Home Within a Home: Use Your Aquarium as a Design Feature
Aquariums make great design features, and have been utilized by many an architect to spectacular effect: Radisson Blut Berlin has an amazing aquarium elevator; some penthouse homes feature wall-to-wall aquariums; and people have even incorporated aquariums into their toilet systems. An aquarium can make a fantastic center piece in your home too, creating a captivating visual effect and inducing a sense of serenity into your living space – can you think of anything more relaxing than sitting back and watching brightly colored fish dart through the water? If you have an aquarium, think about giving it a make-over and transforming it into a stunning center piece.
Plan in Advance
Designing the perfect aquarium requires you to do more than just pop into your local pet store, pick a bunch of aquarium decorations and drop them into the tank. Not properly planning your design will cause multiple problems. Firstly, if you don’t invest any time or thought in the process, you probably won’t like the final effect. Constant readjustments are to be avoided at all costs, so you need to get it right from the word go. If you continually move your fish tank décor, adding and subtracting pieces as you see fit, the constant movement will stress your aquatic pets, and expose them to contamination and pollutants. This will reduce the immune efficiency of the fish, making them more prone to diseases.
Size
You must make sure that any items you introduce into your tank are the right size for your fish. Buying decorative items which are too small can have some serious consequences. Fish love hiding places and caves. If your items are too small, they will knock them down trying to enter or hide behind them or, worse, injure themselves. It is not uncommon for fish to get stuck and die in hiding holes which are too small.
Having too many small components will also mean that you have to spend a lot of time cleaning. Decorations will eventually get dirty and slimy, and the more small components you have, the more cleaning time will be required.
You should also consider the size of your aquarium; it is more important for your fish to have ample space to swim around in than pretty decorations. Avoid taking up too much space with decorations and limiting swim space as this will stress your aquatic pets out. This is a particularly important consideration if you have hyperactive species such as Discus and Betta.
You might also need to consider how much substrate space is required, as species such as Mormyrids and Sydonotis have a need to dig and play around in the substrate. Not having this option will cause them to become stressed, and an unhappy fish is an unhealthy fish.
Themes
Think about your final design before buying anything, as figuring out your theme will save time when choosing your décor. The theme should be something that you will enjoy looking at. If you’re going to use your tank as a design piece, try to find something which complements your home interior. There are hundreds of themes to choose from, and a quick Google search will reveal pages and pages of ideas. Alternatively, try popping into a retailer such as Fish Fish Fish for style inspiration. Go for something sophisticated, avoiding childish or garish themes like Spongebob.
Using Natural Items as Aquarium Decorations
A simple but sophisticated tank can be created by stripping things back to basics and using only natural elements as fish tank décor. Think about using rocks and driftwood to create an authentic underwater effect. It’s important to make sure that natural elements will not negatively react with your aquarium water, as items from nature can affect chemical composition.
Update your aquarium today and make a stunning focal point to captivate your guests. Use a simple, elegant theme which will complement your home, with clean glass and good lighting to improve your viewing experience.
