Fish Tank in Feng Shui
Nowadays, it
is very common that people like to keep a fish tank in the house for hobby and
decoration purposes. However, under the feng shui perspective, having a fish
tank at the wrong places in the house may cause problems and misfortune to the
household.
In feng
shui, keeping a fish tank/aquarium at the house or the office is an effective
way to enhance money and career luck. In some cases, it is used to counteract
the sha chi. In my professional
practice, I will use the activities from the running water and fish to activate
the auspicious chi and dissipate the sha chi. In this case, it is not proper
to put a cover on top of the fish tank!
In order to
ensure that the feng shui fish tank will work properly, the first and foremost
condition is it must place at the correct sector of the house. Basically there
are two methods to determine the proper location of the fish tank. The first
one is based on the “luan tao” feng shui which is
referring to the layout of the house and the second one is the “li
chi” feng shui which is based on the calculation of the eight sectors
of the ba gua; namely East, South, West, North, SE, SW, NW and NE.
1. “Luan
tao” or Form feng shui
- Based on this type of feng shui, the front is
referred as the “ming tang” [明堂], if
there is water at the front, this is referred as “ming tang water” [明堂水]
which denotes good money luck. Therefore, fish tank/aquarium will represents
water. If there is a fish tank beside the front entrance, it will bring good
money luck. Now people will ask what if the entrance door is not in the middle
front of the house, it is either to the left or right of the front of the
house. How can we know which is the proper placement of the fish tank?
Before I go
any further, I will like to introduce the Four Celestial Animals concept [四靈山訣] in “luan tao” feng shui. First, let assume we are standing at the
center of the house facing the entrance door and divide the house into five (5)
sectors:
- Front Red
Phoenix [朱雀] (wall, window and entrance door)
- Rear Black
Tortoise [玄武] (wall, window at the back)
- Left Green
Dragon [青龍] (wall, window at the left side)
- Right
White Tiger [白虎] (wall, window at the right side)
- Middle Gou Chen [勾陳] (the sector
that we are standing)
So, since
the Front Red Phoenix is the “ming tang”,
therefore it is auspicious to place a fish tank in this sector. If the door is
opened to the right or left front of the house, then the fish tank can be
placed at the middle front wall of the house. However, if the entrance door is
located at the middle front of the house, the fish tank shall be placed to the
left side which is the auspicious Green Dragon side, or we can place the fish
tank near to the entrance door but set back a few feet from the entrance door.
2. “Li
chi” feng shui
There are
different ways to determine the auspicious placement of the fish tank in this
type of feng shui, but here I will use the Xuan
Kong Large Gua [玄空大卦].In this method, it
must first conform to the Law of movement and Yin Yang [動靜陰陽法]
which states that the fish tank must place at the facing sector and not the
sitting sector of the house. Secondly, it must coordinate with the Xuan Kong
Luck Period [玄空氣運].In
this way, the fish tank can only be placed at the “ling shen” [零神] and “zhao shen” [照神]
sector which are auspicious for money luck. I will list the “ling shen” and “zhao shen” sector form Period One to Period Nine for reader’s easy
reference:
Luck
Period “ling
shen” “zhao
shen” “zheng shen”
Period One
(1864-1883) South NW North
Period Two
(1884-1903) NE West SW
Period Three
(1904-1923) West NE East
Period Four
(1924-1943) NW South SE
Period Five
(1944-1963) First 10 years “ling shen” at NW, last 10 years “ling shen” at SE
Period Six
(1964-1983) SE North NW
Period Seven
(1984-2003) East SW West
Period Eight
(2004-2023) SW East NE
Period Nine
(2024-2043) North SE South
Period One
(2044-2063) South NW North
Note: Under this type of feng shui, “zheng shen” is the auspicious direction
and it must avoid water as this is referred as “mountain dragon shen, going down into water” [山上龍神下了水]
This will
cause poor health, loss of money and job. On the other hand, “ling shen” is the inauspicious
direction, it is good to have water as this will enhance money luck [水排龍點位装,
積粟萬餘倉].
As to the “zhao shen” direction,
since this is also referred as the inauspicious direction, therefore it is also
auspicious to have water which will also bring good money luck. Based on the
above, we can see that the “ling shen”
and “zhao shen” are the two sectors
which are suitable for placing the fish tank/aquarium in the house based on the
current Luck Period. For example, we are now in Period Eight, therefore the SW
and East are the two auspicious locations for fish tank based on the above.
