[PDSimon]

Hello there,

I'm a student currently doing some research into fish tanks. I'm looking into designing something new and out of the box.

I would be grateful if anyone could advise me on the advantages and disadvantages of current fish tanks (this could be cold, tropical or marine) or any ideas on improvements for them.

Thanks for your time - Simon

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

[fatheadminnow]

You are in the right place!

to TFF!!!!

I am sure someone will be on soon to help you out!

I think a heavily planted, high-tech tank is my favorite kind of tank!

-FHM

[PDSimon]

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 05:49 PM, said:

You are in the right place!

to TFF!!!!

I am sure someone will be on soon to help you out!

I think a heavily planted, high-tech tank is my favorite kind of tank!

-FHM

Thanks

high- tech does sound good, I am looking for any variations, especially in shape/form and any ways of enhancing user experience.

[Skellie]

This seems like a very interesting thread!

Still quite new to fish keeping but have been interested for a number of years. I was never really a fan of 'traditional' tanks i.e. rectangular with a hood, so for my first tank bought a Biorb (will post some pics later). These tanks are notorious for being more of a design ornament than a tank but I, & more importantly my fish are happy with it!

Also, the Fluval Edge seem a very design conscientious tank. I would have probably bought one but the size is quite limiting.

Good Luck!

[fatheadminnow]

PDSimon, on 04 March 2010 - 11:57 AM, said:

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 05:49 PM, said:

You are in the right place!

to TFF!!!!

I am sure someone will be on soon to help you out!

I think a heavily planted, high-tech tank is my favorite kind of tank!

-FHM

Thanks

high- tech does sound good, I am looking for any variations, especially in shape/form and any ways of enhancing user experience.

The best kind of tank is the good old rectangle tank. The tall narrow tanks and other alike, are not as good. You want a tank that has the most surface area of water to the atmosphere.

A 55 gallon hexagon tank cannot be stocked the same as a standard 55 gallon rectangle tank. The standard 55 gallon tank will be able to hold more fish, and bigger fish.

-FHM

Skellie, on 04 March 2010 - 12:02 PM, said:

This seems like a very interesting thread!

Still quite new to fish keeping but have been interested for a number of years. I was never really a fan of 'traditional' tanks i.e. rectangular with a hood, so for my first tank bought a Biorb (will post some pics later). These tanks are notorious for being more of a design ornament than a tank but I, & more importantly my fish are happy with it!

Also, the Fluval Edge seem a very design conscientious tank. I would have probably bought one but the size is quite limiting.

Good Luck!

The edge is not a user friendly tank.

-FHM

[ianho]

i like corner tanks, i was thinking about this the other day and would love to see a stylish 'L' shaped tank on the market. I think these would look ace, with the right design.

[star4]

Hiya Simon and welcome. I have mainly Juwel tanks 180l upto 400l, I love the fact there is no big pieces of glass around the top to strenghten the tank its a large plastic surround, however I do find the brace bars (I have the older juwel tanks) very flimsy and easy to break and a pain when trying to catch fish!! From a design point of view I would love a large tank without bracebars, impossible probably unless I went for a trigon style (Triangular with a curved front). I hope this is the sort of info you are after

[snowflake311]

If you could in some way make an acrylic tank that is hard to scratch then you would have something amazing.

As far as shape it's all been done. Tanks conected by tubes to other tanks like a hamster cage. Open bottom fish tanks are awesome.look it up on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata

if you really want to make a splash in the hobby fixing the material we use to make tanks would be best. Glass is heavy and cracks acrylic is light very hard to crack but scratched. They are not perfect.

http://seanbuckley.c...or-an-aquarium/

I like the no brace idea.

I just found this fun clip.

http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata

This post has been edited by snowflake311: 04 March 2010 - 06:53 PM

[PDSimon]

Skellie, on 04 March 2010 - 06:02 PM, said:

This seems like a very interesting thread!

Still quite new to fish keeping but have been interested for a number of years. I was never really a fan of 'traditional' tanks i.e. rectangular with a hood, so for my first tank bought a Biorb (will post some pics later). These tanks are notorious for being more of a design ornament than a tank but I, & more importantly my fish are happy with it!

Also, the Fluval Edge seem a very design conscientious tank. I would have probably bought one but the size is quite limiting.

Good Luck!

Yeah I think so too, you guys are certainly very helpful so thank you for all the posts

I am interested as well, but barely know anything but thinking about getting into a smaller beginner tank but thats another discussion for now

The fluval tanks do look really nice, looks like a good example to break down.

Cheers!

[fatheadminnow]

PDSimon, on 04 March 2010 - 01:08 PM, said:

Skellie, on 04 March 2010 - 06:02 PM, said:

This seems like a very interesting thread!

