Nano Gobies

Thanks to the huge glass doors,
the aquarium can even be enjoyed
from the terrace in summer.
could be no visible equipment to spoil the view. This was
possible only because we had added a suitable extension
to our house, increasing the size of both the living room
and the cellar. The cellar beneath the existing 265-gallon
(1,000-L) aquarium was already occupied by our breeding
setup, and besides, an even larger tank would never
have fit into our old living room.
We wanted to create the illusion that the aquarium
was floating in space, so an enclosed cabinet the full size
of the aquarium base was out of the question. Our architect
suggested a central footer running longitudinally
and containing an integrated shaft for equipment. This
was constructed from reinforced concrete and integrated
with the floor. Our requirement was that the structure
be solid enough not only to carry the weight of the tank
safely, but also to withstand the earth tremors that are
common in our area of north-central Switzerland.
A steel-tube frame was firmly attached to the central
footer in several places. The aquarium was constructed
in place on a .8-inch (21-mm) plywood panel placed on
top of this frame. Ralf Geis and the team from Aquarienbau
Geis used laminated 2 x 10 mm Optiwhite glass
for all four sides of the tank. The bottom glass is made
of .75 inch (19 mm) float glass and is in four parts. All
joints are reinforced with internal glass strips. The superimposed
frame of reinforced, powder-coated aluminum
provides additional stability and prevents any curvature
of the glass edges that might damage the layers of glass.
The two-part central shaft contains a smaller outflow
shaft with a main outflow and 1.9-inch emergency overflow
(50 mm diameter) as well as the return pipe (1.25
inch [32 mm] diameter). The larger section houses the
four inlet tubes for the current pumps as well as their
return pipes.
THE OVERHEAD COMPARTMENT
The compartment above the aquarium, which extends
right up to the ceiling, has to perform several functions
simultaneously: no moisture must be allowed to escape
and turn the living room into a cavern full of stalactites,
and there should be no scattered light to spoil the view of
the aquarium. Our goal was to have the greatest possible
flexibility in the choice and siting of lighting equipment,
without having to worry about how it looked. And most
important of all, we didn’t want to lose fishes through
jumping ever again!
VENTILATION
The overhead compartment is connected via 3.5-inch
(90 mm) diameter PVC pipes (air inlet and outlet) to
106 CORAL