You’ve decided you want to add an aquarium to your home or office. First off, congratulations! You’ve taken the first step to unlocking a whole new world of benefits and enjoyment. Now what? You’ve entered a world of unlimited options and possibilities. It can be overwhelming. Now we’re a bit biased, but we highly recommend working through this process with a professional aquarium company. The internet has made a vast amount of knowledge available to the aspiring aquarium owner. While a great resource, the one thing the internet cannot provide is years of experience. Working hands on, day in and day out, tackling various problems with carefully vetted solutions, knowing what works and what doesn’t, etc. It’s a cache of understanding that really doesn’t translate well to a Google search. Did I mention Aqua FX Aquariums has been in business for over 10 years? And is staffed by expert aquarists with a combined 40 plus years of experience? When it comes to making the decision to invest into a successful, enjoyable, long-term aquatic environment, we cannot stress how important it is to work with an experienced company.
You’ve got some decisions to make, actually you have a lot to make.
That said, you’ve got some decisions to make, actually you have a lot to make. This series of articles is designed to give you an outline of what decisions are important enough for you spend some thought on, regardless of how much you want to, or don’t want to, be involved with your aquarium. Aqua FX Aquariums client base ranges from hardcore hobbyists who know as much about aquaria as we do, to individuals who just simply say, “Get it done” and really don’t want any involvement in the process. This series is set up to inform the potential aquarium owners in between those two extremes.
First things first – Where you gonna put this thing?
If you’ve decided that you want an aquarium, chances are you’ve got an idea where you’d like to put it. If not (we’ve had clients who aren’t sure where they want a tank, they just know they want one) that’s ok too! While an aquarium can be put almost anywhere, we start our advice with a “don’t” first. Direct sunlight. You really don’t want your aquarium where it is going to get a lot of direct sun. Accelerated algae growth (gets dirty quickly) and possible temperature issues make it a bad choice. That said, if you absolutely need to have it in direct sun, we’ve learned many different tricks over the years to make it do-able, just not preferable.
Custom built-in or freestanding?
A freestanding aquarium with cabinetry or an in-wall custom built in? That’s your first big decision. Which look do you prefer?
Now that you’ve decided where you’d like your aquarium and if you’re doing a built-in or freestanding system, we can start to hone those choices even more. Will the aquarium be viewed primarily while sitting (like in a living room) or standing? (like in a home bar) We can change both the height of the actual aquarium and the height of the stand to optimize the viewing experience. It’s those little things that we have the experience not to overlook. So that when the finished product is realized your expectations are not only met but exceeded.