The design of the modern interior is not limited to standard materials, such as wood, concrete and plastic. A variety of forms, materials and design ideas allows you to create unique volumetric images in their housing. One of these creative ideas is a dry aquarium that is mounted in walls, furniture, floor or made as a separate design.
Content
What is a dry aquarium
A dry aquarium in the floor or in the wall is a niche that is covered with a sheet of glass. For the aquarium, the floor provides a very strong coating under the name triplex, which can withstand heavy loads. Triplex is three layers of shock -resistant glass, fastened with a special technology with a polymer film. Such a multi -layer design determines the ability of the material to withstand weight to several hundred kilograms.
Another distinctive feature of three -layer glass, which makes it suitable for use in residential premises is similar to car glass. If you try to break the triplex, it will not split, but only covered with a network of cracks. In thickness, glass is selected depending on the design and purpose.
The next element of a dry aquarium is its filling, which complements the entire design of the aesthetic component. Most often, this type of design is selected, similar to a real sea landscape. This is not mandatory, the design is selected based on its own taste and general design of the room. For a decor of a dry aquarium, small sea sand, pebbles and stones, artificial plants, various collages and elements of a microlandshaft are used.
When selecting a composition, it is necessary to take non -spoiled materials. If there is a desire to use natural material, then it must first be well dried and applied to its surface a special coating, which will retain the appearance and prevent the decomposition of the material.
Varieties of dry aquariums
As the name implies, a dry aquarium does not contain water, it contains only air and all elements of the intended composition. The depth of the niche or the dimensions of the aquarium are selected individually, if it comes to the aquarium in the floor, then its depth starts from 8-10 cm. If a dry aquarium is planned to be made in the floor, that is, two options for its implementation-the flood floors or the podium. In the case of a bulk floor, a niche for the aquarium is left in advance, for a deep aquarium, the floor must be raised.
Dry aquariums are divided into built -in and remote ones on the main basis. Built -in aquariums are a design from the profile, glass and finishing materials, which is a part of the wall, floor or furniture elements. Built -in aquariums are mounted in niches of cabinets, countertops, pedestals, steps and any other elements of the interior. According to manufacturing technology, they differ significantly from the remote ones.
Remote aquariums are structures that are installed separately and representing an ordinary aquarium in which a decorative composition is created. It is allowed to use an aquarium of any shape - round, rectangular or corner. Internal content is limited only by the presence of materials and its own imagination.
General rules for the manufacture of dry aquarium
1. For the manufacture of a dry aquarium, the glass panel is made to order by the necessary sizes. The niche is prepared, framing around the perimeter with a metal or decorative profile. The frame is attached with self -tapping screws so that the lumen remains mainly on the top of the profile on the thickness of the glass and seal. From the inside, all surfaces of the aquarium are covered with finishing materials to choose from.
2. When installing a dry aquarium with your own hands, it is necessary to provide niches for the backlight wires, as well as their wiring to the nearest electric current source. A dry aquarium in the floor or wall will not look spectacular without the elements of the backlight. On top of the main coating, the selected composition is laid out, the entire product is covered with glass, the seams are filled with sealant.
3. For a dry aquarium, the best backlight option will be LED, neon or fluorescent. It will not only highlight the entire composition, but will also become additional lighting in the room. To create an additional effect, a tinted triplex is selected, which is suitable for its shade to the whole tone of the interior. Another small trick that will make a dry aquarium more practical - rubber gaskets. The triplex is laid hermetically on them, without passing dust or moisture into the interior space, and to change the composition in the aquarium, it is enough to raise it with ordinary rubber suction cups.
How to make aquarium with your own hands
If it is planned to create a remote aquarium, then the main backbone of the glass structure is bought or made independently. In the manufacture of water for water with your own hands, it is necessary to take into account all the rules that allow it to withstand the constant pressure of the water. In the absence of certain skills, independent manufacture is not recommended. As for the dry aquarium, this design does not require such a scrupulous approach and is easily implemented independently. The exception is only round aquariums that cannot be done at home, without the use of specialized equipment.
