When it comes to pets in our home we are low-maintenance parents and their dad is a computer tech guy so sometimes our kids get electronic pets in lieu of the real thing because they don’t take as much work.  Our daughter has wanted a fish for a while and though fish are rather low maintenance we decided to buy her some electronic fish (to go along with her electronic butterfly in a jar –which I really recommend and has been a big hit!).  We got it on amazon here: Magic Fishbowl.

How the Magic Fishbowl Works

Magic FishBowl by Fascinations

This toy is simple but I always wonder how things like this work and made assumptions in my head but the other day I decided to find out for sure.  Here it is in operation:

My assumptions were that there was at least one magnet in the base that was moving around inside–causing the fish to move around in the water.  It is a little noisy in that you hear something running inside so I wondered why it was so noisy.  Yesterday at lunch (when my daughter was gone with mom) I tore it apart.

Step 1: Remove the 4 recessed phillips head screws on the bottom of the base.

You don’t need to remove the battery cover or even take out the battery for that matter.

Bottom of the Magic Fishbowl FASCINATIONSCD07122

Step 2: Remove the plastic top of the base.

Now you get to see the guts:

There is a small motor, three pulleys connected by rubber bands, and a ceramic magnet mounted on a rotating platform.  Pretty simple.  Here it is in operation with the base’s cover removed: