume need more than a sprinkling of fish flakes every day to stay fed.

[ The Daily Mail - A plaice of his own: Fish fan turns cellar into Britain's biggest home aquarium ] VIA [ Make ]

We haven’t had a Fish Tank Friday post in many moons, but every once in a while we come across a design worthy of our attention. Anyone with pets will admit they’ve been guilty of pampering their animal sidekicks, and I assume the same goes for fish owners. So instead of the traditional bowl or even rectangular tank, why not really spoil them with this split-level Archiquarium made from white and black Corian that also features panoramic windows for viewing the fish from almost all sides. It was recently unveiled at the Hem 2010 home fair in Stockholm, and is slated to go into production soon.

[ Archiquarium ] VIA [ Cool Hunting ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve all got an old fish tank lying around in the garage from our childhood, and Puget Systems has a pretty good idea of what can be with it. They’re selling a complete DIY kit to submerge your entire computer (except for the drives, of course) in a fish tank full of mineral oil. Since mineral oil is non-conductive to electricity but a good conductor of heat, it makes for a much better cooling solution than air, allowing you to overlock your hardware to the maxxx… A backpack of sorts pumps the oil past a bunch of fans to transfer heat out of the tank.

You can get other liquid cooling systems that are a little bit more integrated into a case, but then you have to worry about leakage and stuff, and anyway, it’s far less dramatic. The tank with the external cooling system will run you about $290; you provide your own fish tank, aquarium rocks, and bubbler. You can also get the system with a tank for about $500.

[ Puget Systems ] VIA [ Tom's Hardware ]

By Evan Ackerman

Yes, this fishbowl leaks. No, don’t send it back, it’s supposed to do that. There’s a hole in the side that continually spills water into an understandably thirsty fish at the base, where it’s cleaned and recycled back into the bowl. Some kind of filter apparatus keeps the fish from getting out, however much an array of color changing LEDs in the bottom of the bowl may drive them to suicide. I imagine that the water coming out of the bowl probably has a decidedly fishy aroma, but mabe that’s something that you’re looking for, you know, to lend a little bit of oceanic atmosphere to your life.

The Spillarium holds 5 gallons of water, and comes with “artificial fish” and “artificial plants.” And, for some reason, a real net and some real fish food. It’s $130 at Hammacher Schlemmeleakybowl.

[ Spillarium ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve seen our fair share of evil fish tanks, but this one is certainly a contender for the top three. The LG GD900 cell phone has a slide-out keypad that happens to be transparent. Some guy with a little bit of creativity and either a passionate love for, or an intense dislike of, his pet fish decided that it would be fun to stick a little compartment on the back of the keypad and turn it into a fish tank. The phone still works, but I’m not sure the fish do. There’s a video:

Please, don’t try this at home. Or anywhere else.

VIA [ Engadget ]

By Evan Ackerman

There’s a general rule that the cooler a fish tank is, the more of a pain in the butt it is to clean the tank, feed the fish, and take care of the occasional belly up moment of unfortunateness. The exception to this rule is brought to you by fish tanks that don’t have any real fish in them, and the best of these don’t even have any water and can be stuffed in a closet when you’re not in a fishy mood. The Ocean Theater is all this and more, offering the excitement of a seascape with the convenience of an off switch.

So it’s basically a light, a clock, and an iPod dock (it’s got speakers and an audio jack) that can project fish and sharks and dolphins and stuff onto its own touch sensitive dome, or a wall. Yes, it’s extremely Japanese, but you can actually buy this one for about $250 (!) from Japan Trend Shop.

[ Japan Trend Shop ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

This fish tank is a real object, designed for a real (albeit conceptual) purpose. I’ll tell you all about it after the jump. But first, take a good look at that picture, and see if you can guess what you think is going on… From the perspective of the girl, or the fish. My first thought? Those fish are in trouble, ’cause that girl is thirsty.

This fish tank is part of a project called “gifted,” which explores the genetic modification of children from a child’s perspective:

The project raises questions about how children might use their own fantasies and dreams to imagine an alternative genetic future, and questions whether it is adults or children who are really in control of the technology. The prototypes I have created help to materialise an imaginary future in which a child’s ability is considered before birth and influenced via training and parental supervision throughout development. More specifically, I have explored the possibility of a genetic modification which enables children to absorb higher levels of oxygen, thus enhancing concentration, focus and calmness as well as improving athletic ability and improving general health.

The children were asked to imagine the implications of a modification to the H1FA gene, one of the seven oxygen sensing genes, which would enable them to survive for longer with less oxygen. The main benefit from the perspective of the children was the prospect of being able to swim and survive under water for longer, and being able to change their interactions with one another as a result of this new imagined world. During a brainstorm, the children imagined sea creatures they wished they could become.

What sort of sea creatures, you ask? Here’s a piece of conceptual artwork based on these children’s fantasies:

Bizarre. Almost as bizarre as this fish tank… Almost.

[ Will Carey ] VIA [ Design Boom ]

By Evan Ackerman

I’m not sure how well the concept of an infinity pool translates to fish… I mean, where they’re from really is an infinity pool. I guess if you’re going to keep them captive in a little box, though, it’d be nice to make it as infinity-y as possible, which is what the ZeroEdge aquarium is designed to do. The aquarium is constructed of nothing but sheets of borderless glass, but the cool part is that it’s designed so that water is continually flowing over the sides, into a drain around the base of the tank. This keeps the water circulating very effectively, and means you don’t need any ugly pumps or anything inside the tank itself.

The only thing you really have to worry about is, of course, escaping fish, since the water level is the same as the sides of the tank. Not that your fish necessarily want to escape, but some of the not-so-nice species aren’t exactly subtle when it comes to their turf (so to speak):

We do not recommend putting to many Damsels together as they are considered a rough crowd and someone is going over.

Does it make me a bad person that I’d consider buying this tank specifically to see that?

An entire ZeroEdge tank setup costs about $1k, or the tanks by themselves are about half that.

[ ZeroEdge ] VIA [ Neatorama ]

By Evan Ackerman

Flying out of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and feeling bad for leaving your fish at home to fend for themselves? Just bring them with you and drop them off at the world’s first (and only?) goldfish hotel. This luxury establishment features four floors of fish sized rooms, a tennis court, and a pool with a lifeguard station and water slide.

From what I can tell, this is a promotion for the D-reizen travel agency, and before you ask, I have no idea what the rates are or how exclusive the waiting list is. But your fish will love you forever if you set them up with a nice, relaxing vacation… I mean, when was the last time they really got to have a social life, after all?

[ PetSugar ] VIA [ Neatorama ]

By Evan Ackerman

Changing water and filters becomes a thing of the past with this aquarium, thanks to a floating garden that creates a miniature mostly-closed ecosystem along with the fish living in the tank below. Tank water, which inevitably has a bunch of fish poo in it, gets pumped up to the floating garden, where it passes through a layer of sand containing bacteria that convert the poo into nitrates. Then, the nitrate water flows into the plants, and they absorb the nitrates as fertilizer. Finally, the clean water gets send back into the tank to keep the fish happy.

It’s a very neat and tidy system, and it not only makes your aquarium more interesting, but it makes it easier to manage as well. The design comes from Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio, and will be available for purchase early next year.

[ Duende Studio ] VIA [ Cool Hunting ]