Styles

Aquariums have been fashioned into coffee tables, sinks, and even toilets. Another such example is the MacQuarium, an aquarium made from the shell of an Apple Macintosh computer. In recent years, elaborate custom-designed home aquariums costing hundreds of thousands of dollars have become status symbols—according to The New York Times, "among people of means, a dazzling aquarium is one of the last surefire ways to impress their peers."

A kreisel tank is a circular aquarium designed to hold delicate animals such as jellyfish. These aquariums provide slow, circular water flow with a bare minimum of interior hardware, to prevent delicate animals from becoming injured by pumps or the tank itself. Originally a German design (kreisel means spinning top), the tank has no sharp corners, and keeps the housed animals away from the plumbing. Water moving into the tank gives a gentle flow that keeps the inhabitants suspended, and water leaving the tank is covered by a delicate screen that prevents the inhabitants from getting stuck. There are several types of kreisel tanks. In a true kreisel, a circular tank has a circular, submerged lid. Pseudokreisels have a curved bottom surface and a flat top surface, similar to the shape of either a "U" or a semicircle. Stretch kreisels or Langmuir kreisels are a "double gyre" kreisel design, where the tank length is at least twice the height. Using two downwelling inlets on both sides of the tank lets gravity create two gyres in the tank. A single downwelling inlet may be used in the middle as well. The top of a stretch kreisel may be open or closed with a lid. There may also be screens about midway down the sides of the tank, or at the top on the sides. It is possible to combine these designs; a circular shaped tank is used without a lid or cover, and the surface of the water acts as the continuation of circular flow. It is now possible to start a jellyfish aquarium at home as easily as a regular fish tank.

Another popular setup is the biotope aquarium. A biotope aquarium is a recreation of a specific natural environment. Some of the most popular biotopes (to name only a few) are the Amazon river, Rio Negro River, Lake Malawi,[40] Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Victoria. The fish, plants, substrate, rocks, wood, and any other component of the display should match that of the natural environment. It can be a real challenge to recreate such environments and most "true" biotopes will only have a few species of fish (if not only one) and invertebrates. (wikipedia)

Aquarium supplies

A way to keep the aquarium clean and fresh is by using specific aquarium cleaning supplies. These may include cleaning agents especially designed to clean the water and keep it fresh, nets, algae magnets and scrapers, algae pads, brushes, gravel cleaners, sealant and tongs and grabbers. A properly cleaned aquarium means healthy and happy fish. Aquarium cleaning must be performed on a regular basis to ensure that the fish are healthy. Also, by maintaining a clean aquarium one makes sure the tank looks appealing to the visitors.

Nets are very important cleaning supplies because they are helpful in transferring the fish to breeders or refugiums or to take them out of the aquarium whenever a thorough cleaning is needed. Nets come in a variety of sizes and designs. The size one needs depends on the size of the tank they need to clean.

The cleaning liquid agents are substances especially designed to clean the water without harming the health of the fish. Cleaning agents also include scratch removers, lime dissolvers, glass and acrylic polishers, wipes, salt creep removers and magnetic cleaners. All of these are intended to be used on the tank, ornaments and equipment.

Aquarium pest control products may be needed for cleaning aquaria with corals or live rocks. Aquarium pest control is helpful in fighting infestations with different organism coming from new fish or from the plants, corals or rocks that are recently acquired. If not taken care of, infestations like this may cause damage to the aquarium by depleting resources and causing illness.

The water cleaners are amongst the first aquarium cleaning supplies that must be purchased. Aquarium water conditioners and additives like chlorine removers and stress relievers make tap water safe for use in aquariums, and should be used when preparing for tank setup or water changes. The "new tank syndrome" may be avoided if using cycle aids to establish the nitrogen cycle. Also, creating the natural water conditions for an aquarium implies getting aquarium salt, vitamins and supplements.