Blocks & Decoration Aquariums, and what you might be able to do with them

[4PointDragon]

Things to note: i suck at spriting, and cannot sprite any of this. just gotta imagine it in your head
also my first idea. if you have any feedback, please share!

Aquariums.
we all know that terrariums are a fun way to collect the passive fauna in the game, and great for decoration around your brand new castle, but there's no method for Water-based creatures to be used as decorations aside from the fishbowl.
this caused me to ask a question?

why aren't there aquariums?

After a bit of planning, i came up with a few ideas on size/crafting/etc.



Crafting:
One Terrarium
5 Water Bottle

Filled Aquarium:
1 Valid Fish
Aquarium

Size: 6 Tall, 10 Wide. (Some fish use 4x6 aquariums instead)
the smallest fish in the game is a goldfish, which is already a third the player's height, tail to head. Big fish need big tanks.

Variants (All fish that can be put into aquariums):
Crystal Serpent
Toxikarp
Bladetongue
Swordfish (Obsidian Variant Included)
Sawtooth Shark
Reaver Shark
Rockfish (Purple Clubberfish Included)

All fish after this point have 4x6 tanks.
Bombfish
Frost Daggerfish
Honeyfin

Reason i built them this way:
After watching JZBoy's Stickmen VS Plantera animation (go check it out, it's good) i actually realised that Bladetongues, and all fish weapons/tools, are still living things.
I then found a fascination with them, and realized i kinda wished we could see them swimming around in actual terraria, but them being mobs didn't feel right if you could get them as tools. Thus, i chose to make them able to be put in Aquariums.

Animations:
Crystal Serpent: Swims in a Infinity Pattern around the tank, stops in top-right corner, fires a blast to bottom-left, then continues swimming
Toxikarp: Paces at the bottom of the tank, stopping at bottom-left, firing a bubble to bottom right; then arcing to top-right. continues pacing afterward.
Bladetongue: Does laps around tank, occasionally stopping Middle-Left facing middle to quickly stick it's tongue out, waits for a second, then pulls back in. continues swimming after.
Swordfish/Obsidian Swordfish: Paces Middle of tank, occasionally stopping on a side, then lunging to the other side. continues swimming after.
Sawtooth Shark: Swims around in a infinity pattern, occasionally stopping in the middle to spin it's teeth. continues swimming after.
Reaver Shark:Swims in circles around the tank, occasionally stopping and tapping it's "pickaxe blade" to the bottom of the tank. continues swimming after.
Rockfish/Purple Clubberfish: Swims around the edge of the tank, occasionally ramming into the bottom of the tank. continues swimming after.
Bombfish: Swims around edge of tank, occasionally accidentally getting stuck on the right wall.
Frost Daggerfish: Paces around middle of tank, occasionally lunging (start at right wall) to the left wall of tank.
Honeyfin: Swims around in a Flattened 8 Pattern.

Why i chose these animations:
I chose these animations not only because they looked good, but also to show what each type of fish did when used as a tool, and thus probably what they did as self-defense.

Things to note:
Crystal Serpent, Toxikarp, Bladetongue, Frost Daggerfish and Purple Clubberfish all swim in their respective biome's waters, despite current biome/fountain.
Obsidian Swordfish swims in lava, despite no lava being in the crafting recipe.
Honeyfin swims in honey, despite no honey being in crafting recipe.
the Bladetongue's body is just the handle, the blade is the tongue. in size comparison, it might only be the size of a goldfish.

 

[Lord Garak]

Excellent

 

[BrusselSprouts693]

I might want to have these break as the fish and an aquarium, as any loss of a crystal serpent hurts.

 

[4PointDragon]

I might want to have these break as the fish and an aquarium, as any loss of a crystal serpent hurts.

can fully agree with this as a thing, but i mainly added them for the ability to "retire" them once you get better stuff or if you get a 2nd one.

 

[Bry]

I... totally did not realize the Bladetongue was a living fish. Man, do I feel dumb now.
Anything related to fishtanks warrants my immediate support. Especially this thread.

 

[Mental Mouse]

I don't think the fish should be recoverable, as the captives of terrariums and goldfish/jellyfish bowls aren't. Don't stick your crystal serpent into an aquarium until you're done with it, or have another one.

I do think that you should be able to put ordinary catches and even quest fish into aquariums. (I suspect the devs will hate that idea, so many animations!)

 

[Fahad]

Yeah thats a cool idea

 

[Mental Mouse]

BTW: I've suggested elsewhere that all the cages and jars should have a tooltip with their captive's name. Naturally, these aquariums would fall under that too.