A little jellyfish boom these days. Aquariums such as the Enoshima Aquarium, Epson Aqua Park Shinagawa, and Kamogawa Sea World have all renewed their jellyfish exhibition facilities from last year to this year. At the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo Sky Tree Town, even an event such as the "Jellyfish Kaleidoscope Tunnel" produced by Mika Ninagawa is being held.


But why is jellyfish booming? The reason seems to be the healing effect of jellyfish. The website of the Kurage Promotion Association has the following description as a story heard from the keeper of the Enoshima Aquarium.

"On Saturday, a salaryman-style man sat down in front of a jellyfish aquarium and waited for a while before returning. Isn't he healed?"


A jellyfish that may have a healing effect. Anyway, you want to keep it in your room and be healed every day.


Belgium's The Darwin Sect has developed a jellyfish breeding kit, the Darwin Tank. Developed with the concept of a "living snow globe," the aquarium is more beautiful than previous home-use breeding kits, and it can be installed as a room interior.


The reason why the "Darwin Tank" aquarium is beautiful is its design and materials. A very thin acrylic material is used so that there is no boundary between the water in the aquarium and the outside air and it looks continuous. When I look at it vaguely, it looks like a jellyfish is floating in the room.


The most important thing in a jellyfish aquarium is how to filter the water inside. Jellyfish do not swim well, so when a stream of water is generated, it is swept away and sucked into the filtration device. How to control the water flow to prevent inhalation? This is the biggest challenge in making a jellyfish aquarium.


The Darwin Sect solved this problem with advice from Professor Jeroen van Beeck of the von Karman Institute for Fluid Mechanics. We have succeeded in achieving both a beautiful design and a function that prevents jellyfish from being sucked into the filtration device.


However, there is also a disappointing point in "Darwin Tank". Commercially available filtration equipment is used. The recommended filtration device by The Darwin Sect is JBL CristalProfi e401. This must be placed under the aquarium. A design that is not fashionable, although it cannot be seen if it is hidden. And it's a little too big. I would like you to develop a smaller, more beautiful design and quieter filtration device.




The Darwin Sect is currently conducting a campaign to recruit investors on the crowdfunding site kickstarter for the commercialization of "Darwin Tank". At the time of writing, you can get one set of "Darwin Tank" for 1,500 euros (about 200,000 yen). The shipping time is scheduled to be around March 2016. The commercial price after the campaign is expected to be around 1,800 euros (about 245,000 yen).


It costs money to be healed. It may be cheaper to invite your boyfriend or girlfriend to go to the aquarium. However, those who have such a partner may not need healing with jellyfish.