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 ]

By Evan Ackerman

I suppose there is something relaxing about watching fish meander around their fake little worlds, which is probably why you find fish tanks in doctor’s and dentist’s offices and other places where pain and discomfort are reliably imminent. But said fish, as relaxing as they may appear, don’t actually do much to relieve stress. The fish who live underneath the HydroGlass hydrotherapy table don’t do much to relieve stress either, but at least they’re attached to something that does. The table comes with a heated water mattress and seven overhead shower heads for Vichy shower treatments. Now, I don’t know what a Vichy shower treatment is… I’d tell you what I think (based on hazy memories of high school history), but I wouldn’t want to Godwin my own post.

There’s no price listed, but it’s undoubtedly cheaper to just go get yourself some regular hydrotherapy somewhere, and bring along a goldfish bowl to put under the table.

[ HydroGlass ] VIA [ Born Rich ]

By Evan Ackerman

Normally, the fish tanks we write about are isolated things, objects that you can point to and say, “hey look, there’s a fish tank.” Canon’s mixed reality aquarium, on the other hand, makes everywhere a fish tank. With the aid of a VR headset, different species of fish and other marine life are projected into your surroundings, and it appears as though the fish actually interact with your environment, avoiding (or running into) objects. Canon isn’t sure whether or not they’re going to try and make a product out of this, but just try and imagine putting on a pair of glasses and spending the entire day wandering around your own virtual under water world. It would be totally awesome, at least until you get hit by a bus while trying to avoid being eaten by a virtual shark.

VIA [ DigInfo ]

By Evan Ackerman

This is what happens after years spent searching for good Fish Tank Friday material… It’s like your brain is half full of water, and there’s a little blue fishy swimming around where your eyeballs used to be. This is a piece of functional artwork by Nicola L., and as far as I can tell, it’s not for sale. But, if you like the idea of furniture shaped like heads, there are some limited edition pieces available on her website.

[ Nicola ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

By Evan Ackerman

The biOrb SpyOrb is a generally unremarkable spherical eight gallon fish tank of the self-contained variety, meaning that besides changing filters every once in a while you don’t really have to do much. What makes it kinda neat are some of the accessories, like the biOrb Timer ($37) which will flash its LEDs at you to remind you when it’s time to do feed your fish or do maintenance on the tank.

You can also get a special little LED lighting unit ($82) that cycles through different colors and brightnesses depending on what time of day it is. In the morning, “sunrise” lighting fades gradually into normal white light, followed in the evening by “sunset” lighting which turns into soft blue moonlight at night. It’s supposed to look nice, but more importantly, it replicates a natural light cycle which should help keep your fish blissfully happy and unaffected by the fact that they’re spending their lives in an eight gallon ball.

The biOrb SpyOrb is available now in ice white, piano black, or silver for $195.

[ Reef One ] VIA [ T3 ]

By Evan Ackerman

Yesterday, we posted an article about LaserPup, a DIY remote controlled dog insane-o-tron with an iPhone interface. The piece of hardware that makes it easy for your iPhone (i.e. web app) to control stuff in the real world is called the ioBridge, and now (inevitably) a guy named Pete has rigged it up to control his fish tank, as you can see in the video above.

The ioBridge is a really nifty little device. You can attach it to just about anything (servos, webcams, electronics, sensors) and then control it over the internet with just about anything. The ioBridge doesn’t just deal with the messiness of converting electronics signals into network signals, but it also handles all of the network compatibility and security back-end. It also includes a code-free widget designer to get the project up and running. Sounds easy, and the possibilities are infinite… And the introductory “beta” price of $88 for the base board means you can probably afford one of these just to experiment with. iPod Touch controlled airsoft target range, anyone?

[ ioBridge ] VIA [ Hacked Gadgets ]