When people stumble across the Norrom Aquarium, what they often tell us they are looking for are ‘cool fish tanks’ and ‘designer fish tanks’ for their home – something unusual that their friends and family would not have seen before. The Norrom Aquarium is ideal for this because our fish tank is still only sitting in fewer than a thousand homes across the world, and whilst highly regarded by so many industry commentators and customers, it is still relatively unheard of and unusual.
So, here’s a short post containing some designer fish tanks that we have seen in the last couple of years…
A fish tank so unique you can’t even buy it
The unfortunately-named Isis Aquarium was one of the most unique fish tanks to appear in 2013, initially getting started on Kickstarter. The Isis Aquarium has a cylindrical design but oriented horizontally, positioned on minimalist wooden stands, and housing an aquarium lamp and filter in its lid. Unfortunately after the initial fish tanks were produced for the Kickstarter backers, the designer gave up on the project and decided not to produce any more. Shame!
Unusual fish tank that claims to be self-cleaning
Another Kickstarter project, the Avo fish tank, launched by Noux (now called Neesh Design) in 2014, is unusual because it is the first fish tank that claims to be self-cleaning. It is designed with a particular configuration of aquarium plants and a filter that continuously regenerates itself such that the owner will never need to clean it out or even perform water changes.
The Avo fish tank project was first launched before the Norrom Aquarium was even conceived, but has since been hit with numerous pre-production problems and mismanagement that has left hundreds of Kickstarter backers somewhat perplexed, anxious and as of yet without a self cleaning fish tank. It is due to be finally ready towards the end of this year, although the designers at Neesh have not gained a fantastic reputation for meeting deadlines. We are looking forward to getting our hands on one!
Designer jellyfish aquarium with cool lighting
The Orbit 20 from Cubic Aquarium Systems is arguably one of the simplest and most beautiful designs of any fish tank, and rather than being designed for tropical fish, it is exclusively for jellyfish. The designers of this aquarium system are going for the simplicity and beauty of a self standing round ring whilst integrating a rather complex filtration system inside the aquarium walls that is required for the healthy maintenance of jellyfish. A little bit like the Norrom Aquarium‘s interchangeable lid and base, the Orbit 20 is somewhat customisable because it allows the owner to snap off the existing facia on the front of the aquarium frame and replace it with various other colour options to give it an even more unique design.
A tropical fish tank Scandinavian style
The Norrom Aquarium is unusual because it is the first fish tank in the world that was designed with completely interchangeable lids and bases, so it can be customised when you get bored of it, move home or change room decorations. It also has the most innovative lighting of any fish tank in the world, with a fully submersed lamp unit (hidden in the base) which lights the water both upwards and downwards from within. You have to see it to believe it! The Norrom Aquarium was designed in Sweden and represents Scandinavian design principles of beauty, simplicity and function in each of their purest forms. No other fish tank in the world comes close to it.