Position
Where is the best place for your aquarium?
You’ll probably have an idea, where your aquarium will fit in your room, where it will look good and where it can be perfectly integrated. Along with these aesthetic criteria there are also some further points to consider, which will pay off later:
Positioning an aquarium next to a window with excessive sunlight can cause a sharp temperature rise in the water. Positioning it on or next to a heating source may also lead to temperature issues. A location opposite the window is equally inadvisable if there is excessive sunlight, because strong and direct sunlight promotes algae growth. It may sound strange to say the aquarium should not be exposed to direct sunlight, when it is normally equipped with an artificial light source, but the explanation lies in the amount of light. Whereas sunlight has a light intensity of about 100,000 lux, aquarium lighting only provides about 700-1400 lux with fluorescent tubes and about 4500 lux with good LED lighting, such as the JBL LED SOAR NATUR.
You don’t need to keep your aquarium in the cellar, but a location without any intense, direct sunlight and not next to a heater is best.
In a conservatory you often have the following situation: too much direct sunlight in summer and significantly below 20 °C in winter. You can use an aquarium heater to heat up your water, but this consumes a lot of electricity at very low temperatures.
Besides the sunlight factor, there are two other considerations when choosing the location
Will the floor of the room support the weight of the aquarium? Except in very old buildings that’s not normally an issue for up to about 250 litres. After all, several people stand close together at parties without falling through the floorboards. For larger aquariums, you need a position against a wall rather than in the middle of the room. For very large aquariums (1000 litres and more), it’s best to talk to a structural engineer.
One last thought about the location: how busy is it in front of the aquarium? A lot of activity is not a problem, as the fish get used to the prevailing traffic in front of the pane, just like they do in a public display aquarium. But if there are sudden sharp movements in front of the aquarium, skittish fish can panic and unfortunately injure themselves in the aquarium. They have even been known to jump out, if the aquarium is not sufficiently covered.
The right location for an aquarium
The more daylight an aquarium receives, the more problems can occur.