Minimalism inside and outside of the aquarium

[Art]

Courtesy of and copyright Adrian Myers

A long time ago I did a ScapeFu post about making the outside of the aquarium as beautiful as the inside. Twelve years ago, in fact! Wow, I'm getting old!

I ran into the above pictured setup by Adrian Myers and it really hit me. This is what I was thinking about all those years ago. Beautiful job, inside and out of the aquarium!

Now, I don't know if Adrian has a spouse or partner, so I won't ask how he managed to get an entire corner of a room for this. I'll just wish I had this much space for my set up. That being said, even if I did have this much space, I couldn't make it look as nice as this. For goodness sake, even the carpet matches the overall theme! Everything from carpet to wallpaper and fish sculpture! Nice!

I love the industrial feel combined with the nature of the aquarium. Really showcases everything with the CO2 cylinders and ADA Jet filters seamlessly moving into the background. I'm going to take a brillo pad and sandpaper to my cylinder after seeing these!

What do you think? Too stark for you or just a well done minimalist setup?

Are you an open stand type or do you need to hide the "wires" like me?

 

[Art]

By the way, Adrian is serious. Here's another one of his tanks:

 

[shopaquariumfish.com]

By the way, Adrian is serious. Here's another one of his tanks:

View attachment 2570

Those are beautiful scapes Art! I've had open and closed stands. I think open can be nice and organized. The stainless steal is also a very nice touch. I agree with the industrial look. In my closed stands, there always tends to be a mess lol.

 

[Dennis Wong]

We are experimenting with acrylic stands in the 2hr lab for a floating tank concept. Relatively stable for 2ft dimension

 

[Jhardee85]

The exposed look nice when you have nice equipment to showcase and clean cord management. I’m pretty limited by my environment with two toddlers running around.

 

[Art]

floating tank concept.

I believe ADA uses glass, if I'm not mistaken. I know acrylic can be very strong but I'm glad you're experimenting. Makes me nervous with the weight involved.

 

[Art]

two toddlers running around.

I remember those days... Hide everything.

 

[Ady34]

We are experimenting with acrylic stands in the 2hr lab for a floating tank concept. Relatively stable for 2ft dimension
View attachment 2581

Nice, clear stands do offer the most floating visual.

Those are beautiful scapes Art! I've had open and closed stands. I think open can be nice and organized. The stainless steal is also a very nice touch. I agree with the industrial look. In my closed stands, there always tends to be a mess lol.

Ha, most of my cabinets have always been untidy, maintenence equipment hidden away

The exposed look nice when you have nice equipment to showcase and clean cord management. I’m pretty limited by my environment with two toddlers running around.
View attachment 2582

Yeah, my kids are older now so it’s less of an issue. Like you, when they were young this wouldn’t have been an option.

I believe ADA uses glass, if I'm not mistaken. I know acrylic can be very strong but I'm glad you're experimenting. Makes me nervous with the weight involved.

Yeah I have a glass stand too, beautiful but heavy. Acrylic would be more lightweight and perhaps a little more forgiving but not quite as ‘crisp’ looking over the longer term.


Here’s an updated image with a little more ‘clutter’.
Hopefully it won’t be too long until I get the 60 planted up.


This strong industrial look with the open stands isn’t for everyone, and won’t fit with every home decor, but I really love it and it seems to work in my little corner.
Thanks for the post Art, my wife is very understanding but I’ve always had aquariums so they’ve always been part of our home….there’s only two now so that’s better than it used to be

Perhaps it looked even more minimalist with only the one set up……

 

[Art]

I don't know about your wife but, IMO, it looks better with the two tanks!

I see you have a few of the large canister filters. Are they ADA Super Jets? Any leak issues?

 

[Ady34]

I don't know about your wife but, IMO, it looks better with the two tanks!

I see you have a few of the large canister filters. Are they ADA Super Jets? Any leak issues?

Hi, thanks, it’s taking me a little time to get used to the two together.
Yes superjet 600s, absolutely no leak issues whatsoever