Still quite new to fish keeping but have been interested for a number of years. I was never really a fan of 'traditional' tanks i.e. rectangular with a hood, so for my first tank bought a Biorb (will post some pics later). These tanks are notorious for being more of a design ornament than a tank but I, & more importantly my fish are happy with it!

Also, the Fluval Edge seem a very design conscientious tank. I would have probably bought one but the size is quite limiting.

Good Luck!

Yeah I think so too, you guys are certainly very helpful so thank you for all the posts

I am interested as well, but barely know anything but thinking about getting into a smaller beginner tank but thats another discussion for now

The fluval tanks do look really nice, looks like a good example to break down.

Cheers!

The bigger the tank, the easier it is to maintain.

-FHM

[PDSimon]

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 06:05 PM, said:

PDSimon, on 04 March 2010 - 11:57 AM, said:

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 05:49 PM, said:

You are in the right place!

to TFF!!!!

I am sure someone will be on soon to help you out!

I think a heavily planted, high-tech tank is my favorite kind of tank!

-FHM

Thanks

high- tech does sound good, I am looking for any variations, especially in shape/form and any ways of enhancing user experience.

The best kind of tank is the good old rectangle tank. The tall narrow tanks and other alike, are not as good. You want a tank that has the most surface area of water to the atmosphere.

A 55 gallon hexagon tank cannot be stocked the same as a standard 55 gallon rectangle tank. The standard 55 gallon tank will be able to hold more fish, and bigger fish.

-FHM

Yeah, these are all very useful points. It might be that you sacrifice some user interaction for elegance so it's just understanding some of the basics and developing those to make something new and interesting.

[fatheadminnow]

PDSimon, on 04 March 2010 - 01:12 PM, said:

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 06:05 PM, said:

PDSimon, on 04 March 2010 - 11:57 AM, said:

fatheadminnow, on 04 March 2010 - 05:49 PM, said:

You are in the right place!

to TFF!!!!

I am sure someone will be on soon to help you out!

I think a heavily planted, high-tech tank is my favorite kind of tank!

-FHM

Thanks

high- tech does sound good, I am looking for any variations, especially in shape/form and any ways of enhancing user experience.

The best kind of tank is the good old rectangle tank. The tall narrow tanks and other alike, are not as good. You want a tank that has the most surface area of water to the atmosphere.

A 55 gallon hexagon tank cannot be stocked the same as a standard 55 gallon rectangle tank. The standard 55 gallon tank will be able to hold more fish, and bigger fish.

-FHM

Yeah, these are all very useful points. It might be that you sacrifice some user interaction for elegance so it's just understanding some of the basics and developing those to make something new and interesting.

Yup! Whatever makes you happy is the key! especially in this hobby!

-FHM

[PDSimon]

ianho, on 04 March 2010 - 06:07 PM, said:

i like corner tanks, i was thinking about this the other day and would love to see a stylish 'L' shaped tank on the market. I think these would look ace, with the right design.

That does sound nice, cheers

star4, on 04 March 2010 - 06:10 PM, said:

Hiya Simon and welcome. I have mainly Juwel tanks 180l upto 400l, I love the fact there is no big pieces of glass around the top to strenghten the tank its a large plastic surround, however I do find the brace bars (I have the older juwel tanks) very flimsy and easy to break and a pain when trying to catch fish!! From a design point of view I would love a large tank without bracebars, impossible probably unless I went for a trigon style (Triangular with a curved front). I hope this is the sort of info you are after

Hey and thank you! It is indeed, anything is possible, it's just who your aiming it at, something with complicated engineering would be very expensive Fortunately for me this is just research for a concept. I do find the idea of using plastics interesting from a manufacturing point of view because you could make some crazy shapes. They don't seem to look quite as nice as glass though and apparently scratch from reading this. Thanks

snowflake311, on 04 March 2010 - 06:51 PM, said:

If you could in some way make an acrylic tank that is hard to scratch then you would have something amazing.

As far as shape it's all been done. Tanks conected by tubes to other tanks like a hamster cage. Open bottom fish tanks are awesome.look it up on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata

if you really want to make a splash in the hobby fixing the material we use to make tanks would be best. Glass is heavy and cracks acrylic is light very hard to crack but scratched. They are not perfect.

http://seanbuckley.c...or-an-aquarium/

I like the no brace idea.

I just found this fun clip.

http://www.youtube.c...e=youtube_gdata

Thats interesting, i'm sure there are materials for it nowadays, it just depends on the price of it I guess! A bit like the scratch proof iPod screens... i'm sure theres a way of putting that over acrylic.

