Bow(back) Aquariums

I had an idea I thought was interesting and was hoping to get some nice discussion about it.

I was poking around craigslist while looking for a summer project and came upon a 70G bow front. I've never had a bow front aquarium but have seen them occasionally. The bow makes viewing fish a bit more of a challenge but it's kind of a nice feature for larger fish.


My idea: Instead of having a bow front aquarium where you must look through the distortion what about flipping the aquarium around and placing the bow in the back? I believe it would give the sensation of having a deeper aquarium but then you lose the traditional look of the bow.

Thoughts? Has anyone tried this?

Once complication I think of is the stands for the bows are designed to face forward. One would either need to make a custom stand or go with the general rectangular footprint for a stand.

Might be a challenge using HOB filters since they're shaped for a flat face. It would all depend how big the lip is on the HOB filter.

Marlin

Sent from my SCH-I545 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

I only use canisters on larger aquariums (and would likely build a sump for this new tank). The curved glass wouldn't affect that too much.

This might be an interesting project.

Sounds like a cool idea. I dont see why it wouldn't work.

This is quite interesting as I own a couple of bowfronts.

Sent from my HTC One using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Let me know how it goes if you try it. Would be an interesting experiment.

The tank I was looking at sold before I was able to get in an offer. I'll keep my eyes out for another

Im pretty sure having a bow front face the opposite way may cause cancer in the state of california

spazmattik said:

Im pretty sure having a bow front face the opposite way may cause cancer in the state of california

Click to expand...

Oh no! That's definitely not good. At least I don't live in California. Phew!

Although I have never owned a bow front tank, I have seen a few and most of them have a stand that mimics the shape of the tank. As I recall, most of the stands are open backed to allow for access to stuff in the cabinet below the tank. You would have to do some sort of DIY to cover this up and make the stand look more presentable.

jonclark96 said:

Although I have never owned a bow front tank, I have seen a few and most of them have a stand that mimics the shape of the tank. As I recall, most of the stands are open backed to allow for access to stuff in the cabinet below the tank. You would have to do some sort of DIY to cover this up and make the stand look more presentable.

Click to expand...

I'd probably just go with a rectangular stand. It'd allow for more room for a sump anyway. The little corners on the back shouldn't look too bad and would even potentially leave room for my pothos plants.

Interesting idea. I have a 36 bow fr with a matching stand made for it. Not sure if a rectangular stand would adequately support the tank.