Aquariums with a new slant

Aquacone has made a name for itself in the aquatics business with the construction of spectacular aquariums. One unforgettable installation was the world’s biggest dismantleable mobile aquarium, which was presented at Interzoo and features in the Guinness World Records. The aquarium “Aquacone Diamant”, which also provided the symbol for the company logo, is 6 m in diameter, 5.50 m high and weighs a considerable 45 tonnes in total. Its frame structure is composed of special steel (V4A) and weighs 15 tonnes alone. Twelve segments in all were joined together using 1 000 special steel screws to form a dodecagonal pitched roof structure. The actual aquarium was constructed from eight tonnes of glass panels, which were glued into the frame. It had a water capacity of 27 000 litres with a water level of 1.2 m, and was illuminated by 10 HQI lamps of 1 000 watts each. The company’s stand at Interzoo 2004 featured a converted silver-coloured Rolls Royce, in which the conversion was the special attraction: the entire passenger compartment now contains a 2 000 litre aquarium. On completion the vehicle (length: 5.4 m, width: 1.8m, height: 1.7 m) had an overall weight of 3 700 kg. The filter technology in its entirety is accommodated in the boot. Both the vehicle lighting and the aquarium lighting can be turned on and off using separate switches. This classy car body was the most photographed object at Interzoo that year. In demand internationally It’s not just at trade fairs, however, that Aquacone has presented impressive aquariums. The “Aquacone Hanging Aquarium” is a fully automated hexagonal aquarium that is suspended from the ceiling and hangs freely in space. It is 3.70 m high and 1.6 m in diameter, with a volume of 3 500 litres and a total weight of 4 500 kg. The aquarium consists of a steel frame with special glass panes. Access panels concealing a high-performance filter system take up the intermediate spaces. The owner of a bar in Tel Aviv, Israel, wanted a special aquarium located close to the bar. The concept proposed by Aquacone was realised and the aquarium was suspended from ten wire cables directly above the bar and over the heads of the staff. Each cable has a loading capacity of approx. 13 tonnes; the tensile forces and aquarium load are taken up by a substantial steel framework system connected invisibly to the building. The “Aquacone Wire Cable Aqua-rium” is 6 m long and measures 1 m in width and height. Its volume is 6 000 litres, while its overall…