Alien Containment (Subnautica) (2024)

This article is about the Alien Containment in Subnautica. Click here for information on this subject in Below Zero.

This article is about the Alien Containment. You may be looking for the Aquarium.

Alien Containment (Subnautica) (1)

Alien Containment (Subnautica) (2)

Aquariums provide an ideal opportunity to study alien fauna up close. Select carefully which lifeforms you bring onboard - they may also be studying you.

― PDA, Dialogue

Alien Containment (Subnautica) (3)


The Alien Containment is a large, cylindrical aquarium which can be filled with Fauna that have been caught or hatched by the player. It is built using the Habitat Builder only inside the center of a Multipurpose Room or a Large Room. The blueprint can be retrieved via a data box.

Spoiler alert: The following section contains story related material.

An Alien Containment can be found and scanned in the Deep Grand Reef Degasi Base.

Contents

  • 1 Building
  • 2 Uses
  • 3 Useful Fauna
  • 4 Fauna Behavior
  • 5 Plantable Flora
  • 6 Recipe
  • 7 Data Bank Entry
  • 8 Gallery
  • 9 Trivia
  • 10 Bugs

Building[]

In order to access the inside of the Alien Containment, the player must build a Hatch on one of the sides. They can then enter the Alien Containment and release caught fish or plant seeds into it. Non-edible fish can be added through the use of their respective eggs. If two or more Multipurpose Rooms are stacked on top of each other, building Alien Containments inside each room will cause the Containers to merge into one higher tank.

Uses[]

If the player leaves two creatures of the same species inside the Alien Containment for long enough, they will breed and another fish of the same species will spawn inside. Edible Fauna, such as the Peeper, will reproduce approximately twice a day once mature. Additionally, if there are two of the same species of egg laying fish they will lay eggs. While there is no limit on how many creatures can be released into an Alien Containment, either manually or by hatching from an egg, creatures will stop breeding once a certain amount of fish are inside. For multi purpose rooms this limit is 10, and for large rooms this limit is 18, where each creature takes up the same amount of space as it is wide in the inventory. For example a Peeper would take up one space and a Stalker would take up three. Creatures will continue to breed as long as there is at least one open space, regardless of the creatures size.

Eggs dropped in the Alien Containment will hatch in three to five in-game days, sometimes less. Hatched eggs are replaced by smaller versions of the egg's species, about 40% of the size, and the player will receive a notification that an egg hatched, and identifying the egg species, even if they are far outside the base where the Alien Containment is. Non-edible Fauna can be bred this way to be used as fuel for the Bioreactor.

Flora can be placed inside the Alien Containment, via a Planter UI with sixteen slots that appears when hovering above the soil. This can be used as an alternative to the Exterior Growbed for farming aquatic resources. Tiger Plants will attack certain fish if planted in the Alien Containment, potentially killing the fish and damaging the base. Creepvines and Bloodvines will not grow to their full height without stacking Alien Containments.

Spoiler alert: The following section contains story related material.

Placing fauna infected with the Kharaa Bacterium into the Alien Containment will infect the other fauna after some time. However, this is just an aesthetic change and has no effect on the fauna. Placing a Peeper carrying Enzyme 42 inside will cure all infected creatures in a containment.


The Cyclops' sonar does not recognize Aggressive Fauna in an Alien Containment as non-hostile and will thus mark any species that can threaten the vessel, like Ampeels and Crabsquids, as nearby threats.

Useful Fauna[]

  • Bladderfish - it is the best choice for a start or when intending to breed only 1 species. While the Bladderfish is far from the best food source it more than compensates for it due to having a lot more applications than all other breedable fauna:
    • Food source - a cooked Bladderfish provides 16 units of food, making it the least nutritious edible fauna, however still more filling than any plant based food.
    • Water source - the Bladder fish is the only fauna that can be converted into Filtered Water.
    • Oxygen replenishment - this is also unique to the Bladderfish, when eaten raw it will replenish 15 units of oxygen.
    • Energy source - the Bladderfish provides 210 energy for the Bioreactor per slot, which is equivalent to the Acid Mushroom
  • Reginald - when breeding more than 1 species the Reginald should be next in line:
    • Food source - a cooked Reginald provides 44 units of food, the highest of all edible fauna
    • Energy source - the Reginald provides 490 energy for the Bioreactor per slot, making it the 2nd most efficient fuel
  • Oculus - it provides 630 energy for the Bioreactor per slot, making it the most efficient fuel. A Bioreactor filled with Oculus will have a supply of 10080 energy which is a bit over half of what a single Reactor Rod (Subnautica) holds i.e. 20000
  • Stalkers - while other creatures such as Gasopods do not drop items, stalkers will continue to drop Stalker Teeth.

Fauna Behavior[]

Creatures inside of Alien Containments have slightly altered behaviors compared to their wild counterparts. Fauna that are released into the Alien Containment tend to swim in a small area around where they were released, including edible fish. Other creatures all follow a set path around the Alien Containment, rather than moving in random directions.

