First Post.
I am designing an aquarium project that I thought might benefit from the combined experience of the MFK forum. The aquarium in question will anchor the ground floor lounge area of a mixed use building that will also include restaurants, bars, etc.
The current design concept is a large aquarium that serves as a room divider. Only the long sides of the tank would be visible, with the ends being walled off from public view.
The goal is to create a situation where the fish swim in a constant circular path--much as they do in commercial aquaculture tanks. In our case, customers will see fish enter their view from one side, glide along, and then disappear at the other end of the panel as they turn the corner and head down the length of the opposite side of the tank.
The tank would have a central dividing panel, and each side of this panel would have a different background theme (solid color, faux stone, etc).
Picture of this interior design in a typical commercial aquaculture tank (picture 54):
http://www.aquaculturetanks.com/photos6.htm
Tank dimensions would be roughly 12'x6'x4'.
Originally, the thought was to simply commission a large rectangular acrylic tank. However, I'm considering a custom fiberglass tank built with large acrylic viewing panels built into the 'long' sides (something like the tanks in the link).
Why a hybrid tank?
1. Ease of Maintenance: As the picture shows, the FGT tanks are open top, while the acrylic tanks are typically hard to work in due to the small access ports. According to the FGT makers, their tanks are designed to withstand the stress of work crews walking in them.
2. Center Divider Options: I'd like to have the ability to create different themes for the central divider panel separating the two 'faces' of the tank. The open-top FGT tanks offer the opportunity to pop different panels in and out to change the theme of the tank. These backgrounds would hang from the two cross braces spanning the tank.
3. Flow/Filtration: The oval tank interior seems to offer superior flow for the livestock, as well as assist filtration by pushing waste toward the center of the tank.
My First Question: Given the design vision, does the FGT hybrid make more sense than an acrylic design?
Thoughts?
Thanks!
I am designing an aquarium project that I thought might benefit from the combined experience of the MFK forum. The aquarium in question will anchor the ground floor lounge area of a mixed use building that will also include restaurants, bars, etc.
The current design concept is a large aquarium that serves as a room divider. Only the long sides of the tank would be visible, with the ends being walled off from public view.
The goal is to create a situation where the fish swim in a constant circular path--much as they do in commercial aquaculture tanks. In our case, customers will see fish enter their view from one side, glide along, and then disappear at the other end of the panel as they turn the corner and head down the length of the opposite side of the tank.
The tank would have a central dividing panel, and each side of this panel would have a different background theme (solid color, faux stone, etc).
Picture of this interior design in a typical commercial aquaculture tank (picture 54):
http://www.aquaculturetanks.com/photos6.htm
Tank dimensions would be roughly 12'x6'x4'.
Originally, the thought was to simply commission a large rectangular acrylic tank. However, I'm considering a custom fiberglass tank built with large acrylic viewing panels built into the 'long' sides (something like the tanks in the link).
Why a hybrid tank?
1. Ease of Maintenance: As the picture shows, the FGT tanks are open top, while the acrylic tanks are typically hard to work in due to the small access ports. According to the FGT makers, their tanks are designed to withstand the stress of work crews walking in them.
2. Center Divider Options: I'd like to have the ability to create different themes for the central divider panel separating the two 'faces' of the tank. The open-top FGT tanks offer the opportunity to pop different panels in and out to change the theme of the tank. These backgrounds would hang from the two cross braces spanning the tank.
3. Flow/Filtration: The oval tank interior seems to offer superior flow for the livestock, as well as assist filtration by pushing waste toward the center of the tank.
My First Question: Given the design vision, does the FGT hybrid make more sense than an acrylic design?
Thoughts?
Thanks!
