I have completed the boat and integrated it into the fish tank. The boat is held in the center of the tank with fishing line. The line is tight enough to ensure the boat stays about in the center of the tank, but has enough slack to let the boat move with the “waves” of the tank. These waves are generated by putting the filter/pump outlet close to the surface of the water in the tank. My main focus now is to incorporate the aesthetic: creating backdrops for the tank and hiding all the mechanical components. The tank (not mine) is shown above: it is like mine in that there is alot going on inside the tank, but every side is clear. This does not convey any aesthetic I am going for, and it makes the scene seem like an island, an isolated entity not tied into anything else.  I hope to print out paper backdrops using the plotter in the ITLL to give the tank a specific “scene”, and make the waves in the tank move accordingly. For example, a stormy scene will have very rough water, but a doldrum scene will be a still tank.

Image from: http://3d-pictures.picphotos.net/fish-aquarium-backgrounds-fish-for-aquariums/fishforaquariums.info*wp-content*uploads*2013*12*fish-aquarium-backgrounds.jpg