home Consultations Round aquarium without fish. Ball or round aquarium. Are there special aquariums for bettas?

Round aquarium without fish. Ball or round aquarium. Are there special aquariums for bettas?

Content:

Experienced aquarists prefer rectangular aquariums, while they are skeptical about round tanks. You may hear that a round aquarium is inconvenient to maintain, it is dangerous for the health of the fish, and its care is not worth it.

In fact, keeping a flask has a number of disadvantages. But following certain rules and knowing which fish are suitable will ensure a comfortable life for the inhabitants for many years. And, of course, it will be an excellent interior decoration.

Flaws

To begin with, it is still worth identifying the main disadvantages of a round aquarium.

Small volume. Standard sizes of round containers are 10, 20 or 30 liters. A small round aquarium may not be suitable for an inexperienced aquarist. The round container must also be equipped with a filter and other devices.
Size. The volume will not allow you to hold any type of fish. You won't be able to go wild with plants either.
Number of inhabitants. A space of 10, 20 or 30 liters will allow you to keep two or three fish. Plus, these fish should be small in size and have a number of other qualities, which will be discussed below.
Distortion. A glass aquarium has curved walls that will reflect light and create shadows, giving the illusion of movement. Fish prone to stress will suffer.
Inconvenience. It is more difficult to maintain such an aquarium. It is necessary to carefully monitor the filter - it gets dirty faster. Maintaining it is troublesome, and frequent water changes and cleaning the walls will become unnecessary stress for the fish.
Oxygen. Due to its shape, the oxygen layer in the flask is small. There will be less dissolved oxygen in the water, so you should not choose fish that are demanding of this parameter.

Equipment

Required equipment includes:

filter;
compressor;
heater;
backlight;
stand.

If you are still interested in a round aquarium, you should be careful about its shortcomings, but not be afraid of them. First, decide on the volume. As mentioned above, the average volume of round aquariums is 10 liters, but you can purchase containers of 20 or 30 liters.

You will need special equipment to create cozy conditions. These are a compressor, a bottom filter and a heater. It is also necessary to provide a glass aquarium with lighting, although it will be difficult to install it yourself. In order not to complicate your life, it is better to purchase a container with a built-in lamp.

As for the rest, the heater, filter and compressor are purchased separately. At the pet store you can find special models for round containers - for example, a round bottom filter or a convenient compressor that can be hidden in tight spaces. There are aquariums with a built-in filter.

In addition to the equipment, you will need a lid for a round aquarium. She has several tasks at once:

prevents fish from jumping out of the container;
serves as protection from curious cats who may want to eat the fish;
A lighting fixture is attached to the cover.

Finding the cover separately can be difficult. This is the second reason why it is better to choose a round aquarium with a lid. The aquarium stand is included in the kit, but it can be made to order or purchased separately in the store.

Choosing fish

Even if the filter, compressor and heater are selected perfectly, not all types of fish can be kept in 10, 20 or 30 liters of water. So which fish should not be placed in a flask?

Large ones. Which require several tens of liters per individual will die immediately in a round aquarium.
Nervous. Keeping fish that are sensitive to change is impossible in a flask. No matter how luxurious a filter or heater you equip the flask with, it always distorts light and shadow, and this will constantly frighten the fish.
Packy. Fish that are accustomed to living in schools will wither away. They will suffer from lack of space. And it will not be possible to start a full-fledged flock, which will become additional stress.

It is important to take into account that the aquarium will allow you to establish normal care for only one or two individuals. Baby guppies and neons should not exceed 10 in number.

By the way, the selection of equipment should be done after you have decided on the type of fish that will live in your planned aqua world.

gold fish

No matter how much you would like to decorate your home with a flask with a golden beauty inside, it is better to abandon the idea.

Firstly, goldfish are classified as large species. A ball aquarium has a small volume: one fish requires at least 20-30 liters, but not 10. If you buy an aquarium of 20 or 30 liters, the goldfish will be uncomfortable, even if you equip the aquarium with a filter. You can opt for smaller varieties of goldfish, such as telescopes.

Once you decide to get a goldfish, you will have to really clean the aquarium often, carefully control the amount of food, and change the water. Is it worth the hassle of keeping one goldfish (which will be uncomfortable anyway)?

