Rapidly warming oceans have led to an explosion of jellyfish numbers in seas around the world – allow that fact to float around your brain for a bit as you stare at translucent invertebrates illuminated within your very own desktop jellyfish aquarium. Would owning such a thing offer comfort and entertainment, or just be a sad reminder that humans have really mucked things up on our home planet? Now’s your chance to find out.

The JellyTank is a compact 5-gallon aquarium with a modern design and color-changing, remote-controlled LED lights. This ‘flow bar design’ with laminar pump-driven water creates an environment similar to what jellyfish would experience in the wild, and there’s a built-in mechanical and biological filtration system. The tank is made of high-grade aquarium acrylic, and its housing is available in black or white.

The creators came up with the idea after purchasing a $400 jellyfish tank for their office, and finding that the grates kept sucking up the jellyfish and killing them. They wanted to create a ‘sustainable’ tank that comes pre-assembled for the least amount of fuss. Everything you need to set it up is included, except for the moon jellyfish, which are purchased separately through the JellyTank website.

“JellyTank is currently working on developing an aquaculture facility to grow Jellyfish for our customers,” reads their Kickstarter. “We are speaking with industry experts and marine biologists from across the nation to develop the best protocols and standards of practice to ensure we deliver the healthiest sustainable source of jellyfish available in the world today. our proposed aquaculture program will be overseen, staffed and managed by leading jellyfish aquaculture specialists.”

This living reminder of the ravages of human-induced climate change can be yours with a pledge of $175 or more at the JellyTank Kickstarter. The creators aren’t allowed to include live jellyfish with their rewards, so they have to be claimed separately when the kits are ready to ship. People are clearly excited about the project, having raised almost twice the fundraiser’s goal with 16 days to go. It remains to be seen whether flushing dead jellyfish down the toilet is as depressing as doing so for your late pet goldfish.

True aquarium aficionados know a beautifully designed fish tank can be like a work of living art. Now it’s time to spread the word, starting with 24 of the wildest aquarium set ups to ever grace a living room (or garage, for that matter).

(Images via treatfish, thecoolgadgets, gadgether)

Don’t toss the old computer away yet, as there’s still some use it can be put to. Seal it up tightly enough, and there’s a ready-made fish tank perfect for a goldfish or two.

(Images via random-good-stuff, klingpost, techeblog, supertightstuff, pics-site)

Not all fish tanks have to be a boring cube. Some of the most interesting aquariums share a unique shape or overall design that defies expectations.

(Images via ideasforhouses, aquariumlore, ecofriend)

No fish were harmed in the making of these bathrooms… we hope. One must admit there’s something wonderfully modern about incorporating a little bit of nature into the restroom experience. It certainly would not make keeping it clean any easier, though.

(Images via home-designing, suehenshawpottery)

One of the best ways to recycle an old television is to start a new show starring your favorite fish. Large, old fashioned, televisions are perfect for this, as they have are roomy and have the structural strength to hold a decently sized tank.

(Images via amanotakashi, geekologie, adana-usa, completeaquarium)

Takashi Amano is a well-known aquarium artist who is able to make otherworldly scenes underwater. With even more precision and care than the most obsessive landscape artist, Takashi sculpts his aquariums into living pieces of art that look like microcosms of a much larger space.

(Images via weedguru, amazingpets, borubudur, sclick)

If the idea of having a giant tank shoved up against the wall of the living room isn’t an appealing one, don’t give up yet! There are plenty of companies that make gorgeous aquariums that can be incorporated directly into a home’s furnishings. Replace the worn coffee table with something a whole lot cooler!

(Images via bogaboo, izismile, supertightstuff)

Aquaman would love to have this car in his driveway, though it’s difficult to imagine anyone else getting much use out of it. This car makes one think differently about sitting in traffic behind all that glass, doesn’t it?

(Images via pixmag, sweetandlowshow)

This custom bed aquarium is surely something to behold. There are few things that would be as relaxing as staring up into a gently lit aquarium while drifting off to sleep.

