Feng Shui Aquarium: Fish Count, Placement and Species Choices

Why a live aquarium is the strongest remedy

An aquarium is the most complete feng shui object you can put in a house, because it brings together several elements at once and does it continuously rather than in a static arrangement.

Water. It is the element of wealth and of flow, and a tank of moving water is the most direct water remedy available — stronger than a fountain, because the volume of movement is continuous and the light playing on the surface does more work.

Movement. Fish moving through water is qi in motion in its clearest form. The classical description of a good aquarium is of a scene that is never static and never the same twice.

Life. A living thing in the house is a wood-element presence, and it changes the character of a room in a way that no manufactured object does.

Light and reflection. Water reflects light around a room, and the moving caustic patterns are described as energising the space. This is also why lighting matters so much for a tank, and why the lighting guide treats aquariums as a lighting issue as much as a water one.

And it works as a clock. An aquarium needs feeding, cleaning and attention, several times a week, indefinitely. That regular commitment is part of why the tradition treats it as the most effective wealth remedy: it keeps the household engaged with a corner of the home that would otherwise be forgotten.

The fish count

The number of fish is the part of the aquarium tradition that generates the most nonsense, so it is worth setting out what is actually consistent.

The classical rule. The most commonly cited count is eight, because eight is the strongest number for wealth in the number-virtue system. Where fewer are wanted, two and six are also considered harmonious, and both even numbers. Many practitioners recommend an even count generally, on the principle that even numbers represent pairs, which are considered stable in Chinese numerology.

What is avoided. Three and five are the numbers most often discouraged, along with most other odd numbers. Three is associated with the Zhen trigram and with friction; five is the centre number, which is neutral and considered less suitable for a directed remedy. Nine is the usual exception, since nine is an auspicious number associated with long fortune.

The practical problem with odd counts. Fish die. If you start with eight and one dies, you are at seven, which falls into the discouraged category. This is why many households keep the count in a compatible range and top it up, and why a pair of tanks with matching counts is a common solution for larger installations.

What actually matters more. The health and liveliness of the fish. One vigorously swimming goldfish in a clean, well-lit tank in the correct corner does more for a room than nine listless ones in a neglected tank. The count is the secondary consideration, not the first.

Placement, and the direction the fish swim

Placement decides whether the aquarium works at all, and there are four rules.

1. The wealth corner of the living room. The Di position, found from your bed, your front door or your personal element. This is the primary recommendation, and it is where the wealth corner finder earns its place.
2. A north-facing position. The compass equivalent of the wealth corner, and the second-best placement. A tank on a north wall in a living or dining room works well.
3. Never on the front door axis. A tank you can see straight through from the front door draws the wealth of the house out through the entrance. Walk in from your door and check what you can see.
4. Never in the centre, a bathroom, a bedroom or a kitchen. The centre is where heavy and active objects do not belong; a bathroom compounds the drainage problem; a bedroom is for rest; a kitchen puts water next to heat, the classic elemental conflict.

The direction the fish swim

This is the detail most often missed, and it is easy to verify rather than take on trust. The fish should swim inwards, towards the middle of the room and towards the people in it. Watch where they spend their time: fish pressing constantly against the glass on the door side are swimming outwards. Rotating the tank 180 degrees, or turning the filter inflow, reverses this. The reasoning matches the fountain rule — the current should carry wealth in, not out.

The related point is the drain and filter. Where the outflow or overflow pipe points defines the direction of the current, so turning the outflow inward is part of the setup.

Which fish to choose

Species choice in feng shui is largely a question of element and behaviour, and there are practical considerations that matter more than the symbolism.

• Koi. The most traditional choice, and the strongest. Koi are associated with persistence, longevity and prosperity, and are a fire element in the classical classification. They need considerable space and good water quality, so a pond rather than a tank is the usual setting.
• Goldfish. The standard household choice, easy to keep and inexpensive, associated with abundance. Their drawback is the same as for koi: heavy waste relative to size, so they need a filter and regular water changes.
• Arowana. Held in high regard as a fish associated with prosperity and with warding off misfortune, and among the few said to guard a house as well as attract money. They are demanding: large, aggressive and prone to jumping, so they need a long tank with a tight lid.
• Discus and angelfish. Calm and associated with harmony. Discus are described as the fish of lasting fortune, and they need warm, stable, soft water.
• Clown loach. Practical as well as symbolic: they eat snail eggs, so they are useful in a planted tank. They are sociable and should be kept in a group of five or more, which fits the number guidance neatly.

Bottom-dwellers and companions

Corydoras, shrimp and snails add movement at a different level and a different pace, which the tradition describes as adding variety and completeness to the scene. Keep them in proportion to the filtration.

Tank size, shape and light

Size. The practical rule of thumb is that the tank should be roughly one per cent of the room’s floor area. A living room of 20 square metres wants a tank of around 200 litres or more; a smaller room wants a smaller tank, and a tiny tank in a large room looks like an afterthought. The classical logic is that a tank too small for the space does not hold the space, and the same principle applies to any oversized object in a small room. There is also a hard practical limit: most flats and many Victorian floors have a load limit, and a 200-litre tank weighs close to 200kg plus the stand, so check before you buy.

Shape. Round and oval tanks are common in the tradition and read as metal and water. Rectangular tanks are more practical: more volume for the footprint, better filtration, no distortion at the corners and cleaner glass. A spherical bowl is a poor choice for anything but a very small number of coldwater fish.

Light. A tank needs light for the fish and because the moving light is part of the effect. The guidance against a bright light behind the tank is practical rather than mystical: it silhouettes the fish and hides the movement. Light it from the front or the side, keep the brightest source above or in front, and use a hood to control glare. A dark tank in a dark corner does very little.

The stand. A tank needs a level, load-bearing stand. On the floor it is hard to see into and does not sit well in the wealth corner, where a slightly raised position reads better.

Looking after it, and what kills tanks

An aquarium that dies is worse than none, because it turns a wealth remedy into a liability. Here is what keeps one alive.

• Cycle the tank first. A new tank needs several weeks of bacteria establishing in the filter before fish go in. Adding fish on day one is the commonest cause of a new aquarium failing.
• Match the fish to the tank. Check the adult size and minimum volume for the species, and how many you can keep. Overstocking causes most cloudy, smelly tanks.
• Filter properly. A filter rated above the tank volume, with the outflow pointing inwards, and cleaned rather than rinsed in tap water, which kills the bacteria.
• Change water regularly. A 10 to 20 per cent weekly change with dechlorinated water keeps it clear. Complete changes stress both fish and bacteria.
• Watch temperature and light cycles. Keep the temperature stable and give the tank 8 to 10 hours of light a day.
• Keep the glass clean. Algae on the viewing panel defeats the purpose, which is seeing the movement.

The relationship between a tank and a fountain in the same home is worth thinking about, and the water fountain guide covers the rules for both. Where the tank sits in the room is covered in the wealth corner guide, and the light falling on the glass matters as much as the water itself.

When a fish dies

Remove the body and either rehome the fish if it is healthy enough or replace it. The tradition treats a dead fish as an inauspicious sign rather than a crisis, and the practical response is the same: replace the count and keep the water clean.