~The Future?~
Futuristic dreamers dream of space ships flying, apparments in the stratospere, collonies in space, date from another galaxy and jet powered shoes.
Some futuristic dreamers might like fish, and while waiting for a chance to explore extra terestial oceans and rivers, they designed these.
~The BiOrb~
The BiOrbs seem to be the latest fashion aquarium, they range from 4 to 16 gallons and come in 4 different models and different colors.
They are small acrilic tanks that come with a built in undergravel filter. You can also buy aditional lightning and a heater, amongst many other accesories.
I personally find the shape of this tank quite appealing and it would make a nice nano tank. They also seem to have a very well thought out product service, which is always a plus.
I do however not like the undergravel filter that much because of the disturbance it causes when cleaning the tank. Also the tube that reaches till the top of the water level can also cause problems, it will push the flakes down to the bottom of the tank where the filter is and I wonder if this sytem really creates as much oxegen as they say. However, I do think this system would make the water much calmer. A problem I've always had with nano tanks was that the current is often a bit too strong for some slow swimming fish.
I think this makes a nice nano tank, or at least a nice quarinting or fry tank.
Source ~The ZeroEdge Aquarium~
This amazing piece of art is designed to be a saltwater tank. The secret to it's surreal look is that the water flows over the edges of the tank and falls into a gutter surounding the base of the tank and then drains into an elaborate sump system in the cabinet underneath the tank.
The whole set up also ensures maximum oxygenation, and minimum evaporation and salt creep. The entire system is appearently also quite silent.
Due to the open surface this tank isn't ideal for every fish though, or even every combination of fish. The company themselves advises to preferably house Tangs, Dwarf Angels, Rabbits, Cardinals, Clowns and Damsels, though unless you are keeping Chromises you should probably not keep a large group of Damsels. Clownfish seem to be restricted to specific species.
This company also lets you design your own tank, so you don't even have to stick with the rectangle, or even one story.
I do wonder where I should place the heater though.
Source and a review~The Floating Garden~
I've seen garden plants being sold as aquarium plants, and I've even placed the random potted plant on my tank's hood due to lack of space, but I have never thought of this.
Designer Benjamin Graindorge has come up with this idea and is hoping to be able to have it for sale in 2010.
The idea is that the little garden on top of the tank functions as a filter:
Quote:
1/ Gravel-bed filtration: tank water moves over a tray where it seeps thru a 5cm layer of river-sand. The sand bed traps suspended waste particles and forms a host environment for the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that transform azote into nitrates.
2/ Aquaponics : nitrate-enriched water pours over a layer of plant-life. The substratum of roots extracts the nitrates to sustain plant growth, which means that water returning to the tank is pure. Needless to say, the vegetation is adapted to wet environments: e.g. Amazon-basin plants or tomatoes rather than cacti.
It's a very nice idea, but I doubt that the tank could survive with a plant based filter alone. It would make a nice pond garden though, or even an accesory for that ZeroEdge model
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