(Images via crystalkiss)

Some aquarium artists expend a lot of effort making every detail seem natural, like a landscape seen from far away. If fish weren’t swimming amongst the plants, it would be difficult to distinguish these fish tanks from an image of a tropical paradise.

(source: thailandbeach)

Fish are one of the most under-appreciated pets that one can own. Tell anyone that you have pet fish and they’ll ask you why you chose something so insanely boring. Well, as any fishkeeper will tell you, that is far from the truth. Not only are fish great pets that can recognize their owners, be trained, and generally entertain you for hours, but they give you the opportunity to explore some of the most interesting and cool options to pick from (or build) as their home. Here’s a selection of some of the coolest (and in some cases bizarre) fish tanks and aquariums for your favorite fish.

The Amazing Fish Highway

(source: bloggingwv)

Hands down one of the most superb creations for those that love fish as pets or people interested in aquatic physics, it doesn’t get much better than the fish highway aquarium. Allowing the fish to swim out of the aquarium, along the wall and ceiling, across the room and into another tank, this patented aquarium is something to behold. Thanks to a carefully-planned, sealed design (with the exception of two openings, one on each end), the tank works like a giant straw and prevents any spillage.

The World’s Largest Cylindrical Aquarium

(source: fogonazos)

The AquaDom is a 25-meter tall cylindrical aquarium in Berlin, Germany, built with a transparent elevator inside. Located at the Radisson Hoyrl, the aquarium complex opened 5 years ago and cost approximately 12.8 million Euros. It is filled with 900,000 liters of seawater and houses a total of 2,600 fish of 56 different species. Since cleaning of the aquarium and feeding of the fish is done manually, you can always see a team of divers swimming around performing their duties.

The Oita Marine Center Feeding Tank

(source: cosmicbuddha)

Though the aquarium is not flashy or visibly technologically complicated, it is still quite amazing. It can be baffling at first sight and you may wonder, why doesn’t the water come gushing out of the holes in the glass? The holes, which are used for feeding (and sometimes petting) the fish are clearly open, and there is no visible mechanism pushing the water back, what sustains the water level then? It is a simple matter of physics. Because the tank itself is air-tight, by reducing the pressure inside the tank and matching it to the atmospheric pressure in the little water cups adjacent to the holes they maintain it so that the water has no reason to move in either direction. As a result, you can drop food in the cups, watch the fish come out and eat (although sometimes the more energetic ones can jump out of the holes as seen in the last photo).

The Telequarium – Aquaman’s Changing Room

(via: liftlab)

Created as part of the Lyon Lights Festival by Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino, the phone booth aquarium is a beautiful, functional, a seemingly misplaced conversation piece, and it may surprise you but it is also a statement on reuse. According to its creators, their decision to repurpose the glass cage (the phone booth) arose partly because these phone booths lie unused and rotting since most people nowadays have telephones. Why not, then, convert these ‘unused glass cages’ into luminous aquariums filld with exotic fish?

The Car Aquarium

(via doobybrain)

Now that the economy is in full blown recession and no one is buying any cars, maybe here’s an alternative for the auto industry. Presented at the Siam Ocean World in Bangkok (at the Siam Paragon shopping center), this car has been modified into a large and by the looks of it, quite comfortable mobile home for a few dozen fish. The car is completely sealed so don’t even think about opening the doors or any other compartment.

The Octopus Studios Modular Fish Tank

(source: octopusstudios)

The Modular Silverfish Aquarium, built by the furniture and aquarium design firm Octopus Studios, is completely custom made and costs upwards of $3000. Designed for fresh water fish, the complete set (which can be ordered to custom specifications) can hold up to 60 gallons of water. Each bowl is supposed to allow the fish to engage in a different activity, i.e. one for feeding, one for sleeping, one for exercising, and so on.

The Aquarium Art of Takashi Amano

(via: hemmy)

Though the beauty of this last set of photos doesn’t derive from the aquarium itself, it deserves inclusion because Takashi Amano applies his art directly to aquarium environments. A designer, photographer, and an aquarist, Amano is the author of Nature Aquarium World and is largely credited with introducing the concepts of Japanese gardening to aquascaping.