Wall fish tanks give a dramatic and elegant look to any room. They can be mounted on a dividing wall so that they can be viewed from two rooms. Although they are more expensive than stand mounted fish tanks and harder to install you will be pleased you have made the effort and investment when you see how good they look and how much they are admired by your visitors. They can, however, be a harder to maintain than a regular fish tank as they are installed in a limited space which makes it slightly harder to access them for cleaning and other maintenance. Some now come with cabinets above or below the tank which can help make access easier.
Some of the newer wall fish tanks come as kits with all the accessories and mounting fixtures needed so that the filters, pump etc. are easily concealed. These are easy to install so you may not need a professional to do it for you. If you are unsure of your skills in this area, however, it is well worth paying someone to do the installation for you so that all you need to do then is to fill your fish tank and stock it.
One of the things you need to do before you hang a fish tank is to find out if there are any electrical wires or pipes in the wall where you intend to place it. You also need to find a load bearing wall and locate the wall studs. Fish tanks can be very heavy when filled with water so you need to be sure that the wall and studs can bear the weight. You also need to decide whether you are going to hang the fish tank or build it into the wall.fish tank with filter
The next thing to do is to measure the area where you are going to place the fish tank and make sure you allow some space for accessories such as lights, pumps and filters. The pump can be placed some distance away from the fish tank, such as in another room, and water brought to the tank through pipes. Although this is extra work on installation it does have the advantage that you can pump a large amount of water through the tank, which allows you to keep more fish, and also keeps the noise of the pump away from the room. One of the problems with wall tanks is that they tend to be narrow so they have a smaller surface area than rectangular fish tanks. This means that unless you oxygenate the water very well you will not be able to keep so many fish in the tank.
If you’re going to use a professional carpenter or builder to install your fish tank talk to him before you buy the tank and make sure that he knows exactly what you need to be done. once your tank is installed it will need to be treated just like any other fish tank by cycling the tank before you add the fish. We recommend a fishless cycling method that is easy to do and does not cause distress to the fish. Once you have cycled tank you can start to add your fish and plants if you are using them.