Fish towers are raised enclosed columns of water that fish can swim in. (see link) They're very cool, but they're a bit of work.

This idea it so have a portable unit about the size and shape of a briefcase or tube with a poles on either side that you push into the sand to hold it up. (Could also have inflatable or plastic floats) First you hold the unit horizontally and fill it with water and tilt it upright. Push the support rods into the sand and pull the entire water filled unit up above the water level. It's held in place by clamps that automatically lock as you pull it up. Unlike the unit show in link #2 you can put it anyplace without needing a flat, prepaired bottom surface. The top of the unit has fish food in it, solid brick style or some other form of dispenser.

Then sit on the beach or shore and watch the fish swim up into your portable aquarium. Unlike just looking at them in the water obscured by ripples and reflections, you'd see them as clear as you would in any windowed aquarium, because they ARE in an aquarium. You could even have a background on one side to take pictures of them with whatever backdrop you chose. That's not something you could get skin-diving. Pictures would be as clear as if you were scuba diving and they'd be coming to you, you woudn't have to try to get close to skittish fishies to take their picture.

To be clear, (no pun intended) I'd use this to take pictures of fish without needing any waterproof gear other than rubber boots. Plus it would be cool to just have a relaxing picnic on the beach watching the fish come visit your "wild fish aquarium". The colored light version could have several put in your pond and be solar powered to make a very interesting addition to your pond at night. The lights will attract them at night.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022

This only portable. https://www.youtube...watch?v=yRZfVIy8fiY
[doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022]

Or this https://www.amazon....8-9767-857e17e03685
[doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022]

Small versions might look like this. https://www.amazon....8-a52a-191efe82c1ca
With different colored lights, put a dozen or so out there for your next nighttime beach party or relax watching the changing colors in your backyard pond. [doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022]

Boil boil, toil and trouble... above_20ground_20swimming
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2022]

Fish are on fire yo. https://www.youtube...watch?v=rRZ1Yt2JKME
You should have seen the looks on people's faces when I would display this thing at pet stores. Prieless. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2022]

Koy sphere https://www.youtube...watch?v=qJprKL_24ZA
[doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022]

They normally fill them by putting the hose from a shop vac inside and sucking out the air. There's a reason for this, vs filling it in the water then rotating it and lifting the sealed water-filled box up into the air for everyone's viewing pleasure. That reason is weight. Even my smaller aquarium (30"x12"x12" ish) is ~140kg or so when full. Viewed from a beach, that would be vanishingly small.

Fish also don't like going in them, so usually some floating food is added. Your maximum height is limited to 10m or so, before the water begins to boil and the top starts to fill with water vapor.
-- bs0u0155, Sep 19 2022


Yea, the briefcase size portaquarium. 12"x12"x4" would weight about 40 pounds to lift. Not massive but not super light either. That's why I was tending towards the permanent smaller fishy towerettes for backyard ponds that have solar powered lights to attract them. (notice how the idea sort of morphed)

Lots of reasons why this would be a better approach to the idea. I've actually made a mockup of what it would look like and it's very pretty.

I'd want one for my fish pond. Think I'll make one and try it out. See if it might need a little solar powered air pump as well to keep the water up there. Fish blowing bubbles and such.

Thinking if you have a few of these easier to just have the vacuum tubes running to a single pump hidden under a plant or something.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022


// before the water begins to boil... //

Perhaps to create a tasty boiled fish meal after your family tires of watching them swim about.
-- whatrock, Sep 19 2022


There you go.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022


//Perhaps to create a tasty boiled fish meal//

I'm not sure what the effect on fish would be exactly, but it wouldn't cook in the way you think. That's temperature dependent denaturation of protein.
-- bs0u0155, Sep 19 2022


Add an electric heating element then
-- pocmloc, Sep 19 2022


That would lower the max height of the fish tower...
-- bs0u0155, Sep 19 2022


Ah a negative pressure grotto and a shameless self promotion opportunity.
I learned all about those here after I posted 'above ground swimming', [link]1 and then 'not-a-hologram in your tank'. [link]2

Then they used the concept on an episode of Fear Factor, and then these things started popping up everywhere.

True story.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2022


Whoa! I want the koy sphere from your idea link!
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022


I have plans to take a portion of our property, which you can tell was once a waterway tens of thousands of years ago, and create a fair sized trout pond by building berms on the ends and installing a culvert through the roadway which now divides the gully. This would allow me to keep two types of fish since I could grate off the culvert so I had considered keeping trout in the larger pond and Coy in the smaller section.
If I do then I intend to install a few of these.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2022


I'm not sure you'd get enough (good) water circulation in the "up" bit, unless you put a dedicated pump under it. Don't want it going stagnant for the fishies.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Sep 19 2022


I was thinking that's the next step to take with these gorgeous things, put in the pumps, filters etc to make them work long term. Reading about the kits you get for ponds I gather they're a lot of work. I also didn't see any mention of them having to be refilled as fish discharge gas into them which I assume happens over time.

Go for it 2 fries, that would be beautiful. I'm really suprised you don't see more of these. I think they're fascinating.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 19 2022


//to be refilled as fish discharge gas into them which I assume happens over time. //

Definitely, and more frequently, you're going to need to scrape the algae that will grow over the entire inner surface. That algae will contribute to the problem, consuming dissolved CO2 and releasing O2 as a gas.
-- bs0u0155, Dec 30 2022



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