Prominently placed large glass tank in the drawing room with live fishes and other paraphernalia like tubes, power codes, glaring lights and clattering air filters have become things of the past.
Modern day interior designs incorporate aquariums as fabulous centrepieces in living rooms bestowing a soothing effect to the beholders. Latest interiors offer live aquariums coherently integrated into almost anything like furniture, bathroom fixtures, walls, glass floor, ceiling designs and even fences.
Designers even have started proposing to build aquariums even into bookcases and integrate small and large tropical fish tanks into partitions and walls, thus, creatively saving space and decorating small apartments, homes and offices in an innovative manner.
Built-in aquariums are nowadays easily blended even into bathroom partition walls, front office tables, arm rests, wash basins, kitchen partitions and where not; as placing them at unusual spaces create a surprising optical illusion.
Plan for an inbuilt aquarium has to be conceived and contained at the time of drawing the building plan itself as the required electrical and water ducts too are to be incorporated says A. Dharma Keerthi of K&B Architects. At nascent stages, it shall be easy to provide sufficient space on all sides of the tank for easy maintenance and management which shall be artfully concealed once installed. It would be inapt to break walls after finishing and further the visual appeal may be at stake with protruding tubes and cables.
A home aquarium may be placed either as a showpiece in a drawing room or as a wall piece at the dining, but it is preferred where the family spends more time, says Keerthi as they are intended to charm the onlookers.
Though fibre or acrylic panels, which are durable and less damaging are imported, glass tanks which were always in vogue are generally preferred, the latter being available at the former’s half price. The ease in bending and moulding the glass to any desired shapes and sustaining clarity also has made preferring glass tanks more says the staffers at K.S. Home Aquarium; the third generation of the famous “Meen Ammavan” at Vazhuthacaud.
5 m.m. thickness is advised for a 3x1x1 feet tank and a 6 m.m. and above for higher dimensions. For the budget conscious usually the glass thickness and thereby safety is compromised, which is not advisable, say experts.