Aggressive Fauna hatched inside the Alien Containment will have a passive attitude towards the Player when they enter the Alien Containment, and generally also if they are released into the wild. They will not attack other fauna inside the Alien Containment, but will do so if released into the wild, even other fish hatched inside the Alien Containment. Once released into the wild, Aggressive Fauna will also attack small player vehicles, regardless of whether the player is in them or not, although they lose interest much faster than their wild counterparts. Ampeels will still deal touch damage even if raised in an Alien Containment, and Crabsquids raised in containment will still EMP. Additionally, both are still hostile to the Cyclops but not towards the player.

Plantable Flora[]

For a complete list of plantable flora, visit List of Plantable Flora.

Recipe[]

×5Alien Containment (Subnautica) (7)Alien Containment (Subnautica) (9)

Data Bank Entry[]

Alien Containment (Subnautica) (11)

Despite huge, Alterra-led advancements in stellar technology, exploring new worlds still has its challenges, and alien lifeforms are one of them. That's why we built the alien containment unit. The unit is designed primarily to breed larger or more dangerous species.

Technical Provisions:
- Units must be installed in multipurpose room modules
- Units may be connected between rooms stacked in a column
- A hatch must be installed in order to access the unit
- The base of the unit is a planter, allowing sea flora to be grown from seed

Breeding Tips:
- Provided sufficient time and living space, organisms of the same species should mate and reproduce
- Eggs inside the unit will hatch over time
- Organisms raised from birth in captivity often exhibit unusually passive behavior

Warnings:
- Environmental controls may fail if the unit is overpopulated
- Infections may be transmitted faster between specimens in artificial environments
- Never tap the glass: you don't know what will tap back, or how hard

Gallery[]

  • Screenshots

  • Concept Art

The Alien Containment

The Alien Containment with a hatch built on it

Small fauna inside the Alien Containment

A two layer Alien Containment containing larger fauna

Flora growing on the floor of the Alien Containment

A three layer Alien Containment containing Creepvines and Bloodvines

4 tiers alien containment unit

Concept art

Ditto, with notes

Trivia[]

  • The former name for the Alien Containment was the Large Aquarium, and before that, the Water Park.
    • However, the spawn ID for the Alien Containment is still basewaterpark.
  • Fish infected with Kharaa will retain their diseased state when placed inside containment.
  • Enzyme trail peepers will not retain their special abilities when placed inside containment, though they do cure (aesthetically) all infected fauna within.

Bugs[]

This section contains bugs related to Alien Containment (Subnautica). Make sure to only post reproducible bugs, and use appropriate system template ( Alien Containment (Subnautica) (21), Alien Containment (Subnautica) (22), Alien Containment (Subnautica) (23), Alien Containment (Subnautica) (24) / Alien Containment (Subnautica) (25) ) depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.

  • Alien Containment (Subnautica) (26) Predators outside a Seabase often try to attack prey species inside an Alien Containment. Sometimes if the player leaves and returns they will find a predator swimming around inside the Multipurpose room, or even clipped inside the Alien Containment itself. If the latter occurs, they will still be a full-sized specimen and will attempt to eat any prey species as they normally would.
  • Alien Containment (Subnautica) (27) Alien Containment (Subnautica) (28)Saving and quitting while inside of an Alien Containment will allow you to walk around as if you were standing inside your base, and trying to exit the Alien Containment will enter it instead.
  • Alien Containment (Subnautica) (29) An alien containment built above water will have oxygen in it. You still swim around in it as usual.
  • Alien Containment (Subnautica) (30) Deconstructing and reconstructing an Alien containment inside a flooded, powered base will cause the base to empty for a second. This can be used to slowly replenish your Oxygen.
  • Alien Containment (Subnautica) (31) Dead fish inside of an Alien Containment will continue to follow the pathing that living fish follow around the Alien Containment.
v · d · e

Seabase modules in Subnautica

Habitat Compartments
  • Alien Containment
  • Bulkhead
  • I Compartment
  • Glass Compartment
  • L Compartment
  • L Glass Compartment
  • T Compartment
  • X Compartment
  • Foundation
  • Hatch
  • Ladder
  • Large Room
  • Moonpool
  • Multipurpose Room
  • Observatory
  • Reinforcement
  • Scanner Room
  • Spotlight
  • Vehicle Upgrade Console
  • Vertical Connector
  • Wall Planter
  • Water Filtration Machine
  • Window
Power
  • Bioreactor
  • Nuclear Reactor
  • Power Transmitter
  • Solar Panel
  • Thermal Plant
Appliances
  • Aquarium
  • Battery Charger
  • Beds
  • Bench
  • Coffee Vending Machine
  • Fabricator
  • Exterior Growbed
  • Indoor Growbed
  • Locker
  • Medical Kit Fabricator
  • Modification Station
  • Plant Pots
  • Plant Shelf
  • Picture Frame
  • Power Cell Charger
  • Radio
  • Sign
  • Vending Machine
  • Wall Locker
Miscellaneous
  • An Unusual Doll
  • Bar Table
  • Caps
  • Chairs
  • Counter
  • Desk
  • Giveaway Items
  • Nuclear Waste Disposal
  • Single Wall Shelf
  • Trash Can
  • Wall Planter
  • Wall Shelves
Alien Containment (Subnautica) (2024)
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