I will check out the vidoes and thanks

[star4]

I would love to be able to get "inside" my tank with my fish, something like those tanks at the sea life centre where you put your head in a hole and you are inside the tank. Having crazy ideas now about getting a biorb, cutting a hole in the bottom of my rio 400 and siliconing the biorb to the bottom

[meguro]

There's water on mars.

2 + 2 =

[fatheadminnow]

meguro, on 04 March 2010 - 01:55 PM, said:

There's water on mars.

2 + 2 =

? lol

-FHM

[llamalord305]

star4, on 04 March 2010 - 01:10 PM, said:

Hiya Simon and welcome. I have mainly Juwel tanks 180l upto 400l, I love the fact there is no big pieces of glass around the top to strenghten the tank its a large plastic surround, however I do find the brace bars (I have the older juwel tanks) very flimsy and easy to break and a pain when trying to catch fish!! From a design point of view I would love a large tank without bracebars, impossible probably unless I went for a trigon style (Triangular with a curved front). I hope this is the sort of info you are after

You know some large tanks have no bracebars?
I'm getting a 150 gallon soon, with no braces. It has really thick glass to compensate. It's pretty old, from the 70's.

[PDSimon]

star4, on 04 March 2010 - 07:49 PM, said:

I would love to be able to get "inside" my tank with my fish, something like those tanks at the sea life centre where you put your head in a hole and you are inside the tank. Having crazy ideas now about getting a biorb, cutting a hole in the bottom of my rio 400 and siliconing the biorb to the bottom

I thought you meant literally inside then! Good idea

[waterdrop]

Hi PDSimon and welcome to TFF!

I was unsure at first whether your query was about the actual glass boxes (the tank itself) or about designing a fish tank as a whole with rocks and plants and fish etc. but from the posts it looks like its the glass box so I had these thoughts:

I would think one of the hardest aspects of a design or marketing exercise, because of time limitations, would be the analysis of unintended consequences.

An example of this with tanks happened to me. I got my son a medium-small bowfront (106L/28G) tank. These are tanks that are usually a basic rectangular shape but with a curved front glass that bows out toward the viewer. I felt the bowed section up front would provide the opportunity for the fish to come out and allow the viewer to feel as though they were viewing those fish even more closely than usual, thus giving the viewer a new feeling of being a little more "in" the tank with the fish.

That form of "suspension of belief" when one can feel as though one is "in the tank with the fish" has always been a characteristic of the fundamental enjoyment that the hobby is founded on I believe, along with the joy of creating overall tank and caring for its occupants and showing it off.

The unintended consequence that arose from my choice of the bowfront shape was that the water and glass interface of the front curved panel was able to act like a true optical lens and what the lens did was cause the tank to appear more "shallow" (of less distance front to back on the inside) than it would have if the front glass had been flat.

Who, on a business design team (if they were designing the bowfront), would likely have noticed and pointed out this fact? Well, first of all, the design team would have need not only just a drawing of the shape, not only a model of the tank, not only a one-off model of the tank but, most importantly, would have needed to actually FILL the tank with water. Because only after the tank were filled and had things in it would the water/glass lens have gone into effect and only if there were things to look at front to back would one have noticed the effect. And only if one were experienced with the deeper joys of the viewing part of the hobby would one be able to put together the difference to the "experience" that this design deviation would initiate.

So, who on the design team would have noticed? Well, I guess if there were an optical engineer on the team.. but what small industrial design team for tanks would include someone like that? Unlikely, I think. It could have been an artist. It could have been a hobbyist. Actually it could have been anybody, so I guess the thought there is to be prepared to listen to anyone who is involved in your process.

What's another major example unintended consequences when a company might design a new tank shape? Well, there's a whole world of practical things the hobbyist must worry about. There's the "parts ecosystem." Will there be hoods and lights and other bits of equipment to choose from or will the new "out of the box" design limit the customer/hobbyist to buying from just that tank supplier? So choice and aquisition of other items that must work -with- the tank is important.

Another thing like this are the mainenance aspects. Can all parts of the tank be easily reached? Can the substrate be reached and worked with? Is there room for different sized nets and other things to be moved around the tank? Can large objects be put in and out? Can the full top surface be accessed? Is there edge room from which objects can hang? Is there access to inner side surfaces on which things can be suction cupped?

Finally, let me just mention that perhaps the most important aspect of all, in tank design, is the aspect of the environmental viability that the tank provides to its occupants, animals, plants and bacteria. This is the subject FHM touches on above, talking about surface area to volume ratio. I'll just leave this whole aspect unexplored, with only the comment that this is one of the main areas of the hobby where it takes time (on a forum such as this for instance) for knowledge and wisdom to be passed from experienced hobbyists to beginners. Over in the "Your new freshwater tank" section we get to watch that a lot.

~~waterdrop~~

[tom130691]

have a look at the bottemless tank