Aquarium instead of cartoons?

I may be Pollyanna level of too optimistic here, but I remember this photo of three kids watching an aquarium, captioned: "let's watch how fish eats!". It's a naturalistic setup made by one of those fancy aquarium designers. Mine is not as much designed for looks, but it also hypnotized friends' kids for a few moments; something only cartoons could do.
I told about this to another friend, and she said that for it to be attractive for kids, I would have to add all those shiny decorations, such as underwater castles, colourful glass balls, lights etc.
As if a chubby piebald "goldfish" and some guppies weren't enough?
And maybe the humming sound of filter can work like those "white noise" gadgets?

There are toys - tubes with slowly drifting glitter, advertised for children with ADHD, which seem to have a similar effect to an aquarium or a DIY kaleidoscope. I like the idea of using nature to entertain children, so they have those images in their minds.

Maybe the guy from the "Can I call you you back, I'm just watching a live stream" meme is an adult version of such kids :D

I love your tank. Very nice looking. We have a fish tank as well. We had a really big one but it now has a snake and frog in it, which are also entertaining to watch. I agree that sparkly tank decor is not necessary. The fish are the main attraction.

We were/are careful about our kids and screentime.  But, when we lived in the apartment, we used to prop our firstborn up on her boppy pillow and she would watch the fish (livebearers - platies and guppies).  She found it very engaging.