Yes, can think of lots of
fun or even
useful things to have...
need is something else, and
afford is where reality comes crashing in again.
Just being alive and healthy with
clothing on my back and
food in my belly is fantastic, anything more is a bonus.
Still, I love aquariums. A buddy of mine on N Stradbroke Island built himself a huge timber house. He installed a 3m saltwater fishtank to hold
fish and
coral that he found or caught. His thinking was to be able to have fresh
fish when he wanted a nice snack. "You don't have to be hungry to eat", was one of Tim's favourite
sayings. Worked fine until he put a mudcrab in there. It snipped up some of the fish and it all rotted and he had to start again. Pity; he had a lovely red emperor in there at the time. Beautiful fish, a shame really to eat it.
I only ever had a freshwater tank. The dwarf gouramis were the coolest...smart little fish, they figured out how to rinse crumbs of
food off the glass above the
water when it stuck there at din-din time. The archer fish was neat...I cut the barb and point off a dry fly and hung it over the tank; he would take potshots at it for hours, and hit it every time. Not sure if I'd risk an aquarium on a
boat...I suppose a gimbaled tank mounted down low would be safest, but too much trouble and potential for disaster. I've seen viewing
ports built in hulls but don't like the idea of such a weak point, cool as it is. Viewing tube and snorkel will likely be the limit. I wonder if one could colonise one's
hull with useful sealife rather than permitting random growth. Or find some lifeform that doesn't bring a drag penalty with it. Hmmm, I wonder if anyone ever tried mother-of-pearl as an antifoul coating?