Guidelines for placing feng shui fish tank in
the house:
1. An
empty fish tank is not appropriate to put in the “peach blossom” location in
the house, because this will cause extramarital affairs.
2. It
is not appropriate to place the fish tank below the altar or above the feng
shui deities.
3. It
is not appropriate to place the fish tank above our head, this is referred as “shower head sha” [淋頭煞].
4. It
is not auspicious to place the fish tank on top of the bed as stated above,
this will cause loss of fortune and metal fatigue and head ache.
5. It
is not auspicious to place the fish tank at the end of the bed. This is
referred as “cut feet water sha” or [割腳水煞]. This will cause bad fortune,
exhausted, hard working life and the difficulty of gaining wealth.
6. The water in the fish tank must
keep clean all the time, because clean water is referred as “beautiful water” [秀水] which will improve the wealth
luck.
7. If you want to enhance the money
luck for the whole family, you can place the fish tank at the “ling shen” and “zhao shen” location in the house or the “big tai chi”.
8. If
you want to enhance the money luck only for yourself, you can place the fish
tank at the “ling shen” and “zhao shen” location of the bedroom or
the “small tai chi”. Just make sure
that the fish tank is not too close to the bed; it is best to have a screen to
separate the fish tank and the bed.
9. Of
course, the fish tank can also place in the “wealth sector” [財位] of
the house, this will also help to enhance the money luck.
How to determine the appropriate number of
fish in the tank based on the Lo Shu Square:
1
fish – associated with the auspicious 1 white tan lang star [貪狼星]
which will bring money luck but also peach blossom luck.
2
fish – associated with the inauspicious 2
black jumen star [巨門星]
which is not good for money luck and will easy causing conflicts and poor
health.
3
fish – associated with the inauspicious 3
jade lu cun star [祿存星]
which is not good for money luck and gossips.
4
fish – associated with the auspicious 4
green wen qu star [文曲星]
which will bring scholar luck
5
fish – associated with the inauspicious 5
yellow lian zhen star [廉貞星]
which is not good for money luck and will cause serious misfortune.
6
fish – associated with the auspicious 6
white wu qu star [武曲星]
which will enhance the money luck.
7 fish
– associated with the inauspicious 7
red po jun star [破軍星]
which will cause poor money luck and loss of money
8
fish – associated with the auspicious 8
white zuo fu star [左輔星]
which will bring good money luck especially from real estates.
9
fish – associated with the auspicious 9
purple you bi star [右弼星]
which will bring good money luck and increase status and authority.
NOTE:
- It is not auspicious to have two (2) fish in the tank because
this will cause poor health to the household.
- It is not auspicious to have three (3) fish in the tank because
this will cause gossips and conflicts.
- It is not auspicious to have five (5) fish in the tank because
this will cause accidents and bad luck.
- It is not auspicious to have seven (7) fish in the tank because
this will cause loss of fortune especially for business operation.
Colour of feng shui fish:
- For fish in either gold or white color are associated with the
metal element. Since metal generates water, they are most effective in
enhancing the money luck.
- For fish in black, blue or grey color, they are associated with
the water element. They are also very
effective in enhancing the money luck.
- For fish in red, purple or orange color, they are associated
with the fire element. Since fire drains water, therefore, their effect of
enhancing the money luck is weak.
- For fish in yellow or brown, they are associated with the earth
element. Since earth destroys water, it effect of enhancing the money luck is
very weak.
Lastly, when we are using fish tank as feng shui remedies in our
house, we also have to consider the shape of the fish tank/aquarium. The
general guideline is the shape of the fish tank must be beneficial to enhance
the water element of the fish tank:
- Circular or round fish tank – this is associated with the metal
element in feng shui, since metal carries water, it is auspicious.
- Rectangular fish tank – this is associated with the wood element
in feng shui, this type of fish tan is also appropriate to use.
- Irregular shaped fish tank – this is associated with the water
element, which is also good to use.
- Triangular shaped fish tank – this is associated with the fire
element which will conflict with the water element, therefore, this type of
fish tank is not auspicious.
- Square shaped fish tank – this is associated with the earth
element. Since earth destroys water, it is good to avoid this type of fish tank
in feng shui.
