iPond Combines Portable Speaker With a Fish Tank, Enrages Animal Rights Activists
Pet stores in Australia have been selling a portable speaker with a built-in fish tank, designed to hook up to portable audio devices like the iPod. The cleverly named iPond, which is currently drawing fire from animal rights groups for not providing adequate space for a fish to live.
Melbourne Aquarium officials say the Betta fish sold with the iPond need a 10 liter tank to swim and get a proper amount of oxygen, but the iPond's tank is only 650 milliliters. Acoustics experts also say sound from the speaker, which is built into the bottom of the iPond, could transfer into fish tank, bringing up another potential hazard.
But even if Aussies are ambivalent to bleeding heart animal rights activists, they should still avoid the iPond because it looks like a cheap piece of garbage selling for an inflated $70. [Sydney Morning Herald]
View: AU Comments (3) | US Comments (54 comments)
This is so disgusting! Is it real? Surely it's a spoof story. If it is real why has the RSPCA not demanded these people be prosecuted for cruelty - or is it "OK" if there is a buck to be made out of ill-treating animals, like battery hens.
Well actualy you can go to almost any pet store these days and buy a betta in a tank smaller than that heh i agree its not somthing id do but the fact is these fish CAN and DO live in small spaces.
They are a labyrinth fish, and that basicaly means they can breath air and live in crappy water. In the 'wild' they live in drainage ditches and rice paddys that often almost dry up in the dry months... They are also agressive and will kill eachother if with others in a bigger tank ... Not saying i agree ... just some background info on the fish.
I'd be more worried about the vibrations from the speaker than the space.
Betta fish always seem to get the short end of the stick or in this case the shallow end of the pond! This is a bad product for betta fish but it just seems like a bad product all around!
I saw those on a WalMart shelf here in Canada, for considerably less than 60 bucks. They were right next to Betta Lava Lamps, that place the fish in an even more narrow column of water.
ElGouldo
P.E.T.A = People.Eating.Tasty.Animals...
But yea.. it kind of sucks if was stuck in a space bearly long enough to twist my body..
DJJS
yeah, this is a bad idea. for those saying that bettas dont need large tanks, its recommended that they have at least a 2.5gal tank, with a heater. link. this is cruel.
glass
don't worry the fish will not live long anyway.
I wonder if the creator allowed for feeding and cleaning
ptjims
this is torture for the fish
whoever made this thing is an idiot
RastaSega
what if the speaker is on it's back or front? that'd leave like what looks to be less than half an inch which wouldn't be nearly enough for the fish to float upright...i'm no activist and i'm not a member of PETA but this seems pretty messed up
this is along the same idea of having goldfish in a pair of platform shoes.
RedBeard
@ipodee: Irrelevant how?
(I'll side with POS)
strider_mt2k
@RFAULDER: You can hold a human in a 1m x 1m x 1m cell for decades as well ... doesn't mean it's a humane thing to do.
tobtoh
@smokyburnout: Given the tank's size, I would think that perhaps "Take Me To The River" would be the fish's choice...
strangepork
piece of irrelevant shit
ipodee
@AustinMiniMan:
GENIUS!
Yeebles
goto your local exotic aquarium supply store
you will usually see fish in small containers because they are aggressive and moody - and you can't have more than one fighting fish in a tank usually
the tank is about the same size if not bigger than the normal glass bowl they're sold with.
why would they bother about it now?
because they're getting away with selling it for so much?
what about the introductory goldfish plus bowl?
if you're upset about this, then you better head on down to an aquarium supply store and ask them lots of questions, or at least read online.
skulldriveshaft
Looks more like a uPond ala uTorrent.
ninjatales
@mikerm19: Sounds like one kinky evening to me.
@Kaiser-Machead: Serious business.
Scooter
@jbhitter24: I'll personally beat the living shit out of anyone I see doing some fucked up crap like that.
Kaiser-Machead
@mpriorfan22: Douche chill. I love the arbitrary assigning of rule for Giz contributors.
And yeah... what sort of twat would see this and think "great idea".
The sorta dicks who throw garbage out their car windows and laugh at the homeless, I'd imagine.
tokiwartooth
The cleverly named iPond, which is currently drawing fire from animal rights groups for not providing adequate space for a fish to live.
not a complete sentence you know. us users are allowed to use fragments. you arent.
mpriorfan22
@jbhitter24: That was the best site ever! Did they bring it back?
I thought it was pulled along with manbeef, the next best site. To think I wanted to order both. I hate cats and people, but I kinda like fish, and that looks like a really small tank for that betta. Is that picture representative of what is being sold? It's kinda sad.
I'd really rather see less innocent things live in something like that. I dunno white collar criminals, soldiers, err, most americans, but not the poor fish. That is just wrong.
capitalass
A betta can live in a tiny container - they breath air and often live in tiny muddy streams and ponds next to rice paddies in nature - but they shouldn't be forced to.
NeoPoliticus
As if this is any worse than the carnival games where you have to get a plastic ball into the beta cup to win it.