Cockerels

Another popular flask inhabitant is the cockerel. Keeping fish is not a problem, so it is preferred by lovers of round containers. In addition, novice aquarists often get a betta.

One betta needs about 30 liters of water. They say that it can be kept in a 10-liter volume, but it will not be enough for the fish. The cockerel breathes atmospheric air, but a compressor still won’t hurt. Be sure to leave enough air space on the surface of the betta's aquarium.

Equipment you will need is a heater and a filter. The cockerel loves warmth, the temperature should be about 23-29 degrees. Temperatures may vary for different types of bettas. The aquarium must also be equipped with lighting.

If you choose to keep a cockerel, take care of shelter for the fish. The cockerel needs a place to hide for a while. In addition, the betta, like other fish, needs cleanliness. And although it is called unpretentious, this does not mean that you need to start an aquarium, not equip it with a filter and not take care of the fish.

The round aquarium is popular among aquarium hobbyists. It is easy to install, does not take up much space and fits effectively into any interior. But since living creatures live in the aquarium, it is necessary to think about their proper maintenance and care. A round aquarium has some specifics and requires the right approach.

Volume in liters

On the shelves of pet stores there is a wide range of aquariums, including round ones, of different sizes: from 5 to 40-50 or more liters. A round 5 liter aquarium is essentially a large glass jar, which will become not a comfortable home, but a prison for the fish. It is almost impossible to equip it with even the minimum necessary equipment - a filter and a compressor. A five-liter container can only be used for depositing fry.

A round aquarium of 20 liters or more is already a suitable option for keeping fish. In such a volume, you can install enough equipment, house several fish and make their existence comfortable and as safe as possible for health.

Ecologically clean living environment

What and how to equip

To keep the water clean, a compact bottom filter with gravel is placed in a round aquarium. The principle of operation of such a filter: a pump drives a layer of water through it, dirt is retained by gravel - the filter material. A logical pattern - the larger the volume of the aquarium, the more powerful the pump should be, the more expensive the filter. A filter with a minimally powerful pump is suitable for a volume of 10 liters. If you are greedy and do not install a filter, you will have to change the water daily, which is very stressful for the fish and will ultimately kill them.

A round aquarium has a relatively small surface area, which leads to oxygen deficiency. A special compressor will saturate the water with vital air. You need to buy it labeled “for round aquariums.” The principle of choice is the same as for filters - the larger the volume of the aquarium, the more powerful and more expensive the compressor. For a container of 20-40 liters, a compressor with minimal power is suitable.

Lighting is necessary not only for fish, but also for green algae. Thanks to light, the process of photosynthesis occurs in their leaves, which enriches the water with oxygen. It is better to place the lamp on top, not close to the glass, so that it does not burst. It is best to use regular incandescent lamps, because... their spectrum is as close as possible to the solar spectrum. In this case, the optimal brightness is set at the rate of 1-2 watts per 1 liter of water. It is advisable to buy round aquariums with lighting included.

Everything is not so complicated, and even a novice amateur can properly arrange a round aquarium.

Decorating the aquarium

To make the aquarium resemble the underwater world, all installed equipment must be camouflaged:

Place soil 4-5 cm high on the bottom to cover the filter. For the soil in a round aquarium, it is better to use gravel or small dark pebbles;
plant 2-3 living plants in the ground;
lower the intestine from the aerator (compressor) into a bamboo hollow tube, from which air bubbles will float beautifully;
Unfortunately, the limited bottom area will not allow you to decorate a round aquarium with shipwrecks or castle ruins. But some kind of house or shell would fit here. This is both aesthetically pleasing and the fish feel protected in the shelter.

What fish are suitable for keeping in a round aquarium?

The round shape limits the movement of fish, in addition, the specific refraction of light creates the effect of a lens. All this negatively affects the health of the fish. Nervous, weak individuals cannot survive in such harsh conditions. Therefore, in order for a round aquarium to please the eye, you need to carefully approach the issue of choosing guests.

It is necessary to populate a round aquarium with small, non-schooling fish in limited quantities. Overpopulation will immediately affect the health of residents. Cockerels, lalius, catfish (they are also useful because they clean the walls of the aquarium), guppies, goldfish, small gouramis, ancistrus, swordtails, platies, molynesias, neons, freshwater shrimp and decorative snails take root well in a round aquarium.

