I'd like to conclude a fish act with the disappearance of the aquarium in which I've put all the fish, rather like the ending of many dove acts.

I can't find any references to such an effect. Any help?

You could make up your own way of doing it. By either using similar principals to various vanishing dove cages or making up your own. Alternatively you could finish by producing another aquarium. Hanklee's sells an aquarium production.

http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/pr......p;page=1

Methods such as those that vanish a rabbit in a box that sits on a tray may work. Mark Wilson's encyclopedia of magic has this effect and could probably be used to vanish an aquarium instead of a box. But you would have to come up with a way to seal the aquarium.

I think your best bet is to transform an effect that already exists to vanish something of similar size, and apply it to an aquarium.

Good luck mate.

James

This may help you in your quest. More than likely you will have to create an illusion of more water than is actually there for the vanish (milk pitcher type with a double wall and realistic fake fish all sealed and collapsable?)

Just a thought, I've given up on the idea of large fish productions or vanish's. I bought fishtastic, an aquarium that you can produce fish from no where.

After a month's time, it just doesn't work as advertised and has went no where. Let me know how your tank works out, this idea could lead to a marketed effect.

MM

production and manufacturing rights reserved.....it's good to dream

Oh yes = Fishtastic! What a con, and absolutely worthless. presumably you found, as I did, that the fish stubbornly remain in the secret compartment and decline to come up to make their appearance! Utterly and totally useless, among the worst examples of dealers' misleading ads. Pah!!

Very True!

I haven't been taken by a misleading ad before, I've always been cautious and lucky. I saw photo's of it on a large dealers website, and you are 100% right- it is a total waste of $100!

I will have SOME gratification when I cut into mine, because as we all know you can't get your money back after you've been 'hooked' by a dealer.

MM

I wish I would have seen this post a week ago. I just bought fishtastic and haven't tried it yet. I really thought about it before I bought it and asked the dealer if it was any good and they said it was Excellent. Oh well, hope I have better luck with mine.
I will keep you posted here so no one else gets suckered out of 100 bucks. Not to mention all the money I had to spend buying a fish tank and stuff to keep the fish in. Live and learn
Shawn D

Shawn,

I hope it will do well also. If not, I only wish I had sent this link to you sooner.....but I didn't see the negative review til just now...

I've worked with mine in all sorts of ways. IF the gimmik works correctly, the fish still refuse to do what you want them to. So its still an empyt tank!

I've tried large fish packed until they couldn't move, medium fish, small fish, some fish, less fish, and more fish.

I've tried pouring water into the tank at every angle, and even tried singing happy birthday songs waiting for something to happen while the tank was covered with a cloth.

NOPE, nothing!

Im thinking of cutting out the gimmick, adding some 'ledges' all the way around and trying to cover the fish with a black plastic wrap so it appears 'legit'.

Maybe it will work, if not Im out the money anyhow- whats a little time and destructive enjoyment?

MM

When I saw it on-line I thought the back was black.Then I thought mybe the fish are behind a black wall and the black wall rolled down.That would make the fish appear instantly.I wonder if I can constuct something like that out of it.

The fish are concealed beneath a sliding panel at the bottom of the tank. When the panel is slid back (noisily!) the fish, well...all stay at the bottom, out of sight, and don't suddenly fill the tank. And why would they?

I don't consider this exposure, by the way, as the thing just doesn't work! Well, the "thing" works fine, it's the pesky fish that don't do what the ad claims they do, rendering the whole lot a con.

PERHAPS if you structured your act so that you could wait maybe 10 minutes after covering them up then there's a chance that it would work, but that's about it!

A chance but not likely. I've done this, and the problem is that the fish swim in and out of the gimmick if they leave at all. You can see 1/2 of some fish in fact that are trying to make up their minds on what to do.

I think that the only way to accuratly do this effect is to either re-work the gimmick or build some type of 'rising floor' inside the gimmick forcing the fish out.

Easier said than done, but all that I can think of.

MM

Here is a tip you all might try. John Booth use to put a little salt in his goldfish bowl to make his fish active, published in his book. They don't like it and swim around to try to get away from it.

Of course it may not be good for the fish, but it is the effect you are after to work.

Salt won't hurt them either. They sell salt for fish and I use it in both my tanks. Of course don't use the salt with additives...

I thought eBay was where you could "return" any magic trick you thought was a dog. Just use the same advertising hype that got you to buy the trick and BINGO, you get your money back and you get rid of the trick! haha

Candidi, isn't that marine salt?

Matt

In trying to salvage a bad situation (and I've been there many a time), don't know if this will work - what it there was a water pump that forced water into the load chamber? Would this force the fish out when the lid is slid open?

Try adding a light sponge that is the same exact size as the load chamber, then gently pressing the fish into the spong and closing the sliding flap, as to not scrape the scales off the fish. The sponge will cause the load chamber to be non existant afterThe sponge would have to be very, very light though. I'm not sure how the fish will be able to handle it though. Also, I assume it will be harder to slide the gimmick back. So maybe you could replace it with a piece of thick metal or something really heavy. Or maybe you could add weight to the existing one somehow. I don't think that glueing a fishing weight or something to the top would obstruct to working of the gimmick. Tell me if anyone tries this out.
good luck -Jeff