Choosing an Aquarium.
Aquariums are divided into two types: decorative (collection, species, Dutch, paludarium, aqua terrarium) and special (spawning, incubators, rearing, quarantine and treatment, experimental, etc.). For most future aquarium owners, the choice is determined by the shape and size of the aquarium, as well as its finish.
Aquariums often have very unusual shapes, such as a high and strangely curved column. The main thing here is the perfect combination with the room design. Currently, aquariums can be of any shape and volume, having glass bent in such a way as to ensure maximum harmony with the interior of the room.
As a rule, such aquariums are built into unused niches, openings, ready-made furniture, or act as room dividers, serving as a kind of wall lamp creating a pleasant twilight. But we must remember that this is not just entertainment or interior decoration. Any decisions regarding placement, lighting, and decoration must be made based on the interests of its inhabitants. There are many “branded” aquariums on sale (made in Italy, Germany, France, etc.) and of our “local” production, they differ in size, shape, and design features.
Most aquariums are currently glued, so when buying, carefully inspect the aquarium to ensure there are no cracks, chipped corners, scratches, or various damages to the glass surface. The glue in the seams should be applied in an even layer – without voids. This point is most important, because if the aquarium was made with violations of the production technology or has damage, later, when filled with water, it may simply leak or crack.
Glass part of the aquarium. This part can be of various shapes, most often made of silicate glass or acrylic glass (also called plexiglass). The differences between these materials are quite significant. If the interior requires a large volume and the installation location allows it, it is wiser to choose acrylic in this case. This material comes in different colors, so you can choose them by contrast. Small and medium rectangular containers will be cheaper to make of glass.
Silicate glass exceeds acrylic in density many times over. With equal volumes, an acrylic aquarium will weigh 3-6 times less than a silicate one. However, we must not forget that the main load on the base is exerted by water and decorations, not the aquarium itself. Glass aquariums are very demanding on the quality of the cabinet base, specifically, the ideal flatness of its surface. An inaccurately adjusted cabinet surface is the most common cause of aquarium breakage. It is also not recommended to allow any kind of protrusion (hanging) of the aquarium dimensions beyond the edges of the base. It is better if the base is slightly larger than the bottom area of the aquarium (1-2 mm). Plexiglass insulates water heat better than ordinary glass.
Silicate glass is harder and more brittle, it is difficult to scratch, but can be broken if desired. In addition, a scratch violates the so-called surface tension film of the glass, thereby reducing its strength. If a groove is made on the glass anyway, removing it without a trace will be practically impossible. No matter how hard the glass seems, it still has a rather fragile structure, and if struck with a hard object on one of the walls, all the contents of the aquarium end up on the floor.
The compressive and tensile strength of glass is quite high, while its bending and impact strength is significantly lower. An abrasively damaged glass surface not only looks untidy, but is also a factor that significantly reduces the strength of the aquarium. This recommendation is especially relevant when buying used aquariums. The larger the glass size, the lower the strength of this sample. Therefore, the longer the aquarium, the stronger the glass from which it is made must be.
Any crack in the glass starts at the location of a potential crack source. This potential source can be a location of mechanical or thermal stress, a foreign inclusion, mechanical damage (chip, scratch), heterogeneity, etc. Basically, potential sources of cracks are located in the near-surface layers.
Glass etching removes a thin near-surface layer along with a large part of these very potential sources. In addition, during etching, the edges of cracks and scratches are rounded, making them safer. This is the reason for increasing glass strength by etching.
Rectangular aquariums are usually made of silicate glass. There is a rather complex technology for producing bent glass, however, in an aquarium, they produce a strong lens effect, creating optical distortions of “aquarium reality”. Technological holes can be easily drilled in the wall of an acrylic aquarium: this need sometimes arises when the tank is already in operation. In the case of a glass aquarium, drilling is excluded.
Acrylic glass is a lighter, softer, more viscous, and plastic material; it is difficult to break, but easy to scratch. Scratches on the walls of an acrylic aquarium can be avoided if you wipe them with soft flannel or special wipes for LCD monitors. Before wiping the acrylic surface, you must make sure that there is not even a hint of abrasive on the wipe and the surface itself. The same applies to the inner surface of the acrylic aquarium – it must be cleaned with a coarse-pored sponge used in aquarium filters.
