Aquariums Add Life to Corporate Interiors

Adding life to a solid, elegant and sophisticated but staid look in corporate interiors has always been a challenging task for designers and architects. Plants, either artificial or natural, to some extent serve this purpose, but not entirely. It's here that aquariums are fast catching up in both corporate interiors and ordinary homes.

But, the ordinary fish tanks are passe, it's the aquarium furniture that's fast becoming a fad. Yup, aquarium furniture are fast replacing ordinary coffee tables, centre tables, executive tables, and even walls!

"Normally we need to find a place to put the aquarium. Here we don't have to. The acquarium is built like an utility item, say, a table. It's replacing a piece of furniture, enhancing the beauty and life of the place," says Surendra Nath, of Fish Land in Secunderabad, who claims to have pioneered the concept.

"It gives a soothing effect to the office," he adds. There is the usual gravel, rocks, rods, shells, corals, decorations and art plants, besides the ample variety of tropical fish. The difference is in the lighting, from the bottom. The pebbles reflect the light. There is also a special filtration system and aeration.

The acquarium is made of thick hi-resolution glass. The base contains the necessary equipment for servicing the acquarium, and the lighting. Atop it is the actual fish tank, with special pebbles that reflect light, and the usual decorations and fish.

Atop this is the sliding service tray, that helps the user feed the fish. On this is mounted the thick upper glass top, which is secured by a special kind of rubber-based silicon, which renders it immovable while usage, but removable when need arises.

"We have already sold 25-30 such pieces recently. Most clients are from the software sector," he says, listing as his creations the reception table and wall aquarium at Satyam development centre in Bahadurpally, the Intelligroup reception, the Olive Software reception table, the acquariums at GM's office in SCR, the Airport, the Ramada Hotel, etc.

The aquarium furniture is custom made according to the individual requirement, says Rajesh Singh of Blue Shark. "But, most clients are individuals," he adds.

The "Hi-Tec acquariums" costs anywhere between Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000, depending on the size. The thicker the glass, and the higher the power of the filter, the higher the costs and hi-class glass is used for clarity and strength, says Surendra Nath.

But, it's not just the designer look that's prompting corporate and individuals to go in for acquariums, that has resulted in the aquarium boom in the city.

"The increasing interest in Feng Shui, which advocates putting up an aquarium for prosperity and luck, has led to the booming business in the twin cities," says Ramu of Sri Ganesh Acquarium Centre. It doesn't take too much to set up an aquarium, or a shop itself, which explains the mushrooming of acquariums in the twin cities. There are about 50-60 aquarium shops in the twin cities. There are 8-10 shops in Rezimental Bazar itself, considered the aquarium hub.

The bowls and fish tanks are available for anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 300, and it doesn't cost much to set it up at home, while the fish, in about 500-600 varieties, are available for anywhere between Rs 2 to Rs 10,000 per pair.

There are a variety of popular fish families. The Angels family of small fish are available in more than 25 varieties, with newer streams bred by the day. There are ones with red eyes, streaked fins and tails, different kinds of scales and in different colours. There is the shark family that comes in 6-7 varieties.

There is also the highly popular goldfish that have several strains. There are gorumies, mollies, swordtails, discus, elephant nose, black ghost, guppies, barbs, cat fish, tetras, etc. with hundreds of strains in each. The list is endless.

Most of the variety is bred in India. The rare variety are brought from Singapore and Bangkok, which are in the range of Rs 700 to 1500. The Arowana variety, which the Chinese say, brings prosperity to the place they are kept, costs up to Rs 2,000 a pair.

"The demand is good. Most shops do business of anything between Rs 500 to Rs 2000 on average per day. It's said eight red and one black fish is good for vaastu," says P V Krishna Rao of Mangal Gouri, who took to the fishes after a long service with the RTC.

But, most shops don't have the expertise or knowledge to inform customers on the dos and donts related to aquariums, rues Surendra Nath, adding therefore lots of fish die out prematurely.

On an average aquariums can be kept for 6-8 months without servicing. Some can go on even for one to one and a half years, with semi servicing, wherein the sediment is cleaned out by suctioning out the old water and topping it up with fresh water.

There are problems of maintenance. Of the fishes adapting to new waters, of adapting to other fish. They can catch cold and cold-related diseases while transfer to water of a different temperature. Moreover, the older fish eat away the new or the young fish, or vice versa, depending on which is more aggressive.

Even the lighting has to be kept in mind. Excess light turns the water green and lack of enough light turns it brown prematurely. Proper servicing and maintenance is therefore very important.