Vertical aquarium (design photos are presented in the article) - an elongated tank with an aquatic habitat, designed for decoration or used for scientific purposes.
The convenience of such aquariums lies in their compact arrangement, for example, if the area of the room is small.
Features
There are several types of such structures:
- Multifaceted. Has 4-7 faces, looks impressive. Suitable for office space or creative establishment.
- Rectangular. Has 4 edges. Good for home or office.
- Cylindrical. Has no edges. Laconically looks in the interior of almost any institution.
Such structures can be placed in a corner and be quite large in capacity - it all depends on the height. Also, the vertical aquarium has a rather interesting appearance and is suitable for fans of the original design.
Installation
Installation of a vertical aquarium is laborious work. The fact is that the design has an atypical look. Large glass inserts are difficult to transport intact.
First you need to find a place to place the aquarium. There will be no problems with this, because it does not take up much space. But you need to consider a few safety rules:
- You should not install an aquarium in narrow passages and doorways, as usually in such places there is a risk of various household items falling into the water, as a result of which the structure may break.
- Vertical aquariums should not be built into the wall, as they will carry a large load.
- Do not place on windowsills or balconies to avoid direct sunlight.
You need to try to find a place so that you can easily bring electricity to the structure. You will also have to think about the design and style, choose the scenery and the ground.
The next stage of installation is the appointment of a day for transportation and preparation of materials. You will need:
- Support. It can be either a cabinet or a special damping mat.
- As in any aquarium, the vertical one must contain the electronics necessary for the life of aquatic organisms: internal and external filters, an aerator, a thermometer with a heater, a lighting device.
- Ground. You can choose it yourself, but keep in mind that the thickness at the bottom of the aquarium should not exceed 8 cm.
- Aquarium care and cleaning accessories (sponges, water drain hose, scrapers, net).
Installation of the aquarium takes no more than 2-4 hours(depending on the size and type of construction). After installation, you need to lay out the ground and place the interior background and decorations.
At the end, you need to fill in water using a special hose. It is necessary to ensure that the liquid does not pour from a long distance. The hose must be in contact with the ground, otherwise the sand will wash out and lie unevenly.
How to choose decorations
At first glance, the choice of scenery for an aquarium is quite simple, but not for a vertical one, since its shape does not allow you to throw any snag or log to the bottom. The difficulty lies in the form of the structure. Put a small branch on the bottom - the rest of the space will appear empty. With all this, plants should not interfere with the growth and development of aquarium fish.
Elongated algae, corals, spiral branches are suitable for a floor vertical aquarium. As a rule, all plants are artificial, since the living ones will not be able to take root and adapt. Living plants require a large amount of ultraviolet rays, which cannot pass through a large mass of water.
It is not advised to put massive flat stones, creeping algae and shells, and other low objects.
Thematic cover is often glued to the back of the aquarium. It does not harm the life of the fish in any way.
Whom to settle
The bottom area of such a design is quite small, so it is difficult to find fish for a vertical aquarium - they will feel uncomfortable in suchconditions. It is undesirable to start bottom (catfish) and territorial fish.
Angelfish, almost all schooling fish (except barbs and other active species), iris will feel quite good and look colorful in the aquarium. All of them do not require special decorations for normal life, and are also unpretentious and tolerate transplantation well (during the time of cleaning the aquarium).
When solving the problem of who to put in a vertical aquarium, it is still worth paying attention to the angelfish - they adapt well and are often in a standing position, which allows the observer to get a good look at the fish.
Pros and cons
The main disadvantages of the vertical design:
- transportation and installation of such an aquarium is quite complicated;
- Filtration and heating of water occur unevenly due to the shape of the aquarium (since the design is elongated, and heating occurs from top to bottom, the water at the bottom does not always warm up and the fish go to the top);
- in such an aquarium it is impossible to settle a variety of fish species, since many simply cannot adapt to such an environment;
- difficulty in maintenance and care.
In addition, the water is poorly oxygenated, and the natural behavior of the fish is also changing. The flow of water in nature is directed along a horizontal straight line, and in a vertical aquarium from top to bottom. Fish have to adapt to new living conditions.
Design advantages:
- original design;
- convenience in location;
- compactness.
Maintenance
It takes a lot of work to clean up an aquarium. First you need to transfer all the fish to another container. This is not so easy to do, since they can be at the very bottom, which is difficult to get to. Next, you need to drain the water.
The next step is to get the scenery and ground out. To pull out the soil, you need to use a special sand net.
The hardest part of cleaning an aquarium is applying a special product to the walls and rinsing it off. To do this, you can use a special sponge mop with a long handle.
But there is an alternative solution - to order the cleaning of the aquarium from specialists.