It is better to feed the fish in a round aquarium dry food in small portions so that the fish eat it immediately without leaving any residue. Otherwise, excess feed will cake on the bottom and pollute the water.

A round aquarium can become a significant detail in the interior of a room. Quite a few aquarists admitted that they purchased a round flask so that a luxurious goldfish would swim in it. Of course, in reality the aquarium turned out completely different. The idea arose not out of love for nature, but out of the search for an effective interior solution.

Placing a round aquarium indoors involves choosing an open location: on a table, on a separate stand, or mounted on a wall. A semicircular aquarium can also be mounted on the wall. The shape of the container gives the underwater world an interesting look. From different angles, aquatic life and vegetation will look different.

How to register it?

Designing a round aquarium requires a special approach. An aquarium is not only an interior object. Its main function is to create conditions for the life of aquatic creatures. Therefore, you will have to purchase special equipment for a round aquarium. Without it, the fish will not be able to survive.

It is necessary to place a compressor, a heater, a filter in the flask, and provide lighting. Conventional devices will not work; they will stand out too much in the water space. When purchasing, you should choose models that indicate “for a round aquarium.” The shape and dimensions allow them to be carefully placed so as to least spoil the appearance.

Pebbles are placed scattered at the bottom, and plants take root in them. Equipment for a round aquarium is hidden as much as possible by plant shoots. It is advisable to select aquatic plants such that they do not hide the main inhabitants with their bizarre appearance. And pay special attention to the shape and size of the pebbles. Remember, in a round aquarium all the details look more prominent. Therefore, any defect is immediately noticeable.

Decor

The specific shape and small volume do not allow creating thematic landscapes with large-scale decoration in the form of ship wrecks or castle ruins. However, when decorating a round aquarium, you can use other design techniques. For example, among the stones you can place a miniature model of a chest from a pirate ship. Or lay out several fragments of ethnic ceramics.

The main principle on which the decor of an aquarium space of this shape is based is minimalism. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the underwater inhabitants behind all the elements.

The lid for a round aquarium performs several functions: it prevents fish from jumping out, or unusual objects getting inside, it protects animals from children and cats, and also serves as a place for attaching the backlight. Therefore, it is better to purchase an aquarium with a lid right away, rather than looking for the right model later. A lid for a round aquarium can only be purchased in specialized stores. It is more difficult to find a lid just for a semicircular aquarium.

Fish

In a round container, light is refracted in a unique way. According to a common opinion among aquarists, not all fish are able to survive in such conditions. Firstly, living beings may experience stress due to distortions in the surrounding reality, and secondly, this shortens the lifespan of nervous fish. Although the main limitation is the amount of space. Fish for a round aquarium are only suitable for small sizes. You should definitely place a small catfish here so that it cleans the glass of green deposits. Neons, cockerels, and laliuses will feel great in the water. Goldfish in small quantities grow poorly and often get sick. The number of small fish should be maintained at the same level. Before adding neons here, you should make calculations: the amount is determined by the volume of the aquarium. Overpopulation will immediately affect the health of the fish and the general appearance of the artificial reservoir. The power of the equipment for the aquarium is selected in accordance with the needs of a specific group of fish.

It is better if the fish for a round aquarium are bright and noticeable. For example, some types of guppies.

Aquarium care

Cleaning a round aquarium has its own specifics. Since it has a small volume, approximately 20% of the water should be replaced every week. Add settled or filtered water.

Particular attention is paid to cleaning glass. Experienced aquarists advise placing living creatures inside that eat algae: catfish, snails. The bending of the glass does not allow the use of conventional brushes. Therefore, craftsmen have adapted to clear plaque using a piece of women's nylon tights.

To remove fish excrement, you need to use a siphon, approximately once every two months. In a round aquarium, the shape of the bottom eliminates the creation of “dead zones”, so debris is removed especially well. Part of it accumulates in the biofilter, and the rest
removed by siphon.

Red aquarium on video

What kind of fish should I put in a 10 liter aquarium?

How to set balance in a mini tank?

