A vertical aquarium (construction photos are presented in the article) is an elongated tank with an aquatic habitat, designed for decoration or used for scientific purposes.
The convenience of such aquariums is in a compact arrangement, for example, if the area of the room is small.
Features
There are several types of such designs:
- Multifaceted. Has 4-7 faces, looks spectacular. Suitable for office space or a creative institution.
- Rectangular. It has 4 faces. Good for home or office.
- Cylindrical. It has no edges. Looks succinctly in the interior of almost any institution.
Such structures can be placed in the 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 lovers of the original design.
Installation
Installing a vertical aquarium is a laborious job. The fact is that the design has an atypical appearance. 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 several safety rules:
- Do not install the aquarium in narrow aisles and doorways, as usually in such places there is a risk of various household objects getting 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 window sills 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 design and style, choose the scenery and ground.
The next stage of the installation is the appointment of the day of transportation and preparation of materials. You will need:
- Support. It can be either a stand or a special damping mat.
- As in any aquarium, the vertical must have the electronics necessary for the life of aquatic organisms: internal and external filters, aerator, thermometer with heater, lighting device.
- Priming. You can choose it yourself, but keep in mind that the thickness at the bottom of the aquarium should not exceed 8 cm.
- Accessories for the care and cleaning of the aquarium (sponges, hose for draining water, 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 soil and place the internal background and decorations.
At the end, you need to fill the water with a special hose. Care must be taken to ensure that fluid does not spill over a long distance. The hose must lie flat on the ground, otherwise the sand will stretch and lie unevenly.
How to choose the scenery
At first glance, the choice of scenery for the aquarium is quite simple, but not vertical, since its shape does not allow you to throw any snags or logs to the bottom. The difficulty lies in the form of the design. Put a small twig 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.
For a vertical outdoor aquarium, elongated algae, corals, spiral branches are suitable. As a rule, all plants are artificial, since living plants will not be able to take root and adapt. For living plants, a large number of ultraviolet rays are needed that cannot pass through a large mass of water.
They are not advised to set massive flat stones, creeping algae and shells, or other low objects.
Themed cover is often glued to the back of the aquarium. This does not harm the life of the fish.
Who to settle
The bottom area of this design is quite small, so it’s difficult to find fish for a vertical aquarium - they will feel uncomfortable in such conditions. It is undesirable to start bottom (catfish) and territorial fish.
Scalaria, almost all schooling fish (except barbs and other active species), and iris will feel quite well and will look colorful in the aquarium. All of them do not require special decorations for normal life, as well as are unpretentious and tolerate transplantation (while cleaning the aquarium).
Solving the problem of whom to settle in a vertical aquarium, it is still worth paying attention to the scalar - they adapt well and are often in a standing position, which allows the observer to see the fish well.
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 structure 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, water is poorly saturated with oxygen, and the natural behavior of fish also changes. The flow of water in nature is directed along a horizontal line, and in a vertical aquarium from top to bottom. Fishes have to adapt to new living conditions.
Design Advantages:
- original design;
- convenience in location;
- compactness.
Service
To wash the aquarium, you need to do a lot of work. First you need to transfer all the fish to another tank. This is not so easy to do, as they can be located at the very bottom, which is difficult to get to. Next, you need to drain the water.
The next step is to pull out the scenery and ground. To pull out the soil, you need to use a special net for sand.
The most difficult part of cleaning the aquarium is to apply a special product to the walls and rinse it off. To do this, you can use a special mop-sponge on a long handle.
But there is an alternative solution - to order cleaning of the aquarium from specialists.