I've never understood the appeal of the tanks of fake fish - they just look kind of depressingingly artificial. What's the message? It's too difficult to shake a few food flakes into a tank of real fish? Hasn't life in general then just become too hard? Is it time to end it all? Perhaps other people, of more stable mental health, wouldn't take such leaps, but every time I've seen one of those fake fish spasmodically "swim" through a field of other scary plastic "fauna," I've wanted to run screaming.

As seen in this video (youtube link), the creatures in this Banpresto aquapict jellyfish aquarium look disturbingly real. I'm not a fan of real jellyfish, but as the LED lights flash and change colors, these fish glow in different colors to mesmerizing effect. I think it could be quite calming in the right environment. And it rides the tacky/cool line so sharply, it could be kitschy or arty or creepy depending on the rest of your decor. The fish are made of very thin sheets of silicone so the slithering motion is very natural. Each tank comes with 12 colors of lights.

These tanks are apparently a huge trend in Japan, but I'm never sure if that's really true or if these bizarre fads are national urban myths perpetuated so that impressionable Westerners will follow suit, to the great amusement of Japanese companies.

Available only in Japan, of course, but you can get it from Audiocubes for $159.