At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that grains of sand from the bottom do not accidentally get between the sponge and the glass. Otherwise, you will have to completely empty the aquarium and polish the walls from the inside. Impacts that are critical for a glass aquarium will leave only light scratches on the walls of an acrylic aquarium, which can later be removed by polishing.
Aquariums with arc, spherical elements, so-called panoramic aquariums of various variations, are more often made of acrylic glass, therefore plexiglass aquariums are more diverse than ordinary glass aquariums. During the manufacture of the aquarium, its edges are welded to each other, and therefore it simply cannot leak. Sheets can be bent along vertical folds or welded to each other at right angles after cutting.
In addition, acrylic glass is safer from injuries, and for installation in high-risk areas, aquariums made of it should be used. The bottom of acrylic aquariums behaves much more stably with uneven bases. It is permissible to install them with small bottom protrusions beyond the podium and even hang them from the ceiling, provided the acrylic bottom is sufficiently thick.
Quality and thickness of glass. Quality – the glass must be scratch-free, of uniform transparency, and free of chips and cavities. Look closely at the glass: even the most minor scratch, after filling with water and turning on the lighting, will be very noticeable, but nothing can be changed anymore. Thickness depends on the height of the aquarium, since the side walls bear a load many times exceeding the pressure on the bottom – the higher the aquarium, the greater the thickness should be. At the same time, it is desirable that the bottom is multilayered. Among aquariums of the same volume, rectangular aquariums are the cheapest; corner and panoramic aquariums will cost more. Aquariums with bent glass are always more expensive than similar ones with flat glass.
The greater the number of bent walls, the greater this price difference. This is due both to the additional technological operation of slumping (bending) the glass and to the additional complexity in manufacturing a curved bottom, stiffening ribs, etc. Moreover, the cost of an aquarium in which the bent wall is located with a bend outward (convexity) should not differ much from the cost of an aquarium with a bend inward (concavity), since the manufacturing complexity is almost the same, although the volumes of the concave and convex aquariums will be different.
The main advantage of aquariums with bent (in 98% convex) glass is the optical lens effect that occurs when viewing the aquarium through curved glass. The contents of the aquarium are slightly increased in size, the volume visually seems larger than it actually is. An aquarium with curved glass looks like an aquarium with flat glass having a much larger volume. The greater the bending curvature, the stronger the described effect.
Seam quality. Seams can tell a lot about the quality of the product. They should be very neat, without “growths, bumps, and streaks”. The presence of silicone stains on the glass indicates low manufacturing quality. The color of silicone does not matter: it can be either transparent or black. Silicone has the greatest adhesion specifically to glass. Experiments by many aquarists have shown that if the gluing technology is observed, the glass will burst faster than the silicone will tear or peel off.
Glass edges. Pay special attention to the edges of the glass. They must be polished. This is a good indicator of the quality of the aquarium as a whole. Glass cut by a insufficiently experienced person has a large number of chips on the edges, which can eventually turn into cracks. Polishing eliminates this flaw. Aquariums with polished edges are definitely more expensive than artisan aquariums. Firstly, it is safe from the point of view of cuts, and secondly, polishing removes micro-cracks formed as a result of glass cutting. Such cracks can lead to glass destruction in large-volume aquariums.
Stiffening ribs are strips of glass to strengthen the walls of the aquarium to prevent them from bending under water pressure. They have the same thickness as the walls of the aquarium, the length is equal to the inner length of the aquarium, and the width is 2-5 cm. In vessels longer than 150 cm, stiffening ribs are mandatory. They are glued perpendicularly to the front and side glass from the side of the front and back glass, at a distance of 2-3 cm from the top. Sometimes these ribs are connected by one or more glass bridges.
In addition to providing strength, the presence of stiffening ribs has other useful properties. Firstly, it is convenient to place a cover glass on it, and secondly, it makes carrying easier. When the aquarium length is more than 1.5 meters, ties are required in addition to stiffening ribs. These are strips of glass of the same thickness and width as the stiffening ribs. They are glued to the stiffening ribs from below or near the bottom. The width of each tie is 3-5 cm. In some aquariums, thin strips of glass are glued on top of the bottom along its perimeter, adjacent to the walls of the aquarium. Externally, they resemble stiffening ribs located at the top of the aquarium, but they are glued there for a different purpose. This glass increases the gluing area of the bottom with the side walls of the aquarium, thereby increasing the strength of these joints.
Choosing an aquarium. Cabinet, Cover, Lighting, Equipment.