Caring for a small aquarium, on the one hand, is easy, but on the other, it will cause trouble. Choose a rectangular mini tank with straight and smooth walls. They are convenient to clean with a scraper and maintain. If the container is round, then getting to its corners will be inconvenient and difficult to clean. A 10-liter aquarium gets dirty faster than a 50-100-liter one. Water changes will have to be done more often, as well as comprehensive cleaning, which is not beneficial for the biobalance of the aquatic environment and the health of the fish.

The main disadvantage of mini tanks is the small amount of water. It won't hold a lot of fish. You can put 1-2 fish there, and no more. In a large aquarium, water changes are not very noticeable, but in a small aquarium it is a lot of stress. Any changes in the biological balance: death of fish, overfeeding, pollution immediately affect the aquatic environment. The only thing that can be done is to adjust the water parameters in time, carefully feed the fish, and clean the bottom.

See how soil siphoning occurs in a nano aquarium.

You need to care for a small aquarium in the same way as a large one. Once a week you need to change 10-15% of the water, if necessary. To avoid stress for the fish, do not completely replace the water, try to add it in small portions. The ideal aquarium filter for such a tank is a pump with an internal sponge. The sponge should not be washed under running water, otherwise all the beneficial bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle will die.

If you choose the smallest tank, it will be almost impossible to install plants and decorations in it. Some skillfully plant dwarf plants even in 3-liter jars, but they are inconvenient to care for. In a 10-liter tank it is possible to keep dwarf Anubias, dwarf arrowhead, Echinodorus “dwarf Amazon”, and dwarf Cryptocoryne. Plants for a small aquarium are able to control the level of nitrites, nitrates and ammonia, and create hiding places for fish. Make sure there is soil in the aquarium. Choose a substrate that is processed, clean, and without paint. Remember that it is very difficult to clean out a layer of plaque from aquariums of minimal size with a regular scraper.

Now about feeding. As you know, overfeeding not only harms the health of the fish, but also negatively affects the quality of water. Everything uneaten decomposes, turning into harmful impurities and bacteria. Decay products settle on the bottom and frames of the tank, disrupting the stability of the biological environment. The fish must be well-fed; hunger is also not an option. Once a week, arrange fasting days for the fish. Add food in 4-6 grains, as large as your pet can swallow. What is not eaten must be removed with a gauze net.

Give fish that live in a small 10-20 liter nursery as much food as they can eat in 2-6 minutes. Flakes, live food, and sinking pellets are fine. They sink slowly and do not pollute the environment. If you have bottom-dwelling catfish, they will eat everything on their own. The fish can be fed with their usual nutritious food without disturbing their diet. It is important to clean everything on time.

See how to decorate a small aquarium.

What kind of fish is suitable for a mini aquarium?

What fish can be kept in mini aquariums? Pets with miniature body sizes should be placed in a small 10-20 liter tank. Fish 2-6 centimeters in length will tolerate this volume of water. But remember that even small fish want to swim in a spacious environment. They should not be kept in containers that will restrict movement. Territorial and aggressive fish should not be placed in mini aquariums. Which ones should not be placed in 10-liter aquariums? These are swordtails, medium-sized barbs, cichlids, gourami, and zebrafish. They have an active and energetic disposition and require more hiding space.

In an aquarium of 10-20 liters you can put small barbs, Gertrude pseudomugil, rice fish, cherry barbs, rasbor, erythrozonus, neons, Amanda tetra. You can also keep the following fish and shrimp there: otocinclus catfish, corydoras, amano shrimp, cherry shrimp, copper tetra. Representatives of the genus Poeciliaceae, viviparous fish, get along well in mini tanks.

You need to buy fish breeds with strong immunity, that is, not purebred fish, but hybrids. If you do not have the opportunity to buy a spacious “house” for your small pet, you need to buy a small aquarium with a capacity of 10 liters. The well-known Siamese cockerels are also often housed there. The cockerel can live alone and does not get along with its relatives; it is a fighting fish, after all.

Pros of a round aquarium

A round aquarium will become an interesting detail of the interior of the room. Aquarists admitted that they purchased a round flask so that a luxurious goldfish would swim in it. The reality turned out to be different. The idea arose not out of love for nature, but out of the search for an effective interior solution.

Placing a round aquarium indoors involves choosing an open location: on a table, on a separate stand, or mounted on a wall. By the way, the semicircular aquarium on the wall looks interesting.

Aquatic life looks different from different angles. For example, like in the video.

