As if crafting a glitzy
fish bowl in the shape of an anchor wasn't enough to catch your eye, the Comfish bowl sports the same type of user-controlled interface as various other forms of
life-in-a-box, but utilizes a USB connection in favor of WiFi. The tank manages to pull off the same kind of magic as the
Wi-Aquarium, as the built-in USB port allows owners to supply power to the filter and control internal conditions such as bubble production and water temperature. Interestingly, the device also seems to sport an integrated camera, which purportedly allows the owner to watch the action on screen instead of having to wheel around and actually face your ferocious fish. The Comfish bowl looks to come in a variety of colors and shapes, so just in case the 49,000KRW ($52) pricetag hasn't reeled you in just yet, be sure to check out a few more pictures of the tank / interface after the break.
[Via
AVing]
posted May 2nd 2007 5:26PM
Due to its small size, this is obscenely unhealthy for fish but would make a decent freshwater shrimp tank (red cherry shrimp, etc.). If you put fish in it, you will basically be taking close-up webcam footage of your pet succumbing to ammonia and/or nitrate poisoning.
I agree, its a little bit too small.
maybe for a beta fish, maybe, and only one.
does any one know the actual size of it?
maybe it just looks small... maybe its wide.
Ah, no mac support. Darnzor.
It's not too small, I had what appears to be the same type of fish, in a tank that size for years before they died without having temperature controlled water.
T-Will, a tiger barb (pictured on bottom) or guppy (top) can live for years in sick, unhealthy conditions. That doesn't make it ethical or "nice", it just means that life endures. Jews also lived for years in concentration camps but we managed to clear the notion that that was an acceptable situation.
People flat out don't understand aquariums and these companies that tout these "mini" setups are just out to make a buck and completely aware and indifferent to the suffering they cause.
I worked in a pet store for many years through school during the "aqua baby" craze and after a while we just started telling people to leave if they insisted their half pint tank was "doing great except the fish kept dying".
Most of the fish you see in the aquarium trade can live many years - the smallest can easily live 5 years and larger fish (barbs, angelfish, etc) can live a decade in reasonably good water. Most, after capture (or export from farms in Asia) live perhaps a few months, and the only reason for this is human greed (overpacking shipping boxes) and human ignorance (the "aquarists").
Wow! this is a quantum leap forward... Back in my dorm days, watching a coffee pot brew over the internet was cutting edge stuff...
I want to know how i can buy one. i didn't see any way to purchase on their site. Having fish always seemed like a pain to me, but i think my computer wants its own pet.
I have a betta living in a tank about this size. I empty clean and refill the tank about once every 10-14 days. Fish has been alive 7.5 months so far! So yes, this can support a betta or probably a goldfish or other small fish. Two fish would be a bad idea.
@Rikko
Did you just compare these small fish tanks to German concentration camps????? Wow...
If these fish were in the wild they'd probably be eaten by larger fish and live much shorter lifespans.
T-Will, did you actually just suggest that a fish would be better off in a cramped little bowl than it would be swimming in the wild? Wow...
So when will we see the first fish killing computer virus?
Josef, Did you just suggest that any fish small enough to survive in that tank has any knowledge of what it had for breakfast, let alone the difference between swimming in the wild vs. a fish tank? Sometimes people give animals too much credit...
So what, it's bad to stuff humans in small quarters, but it's ok for animals?
How long would YOU last in the wild? I have a feeling very few people on here would last more than a week or two. Our fishtank happens to be cities and towns and 'civilization'. Sticking fish in tanks this small is equivilent to locking you in your room. Sure, you could survive there, but would you really want to? Well, I suppose a lot of you already do, but remember: fish don't have computers.
FISH AREN'T HUMANS! They wouldn't even realize they're in a bowl! They don't have the mental capacity to realize that! We do! So no, it's not really the same thing.
Fish are dumb.
Two words: Prove it.
In my experience, animals know a lot more than we credit them with. I discovered quite accidentally that I can give my dog a command in english or german and either way she does it. And no, we never taught her German, and she never had any other trainers in her life or anything...I just decided to see what would happen if
I said something to her in German, and she understood exactly what I meant. Hell of a lot more than a human would know.
And no, I am not saying a fish is as smart as a dog, I understand their brain is much smaller, but studies do show that fish are capable of feeling pain, and I'm sure there would be some pain associated with being constantly poisoned by contaminated water.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3673
more importantly can this be hacked to be used for a bigger aquarium????
fish were meant to be eaten, the bible says so
hmmm... tanks, but no tanks.
ROFL
I (on my Mac) will be the first one to write the tank hi-jacking virus. The virus will crank the temperature and kill the bubbles to your tank whenever your computer goes idle. You know, because viruses are so easy to write to windows.
On a side note, since it is powered via USB, wouldn't shutting your PC off turn the tank off as well?
How many people do you think will in inadvertently kill their fish because they shut down their PC and left for a few days? Do I smell lawsuits?
No, never mind, thats just dead fish...
Yea thats all good but where can I purchase one, I dont see a link for purchase on there website.
Who amongst you people will write the cron job for a self sustained fishbowl?
I had a fish once and he was all emo because he wanted a swimming pool sized tank, but I told him that wouldn't fit in my room
Urza, dogs respond a lot to body language and tone, so I don't think your dog is bilingual. Yes, fish probably can feel pain, however this doesn't mean they can really think or imagine. This means a fish won't go "This bowl sucks, I remember the days when I was swimming free in the ocean" (small fish, such as betas don't even have very large territories in the wild anyways)
People, please remember, FINDING NEMO WASN'T TRUE!
True. my dog stops biting me whether I say "ow!" or "cucumber" (I've seriously tried). Besides, this is Endgadget, we should be focused on how the tank is getting powered when the computer is shut down, not the ethics of fish tanks. If you've got a problem go write a bill instead of griping about it.
"...various other forms of life-in-a-box, but utilizes a USB connection in favor of WiFi."
That sentence sucks grammatically.
HAHAHAH!!
Sorry had to laugh at the comparing these fish to concentration camp Jews. So not funny but it is!!