Swimway's Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish

The hot weather is already starting to kick in around these parts , and with hot weather comes pool time. There is nothing more fun than a pool on a hot day for our 4 year old. However, even she can get bored at times with the usual pool toys. While shopping, I spotted a little fish swimming in a tank on display at a local toy store. I was thinking to myself how pretty the fish was and that our daughter may like a pet fish one day, but why was a fish in a toy store? As I looked behind the tank, on display were packages upon packages of these "toy" fishes called Rainbow Reef Fish. I could not believe this little fish was actually a toy (it looked that real). After reading the package I just knew I had to get this toy. So for 10.99, I brought home Swimway's Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish .

Swimway's Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish

The Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish is a toy fish that measures around 9 inches long, and is made of a rubber like texture.. There are a variety of different colors depending on the Rainbow Reef Fish that is purchased. Our particular fish has a bright yellow face and dark eyes. His body is multi colored with black, gray, and purple. It has little blue striped that line the sides of body. It comes with lots of fins that vary in color as well. The front fins are dark purple and yellow. The top and bottom fins are dark sort of grayish-black color with aqua blue outlining. Finally, the tail fin is pretty mixture of purple, yellow, and black. There are 4 tiny screws on the the fish's body and on each side (two in the front and two in the back).

The Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish operates on 2 AA batteries. Batteries are not included, but they are pretty simple to install. Just open up the battery compartment, place the batteries in, and make sure the compartment is securely fastened back. The directions advise to take care when securing the compartment back, in order not to ruin the fish. Once the batteries are installed, Mr. Fishie is ready to swim. Once placed in the water, the back fin immediately goes to work and it is swimming everywhere. The fish will swim continuously while in water, and will stop once out of the water and dry.

Our experience with Swimway's Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish

Once we got the fish home, my daughter couldn't wait to get started and honestly I couldn't either. After opening it up and installing the batteries, we headed straight to the pool. As soon the fish was placed in water, the back fin started flapping furiously and it headed straight toward the middle of the pool. My daughter then started clapping her hands in delight and saying, " He is alive Mom!" For some reason then, the fish kind of circled and went to bottom of the pool and hung out there for a while. It was still going non stop but he just didn't want to come back to the surface and swim (which he is supposed to do). Finally I swam under and brought him back to the shallow end, but he was not easy to catch! This little fish has a mind of his own and kept swimming away. I was beginning to get discouraged because my 4 year old cannot quite swim yet and I wanted the fish to stay near the surface so she could play with him better.

Once I retrieved it however, I brought it back and it decided to behave. It swam around on the surface for the most part, only occasionally taking the deep plunge. Aside from the swimming pool, we also tried the fish in the bath tub. While my daughter enjoyed the fish while taking a bath, in my opinion it just didn't have enough space to swim around. Because of that, it wasn't as fun to watch. But since my daughter enjoyed it so much, it has a permanent home in the bath tub as well as the pool.

The battery life is probably the biggest down side to this toy. It lasted only for a few days of continuous use and then the batteries went dead. I definitely suggest picking up a few extra packs of AA batteries, but they go fast.

Final Recommendation

Not only does my daughter enjoy the Rainbow Reef Pool/Pond Fish , but my husband and I enjoy it as well. My husband has commented several times on how life like the fish looks. We all have fun swimming with the fun or just watching the fish swim around by himself. It is truly an entertaining toy for everyone. My daughter has played with the fish quite roughly a few times and it seems to be durable enough. We've never had anything fall apart and the color has remained shiny and bright.

Since we are planning to get a whole school of these fish to swim around with, I absolutely recommend this product. As long as battery life is not a problem, then is truly and entertaining and enjoyable toy for all ages.