Aquarium Screensaver

What it does

Fish drift across a tank of blue water — some close and large, some far off, small and faded by the water between — while bubbles rise and plants sway at the bottom. Press Start, or Go Fullscreen to fill the screen. Until you do, it is a still picture of the same tank.

A fish that swims out of one side comes back later from the other, at a new depth. The number of fish suits the screen: a few on a phone, more on a large monitor, never a crowd.

Drawn, not filmed

Every fish, bubble and plant is drawn by your browser as you watch. There is no video and no photograph, so nothing is downloaded and there is no loop to notice: the tank never repeats itself exactly. The fish are simple shapes on purpose. They are not meant to be any real species, and a page pretending to be a real aquarium would need a large video file to do it badly.

What it is not

It is something to look at. This page makes no claim that watching it will relax you, lower your stress or help you sleep; whether it is pleasant company is for you to judge. It is also silent. If you would like the sound of water while it runs, there is Ocean Waves in another tab.

Leaving it running

Keep screen awake is off until you switch it on. If you do, it is held only while the tank is moving, released when you press Stop, hide the tab or leave, and the status line says whether your browser agreed. A screen left on uses power; for a screen that is simply dark, the Black Screen is the better choice.