Aquarium Screensaver
Aquarium is a free, in-browser screensaver of a calm fish tank: fish glide across sunlit water in depth layers while bubbles rise and strands of kelp sway. It's a quiet, always-on scene with nothing to download. Open the page to fill the screen with water, and press ESC to exit.
How the Aquarium screensaver works
Each fish is given a random depth between near and far. That depth sets its size, swim speed, and opacity, so closer fish are bigger, faster, and solid while distant ones are smaller and fade into the water — a parallax effect that gives the tank a sense of layers. The fish are drawn back-to-front so near ones overlap the far ones.
The fish themselves are full-color emoji glyphs (tropical fish, sharks, dolphins, even an octopus). Each one swims horizontally, gently bobs up and down on a sine wave, and tilts with a subtle wobble; when it reaches the edge it turns around and the glyph is flipped to face the new direction. Fish sets how many share the tank and Speed scales their pace.
The water is a vertical gradient in your chosen Water color, lighter at the top, with three faint angled light shafts drifting slowly to suggest sun through the surface. When Kelp is on, several strands rise from the bottom and ripple side to side on a sine wave.
When Bubbles is on, a couple dozen small bubbles rise from the depths, swaying as they go, and respawn at the bottom once they reach the surface — a constant gentle shimmer over the whole scene.
A worked example
With the defaults — Fish 12, Bubbles on, Kelp on, the deep-blue Water color, Speed 4 — a dozen fish of varying sizes cruise across the tank, the bigger close ones passing in front of smaller hazy ones, while bubbles drift upward and kelp sways at the bottom under slow light shafts. Push Fish to 30 for a crowded reef, or drop Speed to 1 for an extra-lazy, calming tank.
Settings & tips
- Raise the Fish count for a busy reef or lower it for a sparse, meditative tank with just a few swimmers.
- Change the Water color to set the mood — deep blue for open ocean, a greener tone for a planted freshwater look.
- Turn off Bubbles or Kelp if you want a cleaner, more minimal scene, or lower Speed for a slower, calmer drift.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Aquarium screensaver free?
- Yes. It runs free in your browser with nothing to download or install. Open the page and the tank fills with fish.
- How do I exit the aquarium screensaver?
- Press the ESC key to close it. Moving the mouse or clicking also returns you to the page.
- Can I add more fish?
- Yes. The Fish slider sets how many fish are in the tank, from a single swimmer up to a crowded reef of thirty.
- Why do some fish look bigger and clearer than others?
- Fish are placed at different depths. Closer fish are drawn larger, faster, and more solid, while distant ones are smaller and faded, creating a parallax sense of depth.
- Can I turn off the bubbles or kelp?
- Yes. Bubbles and kelp each have their own toggle, so you can switch either off for a cleaner, more minimal tank.