Aquarium fixed on the wall was once a luxury home décor item that we used to observe only in celebs house or in the posh apartments of multi-millionaires. Now gone are those days! A wall aquarium is now available for home décor, but you need to learn the details of its installation and placement if you wish to add the décor in your home décor plan.
Wall-mounted televisions and wardrobes have been in the market for quite a long time, but to have an aquarium fixed on the wall you need to arrange the place and the wall-support to gold it firmly. But wall aquarium or portrait aquariums are not held on any frame support on the wall surface. These fixtures are usually placed inside the wall compartment. It helps you to get the feel as if you are inside a submarine and watching the marine world from the window. Concerning size, the wall aquariums can be up to 18 inches in height and length with a depth of only about 4-6 inches.
Although it looks like keeping an item in the wall rack, the small aquariums, when full, can weigh up to 100 pounds (45 kg), while the large 6-7 feet ones weigh nearly 300 pounds (135 kg). Therefore, you need adequate concrete or stud support inside the wall to hold the aquarium.
Where to Install Wall Aquarium?
Although a DIY wall mounted aquarium project will save your bucks, a professional installation will come with a guarantee and the jobs like hiding the pumps and cables including the placement of the aquarium will be done seamlessly.
Here are the places that can be used for wall aquariums after due inspection:
01. You can Install Aquarium on the Wall between Two Rooms:
If a thick wall separates one room from another, you can always add a lively touch by installing the aquarium within the wall so that it remains visible from both the rooms. One of the common practices is to install the aquarium between the living room and work area adjacent to it.
02. Installing Aquarium on Staircase Landing Wall:
The basic wall on the staircase landing is a place where people usually stand for a moment. You can install the aquarium here, which can make people stand for a few minutes here to watch the wall aquarium. This place gets sufficient natural light if you have a window, or you may fix an artificial light to make the area well illuminated.
03. Aquarium on Wall Below Staircase:
The space below the staircase can be utilized for keeping a large or multi-tiered aquarium. The concrete beneath the stairs should be strong enough to support number of small-sized aquariums or even a large one.
04. Floor to Ceiling Multi-tiered Aquarium:
This is, by far, the most extravagant and most fascinating wall aquarium setups although it will demand huge expense and professional planning for a successful installation. It is the best to have the space designed while the construction of the house is in process or you may have to reconstruct the wall so that the wall is made sturdy enough to hold such a heavy weight home décor item with huge water load within.
The wall aquarium enhances the beauty of your home’s wall. But there are some other ways also which can beautify the wall of the house. Hence, we also have some more fantastic wallpaper ideas to make your home wall more appealing.
05. You can Install Aquarium between Wall Cabinets:
Just as televisions and sound systems are often installed in the designated space between the wall racks, the aquarium can be kept inside a similar compartment. The idea is to go for a small-sized aquarium and make sure that the rack is sturdy enough to hold it securely.
06. Fix Aquarium on the Wall Like Television:
Another method to install an aquarium is making it a wall mounting fixture like a wall-mounted television. It is done by making a suitable sized compartment on the wall according to the dimension of the aquarium and place it inside securely. The electrical connection can be set up in the same way as television cables are arranged.
07. Install Wall Aquarium Along the Edge:
You can add some dramatic element to your home décor by modifying an edge of a wall. What you need to do here is you have to leave a particular space or cut through some part of the wall and put up an aquarium with small width here so that it can match the overall width of the wall, and can be placed in the gap of the wall.
Advantages of Installing Wall Aquarium
Unlike conventional aquariums, you will need minimal cables and plugs for the wall aquarium installation. This aqua unites hardly gets infected by bacteria and fungus often, and hence, you do not have to worry about maintenance. While you feel like a part of the aquatic world, you can keep your little ones away from pulling cables or putting their hands into the water and disturb the fish.
- In case you have a small house or lack space to keep an aquarium, the floor space is not used up as wall aquariums use a small part on the wall.
- In offices, doctor’s chambers, lobbies and shopping malls, cleaning is not an easy task and therefore, wall aquariums will be a better choice for their low-maintenance nature.
- Wall aquariums are not subject to topple over, as these are inserted properly on the wall and what is better, these are not dependent on heavy foot traffic.
- Mounted at the eye-level, these are visually more attractive than conventional ones and will enhance the beauty of the room.
Things to Consider while Getting Wall Aquarium
You need materials like drywall, drywall joint compound and trim along with tools like router, drill and level. You should have a proper idea about the design and consider the following factors:
01. Wall and Aquarium Dimensions:
Starting from the width of 4 inches to 8 inches and a length of 32 inches to 60 inches, there are multiple companies that offer pre-built aquariums and you can also customize the size according to the dimensions of the place you have designated for placing the aquarium.
02. Strength and Width of the Wall:
The wall, where you want to install the aquarium, should have the strength to hold the weight of a full aquarium, and therefore, the more width it has, the better.
03. Electrical Connections for Wall Aquarium:
To connect the oxygen, heater, cooler and lighting mechanism of the aquarium, you need connection through a switchboard. Take help from an electrician to check whether the connection is safe.
04. Cleaning, Changing and Feeding Convenience:
It should be accessible for cleaning regularly by draining 15-20% of the water through siphon into a bucket, as well as filling the bucket up with clean water to be added back to the aquarium. Feeding convenience is important for adults as kids often tend to put extra food.
05. Proper Wall Aquarium Installation Help:
You need someone who has the necessary skills and experience in installing wall aquarium with thorough knowledge about the construction of the house to understand and explain the house owners where it is safe to install.
06. Accessories and Fish to Keep for Wall Mounted Aquarium:
Finally, you have to decide about the accessories you require with the aquarium such as oxygen tank, lighting mechanisms, filters, power filter, and heater. As these aquariums are a bit constricted from the conventional ones, you can only keep fishes like guppies, swordtail, mollies, dwarf gourami, algae eaters, betta splendens, ghost shrimp, small barbs, rasbora, tetras and White Cloud Mountain Minnow, etc.
Conclusion
Before you start with the wall aquarium installation job, it is better to take help from a professional who can determine whether the wall of a specific room is strong enough to hold the aquarium.
Unlike the conventional aquariums, these wall aquariums are costlier with limited natural light and air circulation arrangement, but the aesthetics make these worth every penny.
If you are interested in doing some creative improvisations in home décor, then adding a water fountain to your home would be a nice idea. Read the following blog to raise your curiosity & creativity,
Image Courtesy: Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5, Image 6, Image 7, Image 8, Image 9, Image 10, Image 11, Image 12, Image 13, Image 14(a), Image 14(b), Image 14(c), Image 14(d), Image 14(e)
Author Bio
Sanjukta Ganguly – I am Sanjukta Ganguly from Kolkata. I have 9+ years of experience in content writing. I have written for multiple niches and genres like, health, travel, pregnancy, love and relationship, dating, hosting services, and WordPress, Press Release, Web Designing, Case Study, Thesis, Proof Reading, Academic Writing, etc. I can handle the work of 4000-5000 words daily.