hang on wall plasma aquariums ?????

[slowboattochina]

This is not really a question. I just wanted to post to see if anyone has seen these aquariums, they are selling like hotcakes on ebay and I finally saws one at a chain pet store. They are about the size 40" x 19" x 4 1/2" wide. they are called "Plasma Aquariums" and they go for over 300 dollars! Only 4 1/2 inches wide, what the heck could you keep in there that could turn around except for guppies. I can't see how they could sell these things. [acronym:5d4c95f7cd="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:5d4c95f7cd] nothing would live too long in there. Any thoughts?

[Toirtis]

Originally Posted by slowboattochina

Any thoughts?

You mean aside from the horror of realising that those display photos show the tank with a fantail goldfish, two angels, and an iridescent shark in it?

Guppies would likely show well in one....out of curiousity, how are they heated and filtered (I see neither a heater or filter, so I assume that they are concealed in the end bits)?

[slowboattochina]

The heater is supposed to be in the endcaps(submersible) along with a in-the-tank filter? Looks like a fishkill waiting to happen. Not to mention how would you clean it.

[QTOFFER]

My biggest concern (aside from the filtration) is the lack of surface area for efficient gas exchange. This is why I don't like those spherical tanks either. They look awesome, but for their size, they can only safely house very few fish.

By my calculations,
Plasma Aquarium (40" x 19" x 4 1/2")
volume = 15 [acronym:87716e39aa="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:87716e39aa]
surface area = 180 sq in
surface area:volume ratio = 12

Standard 15 [acronym:87716e39aa="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:87716e39aa] tank (24" x 12" x 12")
surface area = 288 sq in
surface area:volume ratio = 19

Oh, and the water alone in the Plasma Aquarium would weigh 126 lbs, so it would have to be attached directly to wall studs.

[Toirtis]

Originally Posted by QTOFFER

My biggest concern (aside from the filtration) is the lack of surface area for efficient gas exchange.

Playing devil's advocate, one could argue that this could be fixed with enough surface agitation, though. :P

Oh, and the water alone in the Plasma Aquarium would weigh 126 lbs, so it would have to be attached directly to wall studs.

I had almost forgot about that....and add another....I am guessing about 120 lbs for the tank, gravel, etc.....250 lbs hanging on a wall's surface is a bit scary....I would want that puppy bolted into the studs with at least four heavy-gauge 4" screws.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

A nice school of Neon Tetras, or rummynose would go well.

The wieght would concern me, if you can't comfortably pick it up and place it on the wall, then you shouldn't really hang it up. I would be worried about it ripping out of the wall. Best to cut out the wall and mount it in the wall with a proper sill plate.. then put trim around it.. (personally I would never touch one)

@ 40" long, it falls about 8" shy of having 3 studs to hold it, meaning 2 mount points..

[Frank_the_Tank]

for like 10x the cost just buy a real plasma screen and that aquarium dvd from best buy.

[TomK2]

I just had a guy at work who asked me what I thought about a custom room divider tank, and I think he wanted to make it about 6 or 8 inches wide, and a few feet tall. I told him to forget it, since it would have inadequate surface area. Now I know where he got the idea from! He also wanted to put it in a high light area, high traffic area, and never had a fish tank before. I don't think I was a bad ambassador of aquariums talking him out of it, do you?

[Jchillin]

Originally Posted by TomK2

I just had a guy at work who asked me what I thought about a custom room divider tank, and I think he wanted to make it about 6 or 8 inches wide, and a few feet tall. I told him to forget it, since it would have inadequate surface area. Now I know where he got the idea from! He also wanted to put it in a high light area, high traffic area, and never had a fish tank before. I don't think I was a bad ambassador of aquariums talking him out of it, do you?

We do what we must to direct the lost and misdirected.

Good going Tom!

Aquariums hanging on a wall...shessh! What's next, coffee table tanks (oh, they done that already...[acronym:5754d09787="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:5754d09787])

[lmw80]

please - I saw a sink tank! it's just rediculous and cruel...all of these aquarium "marvels"