Decorating a round aquarium

The specific shape and small volume do not allow creating thematic landscapes with large-scale decoration in the form of ship wrecks or castle ruins. When decorating a round aquarium, other design techniques are used. For example, among the stones they place a miniature model of a chest from a pirate ship or lay out fragments of ethnic ceramics. The main principle of decorating the space of a round aquarium is minimalism. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the underwater inhabitants behind the elements.

To remove fish excrement, use a siphon twice a month. In a round aquarium, the shape of the bottom eliminates the creation of dead zones, so debris is collected well. Some accumulates in the biofilter, and the rest is removed by a siphon.

Fish for a round aquarium

Bright, noticeable small fish are suitable. Neons, cockerels, laliuses, and guppies will look great. Before adding fish, make calculations: the stocking density is determined by the volume of the aquarium or use an aquarium calculator. The power of the equipment is selected in accordance with the needs of a specific group of fish. Be sure to add a small catfish to clean the glass of green deposits.

An interesting option for populating a round aquarium is cherry shrimp. The only equipment required is lighting, and oxygen and a filter are not required. Place soil, driftwood, and a lump of moss at the bottom. Remember to do weekly partial water changes.

Disadvantages of round acarium

Designing a round aquarium requires a special approach, because a glass ball is not only an interior object, its main function is to create conditions for the life of aquatic creatures. Therefore, you will have to purchase special equipment for a round aquarium. Without it, the fish will not be able to survive.

Place a compressor, heater, filter in the flask, and provide lighting. Standard appliances will not work - they stand out too much. When purchasing, choose models marked “for a round aquarium,” whose shape and dimensions allow you to neatly place the equipment.

At the bottom there is a scattering of pebbles, among which plants take root. Choose such that the plants do not hide their inhabitants with their bizarre appearance. Pay attention to the shape and size of the soil particles because any defect will become noticeable due to the effect of a magnifying glass.

In a round container, light is refracted in a unique way. Due to environmental distortions, fish experience stress, and the life expectancy of fish is reduced. Although the main limiter is the volume of the aquarium.

Cover for round aquarium performs several functions: prevents fish from jumping out, atypical objects from getting inside, protects animals from children and cats, and also serves as a place for attaching the backlight. We recommend purchasing an aquarium with a lid immediately, rather than searching for the right model later. Look for a lid for a round aquarium in specialized stores. It is more difficult to find a lid for a semicircular aquarium.

COMMENTS ON THE TOPIC

Add your comment

The build quality of modern aquariums from well-known manufacturers is not satisfactory, but sometimes, during the operation of the aquarium, annoying flaws arise in the form of a leak in the aquarium. What to do and how to quickly fix this? Of course, you can immediately go to the store for a new one...

The holiday season is in full swing. Aquarists are also people, not made of iron, they make plans and leave home on vacation, leaving the fish in the care of neighbors or friends. What to do if there are none? How to prepare aquarium fish for your absence, how to survive your absence...

In blue-green algae, like in bacteria, the nuclear material is not delimited by a membrane from the rest of the cell contents; the inner layer of the cell membrane consists of murein and is sensitive to the action of the enzyme lysozyme. Blue-green algae are characterized by...

Why do we recommend a separate aquarium for mosses? If you have decided to take up mosses professionally, you should provide them with a separate aquarium adapted for them. Of course, mosses can be kept and bred in an herbalist. However, we must keep in mind that short-term...

European painters of the 19th century, when depicting an aquarium, always painted a glass ball with goldfish inside. It was in this form that the aquarium came to Europe from the birthplace of aquarium art - from China, where fish were kept in round vases, initially porcelain, and with the advent of transparent types of glass - in glass. And the rectangular shape of glass reservoirs familiar to us all arose only at the end of the century before last. But even today, when most people who are far from our hobby hear the word “aquarium,” they imagine a water world enclosed in a ball.

Round aquariums were widely distributed in our country and abroad until the mid-1960s, when they gradually began to be replaced by the “classics” that were familiar to us. Already in the 80s they were looked at as an unusual retro, and at the beginning of this century, with the spread of the technological approach to aquarium keeping, among people who were passionate about it, it became somehow indecent to even mention glass balls. The belief has spread that such a container is generally unsuitable as an aquarium, harmful to the health of the fish and to the eyes of the observer... However, history likes to repeat itself. Today, with the advent of a new generation of convenient equipment and the spread of fashion for miniature and subminiature "nano-aquariums", glass balls have launched a counter-offensive. And I must say, quite successful.

If you had told me three or four years ago that I would be giving advice on equipping a round aquarium, I would have twirled my finger at my temple. Indeed, I gave my last round aquarium to a lover of flower arrangements about thirty years ago, and when Germany and Austria adopted an addition to the law on cruelty to animals, banning the use of round aquariums for their intended purpose on their territory, I greatly welcomed this initiative. But everything is changing. And today we can say with confidence: the round aquarium is back! The development of special lamps, filters and other equipment for spherical tanks by the world's leading aquarium companies today makes it possible to create in them a completely comfortable environment for aquarium inhabitants, where they can live no worse than in classic aquariums.

But it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of round reservoirs. Firstly, all the same restrictions that exist for nano-aquariums with a capacity of up to 15 liters apply to them (even if your balloon holds 25 liters!). Secondly, the design laws of such an aquarium are fundamentally different from those adopted in the rectangular “classics”: there is no division into the foreground, middle and background, and spherical glass creates its own special laws of perspective, according to which it is necessary to adjust the arrangement of design elements and planting . Thirdly, the range of fish and invertebrates that can live normally in a spherical container is very limited. Well, fourthly, I repeat, it is necessary to use special equipment. Let's start with him.

Equipment for a round aquarium

The first thing that is necessary for the normal functioning of a round aquarium is lamp. It is clear that lamps with fluorescent tubes designed for the “classics” will not suit us. But today they are already “last century”! With the advent of the era of LED lighting (light emitting diodes), a lamp can be of absolutely any shape. For a spherical aquarium, one with LEDs located in a circle or ring is suitable. They are available in three types:

A lid lamp that completely covers the neck of a spherical aquarium, like classic rectangular lids:

A lamp of the "Table Lamp" type - located next to the aquarium on its own stand or mounted directly in the aquarium stand and equipped with a flexible corrugated leg that can take the desired shape. (by the way, you can also use just a table lamp with a round lampshade).

A “backpack” lamp, similar to the second type, but attached with a special device to the edge of the aquarium.

If you are going to place shrimp and fish that have a tendency to jumping exercises in a spherical reservoir (shrimps of the genera Caridina And Palemonetes (=Pal aemonetes), and among fish - cardinals, zebrafish, macropods), then only the first type of lamp will suit you. If you plan to place inhabitants in a glass ball who are not prone to “suicide” (for example, a Siamese cockerel or cherry shrimp and others of their kind Neocaridina), or you are going to limit yourself to a plant composition with snails, then the choice of lamp depends only on your aesthetic preferences. Of course, if there are mustachioed four-legged “spectators” in the house, then the choice is clear - only a completely closed lid! I would just like to remind you that a round aquarium, like any other, requires strict restrictions on daylight hours (no more than 10-12 hours, and better - from 8 to 10), otherwise you will have to constantly fight with algae, which is not possible in conditions of crooked walls so simple.

Considering that the volume of sand or pebbles that can be placed in a round aquarium is small, and the soil/water ratio in it is much worse than in a classic parallelepiped, the soil in it does not serve well as a natural biofilter: it is difficult for beneficial bacteria to grow in it, and their number is not enough. Therefore, filtration for a round aquarium plays a vital role. But it is absolutely impossible to place a filter intended for a rectangular aquarium (even the smallest one) in a spherical container! That is, you can place it, but it will look rude and ugly, and the whole thing will no longer look like an aquarium, but an incomprehensible technical design - see the picture)

You can, of course, choose a very miniature version, for example this one - Figure 1, but such a design will only create the required water flow, but is unlikely to filter anything. What to do? remember the system of bottom filters, as old as the world, the so-called “false bottom”. Old aquarists remember this design - grates were laid under the ground, through which water was pumped using an airlift, filtering through the ground and an additional padding polyester. For a round aquarium, this design is still one of the most reasonable. In addition, the glass airlift tube, through which air bubbles run merrily, does not spoil the design, can be easily decorated, and, when properly included in the composition, can itself represent a design element (Figures 2-5). There are also pump designs of internal filters for round aquariums, combining a false bottom grille and a cassette with a filter sponge, for example this one - Figure 6, but its aesthetics in an aquarium seems controversial to me.

Rice. 1

Rice. 2

Rice. 3

Rice. 4

Rice. 5

Rice. 6

The most reasonable designs are “backpack” type filters - for an open aquarium with a lamp of the second or third type (Fig. 7) and pump mini-filters of an external type built into the lid with the lamp, from which only the suction tube and exhaust “flute” are immersed in the aquarium ". (Fig. 8). A variant of this design, when the pump is in the lid, is a built-in internal filter with an open sponge.

Rice. 7

Rice. 8

Rice. 9

Rice. 10

Rice. eleven

Rice. 12

But as the most successful design, combining both a lamp and a “backpack” type filter, and at the same time not interfering with the creation of almost any design composition in a jar, I would like to recommend ready-made kits of this type - see. Figures 9 to 12. In this case, as in all previous ones, I suggest you look only at the design of the aquarium, but not at its contents and design, because everything inside is simply wrong! But more on this below. Pay attention to the successful combination of a backpack filter and a folding (in Figure 10 it is folded back) LED lamp with a ring-shaped arrangement of LEDs. Nothing interferes with anything, it is convenient to view the aquarium and convenient to maintain it. And most importantly, there are no bulky pieces of equipment inside that disfigure the composition.

By the way, the Christmas gift with a Siamese cockerel, which is offered to you and your loved ones by the Aqua Logo company, was created on the basis of precisely this type of integrated solutions.

Who should be placed in a round aquarium?

A glass ball is not the most comfortable home for a fish. Therefore, the most correct solution would be to keep small invertebrates in a round aquarium - snails, cherry shrimp (and their closest relatives with a different color). If you still absolutely want fish, then you can keep one Siamese betta in a glass sphere with relative comfort ( Betta splendens), or 3-5 cardinals ( Tanichthys albonubes), or 5-7 microdissection ( Boraras maculatus), or a family of 3-4 males and 1-2 females of ordinary (not purebred) guppies ( Poecilia reticulata) or the same number of Endler guppies ( Poecilia wingei). With some stretch and with a sad sigh, we can also recommend a flock (5-6 pieces) of zebrafish, or a couple of lalius, or three or four small platies for a round aquarium. This modest list practically exhausts the options for residents of a round aquarium: the rest of the fish in such a reservoir will not last long.

Surprisingly, in almost all artistic paintings and advertising photographs goldfish are swimming in a round aquarium. Dear people, I implore you: do not do this under any circumstances! Round aquarium absolutely, absolutely, in no way, never and under any circumstances not suitable for goldfish! Even small ones. Even "just one". At all! The fate of the goldfish in the glass ball will be quick and sad. This miracle of ancient Chinese genetics, whose ancestor was the common goldfish, requires a large volume of clean, cool, oxygenated water, and in a round aquarium the goldfish will live in much the same way as you would live if you were given a small wardrobe to live in. That is, it’s bad and not for long. :(

Round Aquarium Design

If you have previously designed classic rectangular aquariums, and perhaps you have even attended lectures on aquarium design, then first of all tell yourself: forget everything you knew about the rules of aquarium design! Because the design of a round aquarium is completely out of tradition. In a spherical body of water there is no foreground, middle or background. There are no sides either. As a rule, such interior decoration has access to spectators from all sides, which means it has only two plans: central and circular.

In the center of the aquarium, where the soil layer is at its greatest depth, it is advisable to place some single object intended to become the center of the future composition. This can be an echinodorus bush (or another rosette plant), or a small driftwood (natural or ceramic), overgrown with Java moss, or a rock (also with moss or bare), or a bunch of a beautiful long-stemmed plant (Ludwigia, Ambulia, Cabomba, Hygrophila ). If there is a filter tube running through the center of the aquarium, then it is advisable to decorate it by planting around it a dense ring of long-stemmed plants (rotala, bacopa, pinnate or the most common hornwort) or a “fence” of Vallisneria. Alternatively, you can strengthen a small vertical stone or snag covered with moss on one side of the tube, and plant a long stem on the other. Then the composition will be different from different sides. According to the ring plan, where the soil layer is small, you can place small, unpretentious ground cover plants - for example, dwarf saggitaria, Micrantemum "Monte Carlo", Echinodorus tennelus, small cryptocorynes, lomariopsis.

Caring for a round aquarium

The most difficult task when maintaining a round aquarium is, as you might imagine, cleaning its walls from algae fouling. If for aquariums with straight and even glass there is a great variety of ordinary and magnetic scrapers, washcloths and other tools that allow you to quickly and accurately clean the glass, then for a round aquarium everything is simpler - there are none. At all. None of the leading aquarium companies in the world have devices for cleaning a round aquarium in their product range. This is explained simply: the curvature of the sphere is different for each such aquarium, and a universal scraper for a round aquarium is simply impossible according to the laws of physics and geometry. What to do? Find a way out on your own! Our fathers and grandfathers cleaned the walls in such aquariums with a “washcloth” knitted from the torn nylon stockings of our grandmothers and mothers. We will take a more modern path. Surely you have many plastic discount cards from different stores. Do not throw away those that have expired. Here it is, your desired universal scraper! The plastic card can be carefully bent, giving it the desired curvature, and with this tool the hard algal deposits can be cleaned off. And softer fouling can be easily removed with a small dishwashing sponge (its rough side is suitable for aquarium purposes).

Difficulties with filtering a round aquarium lead to the fact that the soil in it silts up quite quickly, and organic pollution and harmful nitrogen compounds accumulate in the water more than in a classic aquarium. Therefore, you should change the water in a spherical reservoir more often (1-2 times a week), combining this procedure with collecting organic sediment from the ground with the same hose. But under no circumstances should you replace more than 1/3 of the water in a round aquarium! The bacterial balance in it, which is already not very strong due to the small volume of soil, we risk disrupting by abruptly replacing a significant part of the water. As a result, we will get an unscheduled bacterial outbreak (white cloudiness), which may turn out to be critical for the already not very good health of the inhabitants of the glass ball.

In all other respects, caring for a round aquarium is not much different from caring for a regular-shaped aquarium. I would just like to once again draw your attention to the fact that the main enemy of aquarium fish is overfeeding. And in a round aquarium it is most dangerous.

You can keep fish in both a rectangular and a ball aquarium. Ball aquariums come in different sizes, but usually not large, which allows you to keep in them only those fish that can be content with a small volume - viviparous carp, characins, labyrinths. Preference should be given to species that are less demanding on temperature - guppies, swordtails, platies, neons, thornets, macropods, corydoras - on the volume of water and oxygen content in water - macropods, roosters, laliuses, small species of gourami, corydoras. Such an aquarium is not suitable for keeping fast-swimming schooling fish that need a long space for swimming. In a ball aquarium, favorable living conditions can be created for just one or several individuals, for example, there should be no more than ten guppies or neons, swordtails or platies - three to five (based, of course, on the volume of the aquarium). If the fish are not overfed, they can be kept without aeration. The big disadvantage of a ball aquarium is that the shape of the fish is distorted due to the curvature of the glass.
After watching enough TV, many people dream of keeping goldfish in a ball aquarium. In this regard, you need to remember that a ball aquarium is not suitable for keeping goldfish, which are large fish, due to its small volume. If you really can’t bear it, you should purchase the largest aquarium (at least 20 liters) and equip it with a filter and aeration. the choice should be made on small fish of short-bodied varieties - veil tails, telescopes, etc., but even if these conditions are met, one fish should have 10 - 15 liters of water and at the same time you should control the amount of food, regularly clean the aquarium and make water changes - these are mandatory all the care requirements for a small aquarium
Round aquariums are bought quite often, mainly because of the originality of the shape, although experts believe that fish feel bad in a round aquarium - firstly, round walls amplify all sorts of noises and waves that fish feel with their lateral line and, as a result, are in constant stress, secondly, a round aquarium has no restrictions on movement and so the poor fish swims, swims in a circle and there is no end to its path... And a round aquarium looks much better without fish, with only plants and/or shrimp. Therefore, having acquired a round aquarium, try not to make excessive noise in the room where the aquarium is located, because the very presence of an aquarium implies silence and calm contemplation around it. Provide the fish with enough living space, freedom to swim (that is, select the right size and number of inhabitants), provide the necessary equipment, shelters, and regularly and properly care for them.