No Room For An Aquarium? Think Again. 20 Unusual Places In Your Home For Fish Tanks.

I've been obsessed with fish tanks and aquariums for quite awhile. I even record Tanked (which I highly recommend). But I never seem to have the space needed to put a saltwater or freshwater aquarium in my home. Then again, I hadn't considered all the following options.

What about turning the surround of your fireplace into a giant aquarium?



Or how about adding it to a wide doorway?

above: both fireplace and doorway aquariums by Seavisions

Build it into an existing shelving unit:


Or just putting a tank into that fireplace you never use?


That space under your stairs may just be the perfect spot:


Or replacing that wet bar with a bar/aquarium

above: Bespoke Aquarium Bar and Glass Staircase, both designed by Ali Musani

Here are a bunch of possibilities that may not have crossed your mind, in rooms you may have not considered.

The Kitchen

Building it into your backsplash is a great look:


Poggenpohl and Aquafront have teamed up to design a series of new kitchens which contain built in fish tanks or aquariums. In the backsplash or the cabinetry, the tanks can hold saltwater fish, freshwater fish or even jellyfish:




You can put an aquarium in a kitchen island, above a cooktop or into the built-in cabinetry:


above: custom kitchen island aquarium by Commercial Marine Displays



Or even punctuate a cooktop with a built -in aquarium like the one below by Phil Kean:


You could always turn your kitchen table into an aquarium like this custom one created for a Fridgidaire showroom:



The Bathroom
Adding an aquarium to your bathroom is an option in either the tub surround, the shower walls, or at the edge of the tub, like the one pictured in what used to be the home of Kanye West.


above: custom bathroom aquarium by City Aquarium


The Plano Acquario Shower offers a built in aquarium wall as an option:


The Hollywood Hills bathroom of Kanye West (no longer owned by him):


And of course, Moody makes both a sink and a bathtub with built in aquariums:


The Moody Acquario tub:



There's even a toilet that houses fish, if you must.
The Aquariass by Oliver Beckert or the Fish n' Flush from AquaOne:


The Bedroom
How about an aquarium headboard?

above: from the Furnitureland South bed display and below: for NFL star Chad Ochocinco.


or in a bedroom fireplace:


And lastly, the TV Tank from Picturehouse hides your screen within a fishtank:


Custom aquarium designs, builds and installations are available from the following companies:
Seavisions
Okeanos Group
Aquarium Design Group
Aqua Design Group
Aquatic Design Company
City Aquarium
Acrylic Tank Manufacturing
Just Add Water (Jaws Aquariums)

Looking for wall mounted, tabletop and other fish tanks? 
Check out my Pinterest board of hip Aquariums and fish tanks

Fishbowl Shaped Like A World Map Is A Trip For Goldfish.

Designboom (who promoted the design competition) featured this fabulous fish tank concept, World Trip, which won a 2012 TIFF award. The clear acrylic tank was designed by Takuro Yamamoto and is made to emulate a world map through which the little fish can meander.




all images courtesy of Designboom

TIFF Award 2012 will be celebrating the refined beauty and luxury of Thai homes and their outdoor lifestyle, the finest indoor/outdoor furniture and home decor accessories made in Thailand for the international market and unique leisure experiences in which aesthetics and environmentalism share equal space.

learn more about the TIFF Awards here

The First Affordable Desktop Tank Designed Specifically For Jellyfish.

Jellyfish Art has designed the first affordable desktop Jellyfish Tank. As easy to maintain as a desktop aquarium, the modern looking tank is especially designed for jellyfish since they tend get sucked into the filtration intakes and get liquefied in fish tanks.




The new Desktop Jellyfish Tank has been seen in WIRED Magazine, The New York Times and Gizmodo and is now looking for funding and support via kickstarter.



Pre-order the Desktop Jellyfish Tank for a pledge of $350 or more and you will be guaranteed to receive it once the first batch of tanks has been manufactured. Kickstarter donors get a $50 voucher redeemable towards the Beginner's Package (normally $149), which includes 3 Jellyfish and a package of Frozen Food.



Support the project by buying one here on kickstarter

You can also purchase the tank only, jelly fish, and other accessories like color LED lights, snails and hermit crabs from their site.


