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I was recently surfing the net for new and interesting aquariums and I saw a advertisement for a company that is selling wall mounted aquariums. This perticular company was selling aquariums that seem extremely thin. I believe they said around 4 inches!

I dont know much about them but my initial thought was; "Is this a humane way of keeping fish?". However I could be wrong in my skepticism so I was wondering what sort of feelings people have on this style of aquarium?

Two metric tons of stupid.

It could make a pretty cool set-up for something like sea monkeys...

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

It isn't brilliant, but given that there are plenty of 'tanks' for decorating that are far less optimal, I don't mind them (and lets be honest here, not everyone that keeps fish is a fishkeeper and aquariums do make for good house decor, so people will want them and get them regardless of their education or care level). No way you could have what they advertise in there, but given the option between a genie vase, aquababy, 10x10 cube or some other crazy fish container and something with swimming space and the option for heating filtration & lighting, I'd rather a wall mount. As to being humane, there are far bigger problems with tanks than this type. It is less than optimal, provides little room for movement other than pacing back and forth, haemorrhage heat like crazy, is hard to filter and a pain to clean. That being said, again with the nanotank thing, and there is nothing saying you have to keep fish in it. They look bloody fantastic planted and I suspect they'd look pretty spiffy as a marine setup too.

I would have one if it magically appeared, but I'd probably just plant it and pop shrimp in. That'd be quite a pleasant little setup. No way I'd seek one out and buy one though, way too limiting in what you can do with it.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Not to mention the fact that when filled with water they will have a tendency to ummmmm fall off the wall. The weight alone would be enough to rip out the screws unless installed by a professional. Personally I would just cut a hole in the wall and stick in a regular tank and go that root before I would get one of those wall tanks.

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket

I've seen one like this in a shop near me. It was kinda hidden, I guess to avoid selling it. But it was about 3ft long, 1ft tall and about 4 inches deep.

I wouldnt buy one, but if I had, only thing I would keep in it, would be small fish that dont reproduce quickly, or maybe a couple female betas. or maybe one male beta

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Is it actually wall mounted or is it built into the wall so all you see is the glass?
There are many people that build into walls.

It is wall mounted. The call them 'Plasma TV Tanks' or something like that. They are not deep at all, but I do believe they have filtration and heat built in. I agree, I think it would be neat to make one of these into a reef setup. However, I doubt it has the appropriate light output. None the less, if people didn't buy them, they wouldn;t be selling them.

One massive inbuilt design problem with all of them. Its called low relative surface area.On the humane movement thing I think they suck too, plus choice of refuge for a nervous fish from the viewer will be highly limited, I think most fish would find living in them pretty stressful.

Just a big expensive gimmick in my book. Nice recessed full size fishtank in a wall, gorgeous, but when you get to an aquarium only a couple of inches thick, lets face it, thats gonna suck for normal fish behaviour. I dont think id want any fish of mine to live a life that limited. I dont think the length quite makes up for the lack of breadth.

On health grounds you ought to give a fish an option to limit its contact with surfaces too, tank walls themselves and the microscopic slime reserves on which ,(if you were into taking sample tests) youd find a whole host of nectrotic bacteria associated with finrot, and other more lethal diseases like mycobacterium, which under normal tank dimensions might not proliferate, but factor in the low o2 saturation and close contact potential it would equate out at something close to an overstocked breeders holding facility, often places where diseases proliferate and are transmitted when they might not otherwise be.

Dont think broadly speaking unless your maintenance and attention to detail are phenominal, and your fish truly tiny they represent healthy accomodations for fish. In any case they rate in my book as inferior to more normally oriented aquaria. Factor in the stress potential, and the health risks, there never worth te cash and consideration they seem to command.

If they could even make em 6 inches thick it would make a big difference to tiny fish. Im sat here looking at fish in a tank thats 2 feet on its narrowest measurement and seeing how movement and territory sort of all works in 3 dimensional ranges, and how the fish regard the way they move in cubic or large oval 3 dimensional shapes thinking what a shame it would be to see that have to be compromised by a really narrow aquarium. I dont think the fish themselves would ever thank you for putting them in one, even if you do manage to keep em alive in it, just in the same way that youd look at a sitting room thats oreinted more like a corridor. It would seem claustrophobic to you , and you havent even got a lateral line that would be picking up a hell of a lot of vibration on 2 sides.

Then the filtration would have to be clever for them to work, maybe UGF combined with external filtration top stop the bottom becoming a sulphide hell. Flow would have to be carefully considered.

I think it would bug me if I owned one, every time I walked past it I would be thinking "nah, I could do better for the fish than that, and on a fraction of the money too".

I think the problem with them mainly from a "cool" perspective is that they are a cheap knockoff of a recessed wall aquarium, which might be perfectly integrated into the home. A real recessed tank shows skill,architechtural consideration, commitment and integrates a beautiful aquarium into the home with grace, hides equipment yet still gives the fish a wonderful place to live. Thats whats cool about them.

When you have to start worrying if the tank compromises the fish's quality of life it instantly relegates it off the "cool" scale, and into the realms of tatty naffness. That naffnass of course , reflects on the keeper.

I tend to think of them as like having a lot of gold fittings around a house that arent real gold, or fake antiques, or copies of famous cars in kit form rather than the real thing. Theyre just ...uncool, primarily because they miss the point of a proper wall recessed aquarium which is a thing of acheivement and beauty. Its like buying a trophy rather than earning one.

Thanks for letting me know what you guys think! Longhairedgit has certainly mentioned a lot of important points.

My main reason for inquiring was because I've recently moved out of my parents house and into an extremely small appartment and (due to distance) am unable to transport my 25gal from home. I had considering for a minute buying one of those tanks and putting a couple snails or some shrimp in it but perhaps a 5gal tank with a betta or something would be just as pleasant.

I'm just looking for a small, quiet, and enjoyable set up because I miss my fish at home dearly. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks again for all the feedback!

Yeah, I think these would fall outside of enjoyable. You'd have to really be on it all the time to make it work, and IMO that takes most of the fun out of it as you and the fish never get a chance to relax.

Besides, for the same price you can probably get a 20gal and some nice equipment to go with



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett