What Is a ‘Boy Aquarium’? TikTok Slang Explained

It’s winter, which means the season of the “boy aquarium” is in full swing. With the advent of “Heated Rivalry” and the promise of Season 2 on the horizon, it’s flourishing more than ever before.

The term refers literally to an ice hockey arena, where groups of friends gather to watch (and admire) the players, a bit like you might do with like fish in a tank.

The idea of “boy aquarium” isn’t new to TikTok, but this year — between the phenomenon that is “Heated Rivalry,” the NHL season and the upcoming Winter Olympics — it’s become impossible to ignore.

People are taking to social media to document their “field trips” to the boy aquarium, aka a trip to an NHL game. According to SeatGeek, there has been a surge in NFL ticket sales attributed to “Heated Rivalry.”

The soundtracks of the videos vary, from the moody remix of t.a.T.u’s “All The Things She Said” by DJ Harrison (popularized by “Heated Rivalry”), to more playful choices like the kid’s song “Here Fishie Fishie.”

A Reddit user shared a picture of herself at a hockey arena with a shirt connecting her trip to the “boy aquarium” with “Heated Rivalry.”

Some of the captions point to intrigue around the players, with captions like “Can’t a girl just love aquariums?” or “Just what the doctor ordered!”

Others are about the experience itself. A person in a front-row seat at the arena wrote the caption, “The boy aquarium didn’t disappoint.”

The metaphor also extends to gameplay. While filming a fight between two plays, one TikToker captioned the video, “When someone puts two betas in the same tank at the boy aquarium.”

Some creators take it a step further, tapping on the glass to get the players’ attention, mimicking the (strongly discouraged) behavior of aquarium visitors trying to interact with marine life.

Official teams have joined in on the fun, too. The Florida Panthers posted a video to their TikTok account showing a female fan tapping on the glass while players crash into it during a game, with the text, “So we’re calling this the boy aquarium now?”

The University of Cincinnati’s men’s ice hockey team took a different approach, filming themselves actually visiting a real aquarium. “POV: the boy aquarium visits the actual aquarium while on a team trip,” the overlay text reads.

But perhaps the biggest sign that the trend has gone mainstream came from “Heated Rivalry” star Hudson Williams himself. During a recent appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,Williams shared his amusement at the phenomenon.

“I’ve heard the term ‘boy aquarium’ … and they just sit at the glass and they’re like, ‘the boy aquarium!’” he said with a chuckle.

Whether you’re there for the romance novel fantasy or just looking for a group outing with lots of laughs, the boy aquarium delivers. Just maybe don’t tap on the glass.