Aquarium Designs

Fish Tank Style Guide

Aquarium design has progressed a long way since the days of heavy iron frames and putty sealant. Modern materials allow the creation of lighter more versatile fish tanks than those that have been possible in the past. Researching the various designs available will help you to buy the best aquarium for your needs.

Rectangular Aquarium Design

The standard rectangle aquarium is the most simple and economical aquarium design. If you want a cheap aquarium it's rectangular shape will offer the most volume per dollar. A variety of cabinets, hoods and stands are designed to suit such fish tanks. These accessories are readily available in a selection of finishes allowing the rectangular aquarium design to become a decorative home furnishing.

Wall Mounted Aquarium Design

The wall mounted aquarium is the plasma TV of fish keeping. They are manufactured from lightweight materials allowing for a design that can safely hang from household walls. Modern and streamlined, these fish tanks blend well into the compact homes of today. They are sold as stand alone units with built in lighting and filtration.

The main drawback is the shallow front to back dimension which limits the fish varieties that can be kept. This spatial limitation can also make cleaning and maintenance more problematic than a standard rectangle aquarium design.

Corner Aquarium Design

Corner style aquariums are perfect for the fish lover with limited space. These fish tank designs conveniently slot into spaces that are traditionally reserved for pot plants and hat racks.

Such an aquarium design is based on a right angle triangular prism. The two front corners are often cut off to give the visual effect of greater depth.

Octagonal Aquarium Design

Octagonal aquariums are decorative furnishings. Fish tanks with an octagonal design are excellent for displaying species which swim at all water levels. Angelfish and discus are popular inhabitants for this reason. Long stemmed aquarium plants and fine bubbled air stones make the perfect backdrops for such fish in an octagonal aquarium.

Aquariums designed with an octagonal shape are typically a lot taller than they are wide. This results in a low surface area to volume ratio which is a typical recipe for low oxygen levels. Agitating the water surface is a must for increasing the number of fish these aquariums can safely sustain.

Octagonal aquariums also share many similarities with hexagonal aquariums.

Coffee Table Aquarium Design

Coffee tables designed to function as aquariums were at their height of popularity during the 1970's. The common design consisted of a large acrylic half sphere which housed the fish while acting as the coffee table base. The table top would be made of glass allowing the fish to be viewed in the bowl below.

Due to the popular trend in retro home decor these coffee table aquarium designs are often very popular. Thanks to the thick acrylic used, many of these original aquariums are still available in second hand stores. New models are also being manufactured as factories peruse this re-emerging aquarium market.

Spherical Aquarium Design

More than just a fish bowl, spherical aquariums designed with filtration and lighting are now commercially available. Biorb is the main manufacturer of such aquariums. Using blow molded acrylic, the Biorb aquarium body is symmetrical and strong.

Large fish bowls can also be equipped with products such as goldfish bowl filters. Such devices can drastically increase the biological loading possible without greatly diminishing the space for fish to swim.

Custom Aquarium Designs

Sheets of glass can be fashioned into almost any design with enough planning and patience. Imagination is the only limitation if you are handy with a glass cutter and silicone gun.

One of the most interesting custom aquarium designs I have ever seen was modeled on a doll's house. The illusion of three side by side rooms was created using slight recesses in the front plane of the aquarium. The roof was gabled; It's lid was formed from several pieces of glass in a triangular prism shape. To finish it off a staircase was added to the front which led to a glass doorframe.

Rebirthing household objects as part of a custom aquarium design is another approach. Old wooden cased television can be changed into TV aquariums. Computer monitors are also recycled for this purpose into a pc aquarium of sorts. Obsolete Apple Macintosh computers are also utilised with the end aquarium design being commonly referred to as a Macquarium.

Further Aquarium Resources

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