The generally therapeutic impact of aquariums is well known, but many people don’t the like the hassle or the size of a real fishtank. Aquawall has tried to to get around this by creating the Wandaquarium — a wall-mountable display intended to provide the interior decorator with a maintenance-free aquascape.
As an aquarium hobbyist, this type of product sickens me. The creators of this system attempt to tell consumers that the tank is self-cleaning, and needs a water change only once a year. This is completely untrue. Regardless of if the display has live plants or not (and this appears to be set up to have them) the water will still need to be changed consistently to provide the fish with a healthy environment.
Selling for $1450, this fish-killing device should not be purchased under any circumstances. While it does look very modern, it just another ill-advised case of form over function. I’d go so far as to compare it to the infamous “goldfish shoes” of the disco era.
[via Dvice]
Ive run tanks for years…i’ll say theres no getting around it….feel sorry for the sap who picks this up.
It is so refreshing to see a story like this posted responsibly! So many people feel nothing killing fish in a home aquarium and don’t realize that it’s a large undertaking.
No tank will ever let you change the water once a year!
Take good care of your fish, do real research or don’t buy fish!
I had to quit Petsmart for lies like these
For the general public I agree with you, but I’ve run no maintenance fish tanks for years. If you make them light on fish and with a complete ecosystem and nutrient cycle, they can definitely be made self contained. If I were to disappear from the face of the planet for a year, my fish would still be alive when I returned, and I don’t have anything plugged into them at all.
Untrue! I’ve kept marine reef tanks and with a combination of low bio load, small amounts of food, an active sand bed, live rock and marine plants – I’ve gone 6,7,8 even 9 months without doing any water changes. There’s also a difference between “self cleaning” and not needing water changes.
ditto. i don’t know anything about this particular device and so i can’t defend it in particular; it does seems a bit small. but sorry freeman, you got this one wrong: there is most definitely a such thing as a self contained aquarium ecosystem! you may own an apology for this knee jerk reaction.
Ha – this thing looks like a fish tank in a microwave or something. It’s just not right. I agree, as an aquarium owner this type of thing makes me feel a little nauseated inside.
For your information: On the company’s website it says a water change is necessary every 4 weeks, not only once a year.
With partial water changes, and cleaning the filters, it is possible to have a tank without cleaning the tank very often.
I have a tank with discus, and they seem to be thriving.
Of course, I don’t like this tank – I prefer tanks that are wider, less fancy – and definitely not stuck on a wall.