Retail Box Includes

• Acrylic tank

• Feeding Pipette

• Whisper quiet air pump

• Airline

• Hydrometer

• Substrate

• Programmable Color-Changing LED and Remote Control

• Filtration Media

• Power Supply

Specifications:

• 7 Gallons

• Salt Water Ready

• 18”H x 16”W x 8”L

• Clear Front and Back Panels

• Opaque Sides and Base

• 2 X 120V AC (US Electrical Standard)

• Optimized for Jellyfish

Also Holds Fish or Invertebrates


Jellyfish Art

A special shout out to Vicki Mayer for bringing this to my attention!

Footballer Thierry Henry To Add 5 Story, $400,000 Fishtank To His Hampstead Home Renovation.

The UK's Daily Mail reports that former Arsenal Striker Thierry Henry plans to demolish his North London house, originally designed by architect Sir Richard MacCormac, and renovate it to include a 5 story, 5,500 gallon fishtank. The proposed aquarium will house 300 fish and cost £250,000 (approx $400,000 USD) to build.

Stretching 40ft from the bottom of his house to the very top, the aquarium will measure the 15ft long by 3ft wide tank will set Henry back £12,000 ($19,047 USD) a year to run, including weekly inspections at about £50 ($80 USD) an hour. The annual bill for fish food alone would be £2,500 ($4000 USD).



The French footballer, above, who fronted the ‘va-va-voom’ TV adverts for car firm Renault – is the latest in a long line of celebrities including Madonna, the Beckhams, Cher and Premier League footballers Stephen Ireland, Joe Hart and Micah Richards, to splash out on opulent fish tanks.


above: Stephen Ireland's 13ft aquarium

Ireland has reportedly spent more than £100,000 on his 13ft aquarium, and is now believed to be planning a shark tank under his kitchen floor.


above: the proposed renovation

His aquarium will actually be made up of four separate tanks, one for each story of the house. Each will be made of Perspex-like material and will give the optical illusion of one giant aquarium – but will be cheaper to clean, run and maintain than a single tank.

One industry expert last night said the £12,000-a-year bill for heating, cleaning and lighting the tanks would be just a fraction of the £80,000 it would cost to maintain one huge tank.

Each aquarium will require a filtration system to ensure the water stays clean and fresh. Experts say there are 2,000 species of marine life suitable for the tanks, ranging from smaller breeds of shark to clown fish, yellow tangs, blue tangs and angel fish.



It has been suggested that the celebrity obsession with aquariums has nothing to do with a fondness for fish.

One tank designer, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Our client list tends to be male-dominated and they are looking for status symbols and showpieces.’


above: Thierry Henry (image courtesy of Nike)

Henry, Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer with 229 goals, now plays for the New York Red Bulls.

The 34-year-old returned to the US this week following a short loan spell back at Arsenal during the American league’s mid-season winter break.


above: Henry intends to rebuild his Hampstead home, although the original architect Sir Richard MacCormac is opposed to the demolition

But the star, who divorced his wife Claire Merry in 2007 and is now dating Bosnian model Andrea Rajacic, is keen to maintain his London base, in Hampstead, to be close to his daughter Tea.

Henry’s new home will be taller than the existing one and include a bar, a cinema and a swimming pool. Despite spending at least £2 million on rebuild costs, the finished house is likely to be worth at least £10 million.

The footballer is keen to highlight the eco-features of the new home, which includes extensive glass panelling to capture natural light and a so-called ‘biodiverse’ roof, which will incorporate plants and trees.

But the house’s original architect and founder of MJP Architects, Sir Richard MacCormac, is opposed to the proposed demolition.

Sir Richard, who also designed the Wellcome wing of the Science Museum, said last night: ‘I don’t think you improve sustainability by demolishing a house which is just 13 years old.

‘It surprises me that someone who can afford to build a new house and who claims to be serious about architecture should not simply build another one elsewhere.

‘I think my original design is well regarded locally and I think a lot of people are going to be upset. The existing house has a very deliberate low-key design to ensure that it would not look out of place in the conservation area.’

There is also opposition from The Twentieth Century Society, which champions modern architecture and is considering applying for the building to be listed to block the demolition plan.

The society’s director Catherine Croft said: ‘There are so few fabulously well designed modern homes like this that we shouldn’t be knocking them down.’

Camden Council said the application would be debated by councillors in March.

Thierry Henry also owns this three story New York Penthouse.

source