Darkest Daze
that really horrible...sound is amplified inside that damn thing too...and wow way 2 put the fish in a prison -_- dumb idea by dumb ppl
Arsenal6
bonsai kittens!
[www.shorty.com]
jbhitter24
If I had a million dollars
(If I had a million dollars)
I'd buy you you an iFish
(but not a real iFish, that's cruel.)
Haven't you always really wanted a monkey?
strider_mt2k
@strobefx:
Are you sure? Remember the platform shoes or the boots with heels with a fish tank?
poisonfist
@M. Schlabach: Wise words.
Now excuse me, I have a fresh batch of nutrient solution and a fresh towel, so it's time for some corner dipping. (for a rainy day)
strider_mt2k
I would suggest pulling this thing off the shelves. Not because we give a rip about the bettas, but rather as everyone who has ever watched, HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy, knows, the bettas and the dolphins rule.
Lets not piss them off.
M. Schlabach
Hahaha, thanks AUSTINMINIMAN. For the record, when I was a newt all I wanted was to live in a tiny tank with a speaker underneath. I don't think the hopes and dreams of a betta are all that different.
What?
I got better.
madcow3417
@Kaiser-Machead: Oh, and let's not forget my personal favorite, fast ammonia build-up because the fish waste is being dumped into such a small amount of water.
Kaiser-Machead
What a lousy piece of shit. The only reason bettas even last this long in those idiotically tiny enclosures is because labyrinths can survive in poorly oxygenated water, so they basically take deep breaths of the atmosphere anyway. But this doesn't stop them from getting stressed because their tank is too tight.
Kaiser-Machead
Fish Fight!
[www.youtube.com]
BadOmens
When the fish eventually dies, then what?
Imaria
Wow finally something to do with my feces-brown Zune!
Palestina
"Fish don'ts got no good metal to listen too"
[www.youtube.com]
I would have my fish listen to this.
Trowble
They definitely should have done more Betta Testing.
AustinMiniMan
bettas are sold in little 10 ounce cups. if they need 10 litres to live, why arent they stocked in 10 litre tanks?
The argument I would have is that the noise going thru the water would be pretty irritating to the fish, like tapping on the glass nonstop.
irfan
I've seen a photo of one and it is actually much larger than the photo seen here would suggest (the tank is as deep as it is wide). It's still a rotten, rotten idea though -- the fish has no room to swim, it just has enough space to turn around. I think it probably is cruel to the fish.
Also it looks like a Zune, and who wants THAT?
clevershark
I almost never side with animal-rights protection agencies, but they're absolutely right here. This is quite possibly the stupidest idea ever.
strobefx
Just play music the fish likes. Problem solved.
itwasthedog
nothing against the killers, but wouldn't, say, "go into the water" be a more fitting song for this?
smokyburnout
@klaybc: nope, fish is right side up.
itwasthedog
How about one for Sea Monkeys?
omg-ponies
I'm not an activist, but I do agree, that's not right at all. We should stick those idiots in a container where they can't turn around and put a vibrator underneath them.
mikerm19
Lousy Speaker + Lousy Fish Container = $60
fusiongt
you can put a betta fish in a waterglass and it'll be fine for years. This is just needless whining. It looks neat.
rfaulder
Case in point: isn't the fish shown in the photo belly-up?
klaybc
Bettas do not live in puddles as pet store owners would tell you. They live in large ponds and flooded rice patties. If the fish was not meant to swim distances it wouldn't have fins.
Please, if you have a betta give it a decent sized tank with some plants and rocks so it can enjoy life. And also realize that a one betta mixed in a large tank with several other fish is ok. They only attack each other.
Mark 2000
@Mark 2000: Bettas are actually a lot weaker than other tropical fish, namely cyprinids like barbs and "sharks", and larger tetras, so they can't really attack much anyway.
Kaiser-Machead
Cry me a river... but i have seen this fishies on the pet store on a plastic cup with water (LOTS OF EM) and said pet store is located inside a supermarket. When there's a promotion or a sale, they bring in the really big speakers. Needless to say, the plastic cup fishies enjoy the ride of their lives as their glasses jump a la "Jurassic Park" with such rhythms as {insert Reggaetton name here}.
But wait, they are just fishes. Come to think of it, I'm more worried at the reports that the local children hospital is lacking antibiotics, the special thread they need to suture larynx surgeries and supplies to perform heart surgeries on kids (i will not use the word poor, i will use pauper). Let em fishies enjoy their iPond tunes (chances are that they will go off with a smile) while we take our attention to somethings that in the end are more important. (And before you ask, yes, i did my part and donated).
whiskey
This is horrible! Nobody should be causing cruelty to animals!!!
Mmmmmm. This fish sandwich is awesome.
gundamsdontkillpeople
Poor fish! It can't even turn around! Wait, do fish turn around or just swim the other way.
I know when I think Ipod I think fish, so eventhough this is a genius idea, it is lacking for the poor fishy man...
Shabba
I'd love to know how many people bitching about this completely ignore the human suffering that goes on around them every day.
Craig
im kinda an animal-rights hater, but i dont think that fish can even move in there, its kinda dumb
superjap
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