For the manufacture of the aquarium with your own hands, you will need glass, cut to the required size. Glass cutting is ordered in a company providing such services, or performed independently using glass cutter. Glass gluing is carried out using silicone glue. The collection is carried out in two ways - installing walls at the bottom or around the bottom. The assembly order of the aquarium is as follows:
- 10-15 cm of water is typed in the bath, a towel on which glass is placed is placed on the bottom;
- a sharpener is wetted, all the ribs are grinded by it, then the ground and dried glass is treated with acetone or alcohol to eliminate the fat layer;
- the bottom of the aquarium is placed on paper;
- on the end, with which the wall is placed on the bottom, applied evenly sealant, the wall is neatly placed on the bottom;
- when gluing glass parts with silicone, excessive strength should not be applied, since in this case most of the silicone will come out of the seam and the connection strength will decrease. The trick of work with silicone - the thicker the left layer, the stronger the connection of the parts;
- it is allowed to slightly come out of the glue from the seam on both sides, the walls installed to the bottom are propped up at a right angle and left to dry;
- next, the side wall is installed, the lower end is coated with glue, which is placed on the bottom, and the side end of the one, which is pressed to the already installed glass;
- the side glass is installed in the place allotted for it, is propped and left to dry;
- the quality of the crushed layer of silicone should be checked, after the installation of all walls, the aquarium cannot be moved, it is left to dry in one position, otherwise the glass deformations arise;
- when all the seams were dried up, excess glue on the seams on the outside and inside is cut off with a blade, during the manufacture of a “wet” aquarium, the seams are not removed from the inside, since the silicone in water is not noticeable, but in the “dry” structure it will violate the beauty of the entire composition;
- the next step is the design of the aquarium, which is carried out to its taste.
How to make a dry aquarium with your own hands in the floor
To perform a dry aquarium, the same operations are carried out in the floor that the flooring provides. The composition of the composition in any type of coatings is allowed, the only and main requirement is sufficient floor thickness to perform such work. In some cases, the floors for a dry aquarium rise to make it possible to perform an aquarium of sufficient thickness. Shows how a dry aquarium is mounted, a photo scheme is lower, and in stages this process looks like this:
- the draft floor is thoroughly aligned;
- waterproofing is laid, a threshold is left along the entire perimeter, which lifts 10-15 cm above the surface of the finish coating;
- a concrete screed is formed, on the diagram this element is indicated “C”, its thickness is calculated taking into account the fact that 10-15 cm will remain under the aquarium, on the bottom of the screed-this is the bottom of the aquarium;
- a recess is left for the bottom of the aquarium;
- the niche is finished, the screed is grinded;
- a substrate is laid on the screed - a layer of waterproofing and insulation, an element “D” in the diagram;
- element "i" in the diagram - a finish coating that is laid on the insulation;
- an aluminum corner is laid over the entire area on the niche - on the “F” and “h” diagram, at this stage, a frame is selected to taste;
- the backlight is brought into the aquarium - an element “E” in the diagram, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of turning on and off the light in the composition, a partial disconnection of light, the installation of blinking lights and much more, which is enough fantasy is also allowed;
- if necessary, silicone shock absorbers are installed - the element “B” on the diagram;
- the “G” element is a triplex that closes and ends the entire structure, it is selected in the necessary color scheme;
- triplex must be ordered for a specific size, there should be no error, since it will not work to fit it into place for the finished niche;
- the triplex is selected in thickness, based on the load that will affect it;
- if the aquarium is mounted in a place with great cross -country ability, it is advisable to use another cover glass that is placed on a triplex. Such a coating is easy to replace when a large number of scratches and dullness appear on it.
Ideas for a dry aquarium
1. A dry aquarium in the interior is used not only as a jewelry, it is well suited for zoning the room. For example, a glass partition in the studio room, which will separate the main room from the kitchen. Such aquariums are also used in a combined bathroom to separate the area. The best choice will be a dry aquarium in those places where access to it is limited, since an ordinary aquarium with living fish requires care, and, therefore, it needs constant access.
2. One of the simplest ideas for the equipment of the house of dry aquarium with your own hands is to create a composition in a small round reservoir. Such containers are sold in stores for animal goods, as a rule, containers of any shape and volume are presented in such stores. In a remote aquarium, the composition is created from any improvised materials.
3. The most budget option is to use shells brought from vacation. To clean the shells from plaque and get rid of the unpleasant odor, they are boiled in water or vinegar solution. For cleaning white shells, a solution of whiteness with water in a ratio of 1: 1 is suitable, shells in it are kept for several hours. Also, to give shine, sea finds are covered with acrylic varnish or paints. Creating a sea landscape in the aquarium from such shells is quite simple - to come up with a composition, process shells, fall asleep with colored sand or pebbles, and lay out shells. It is advisable to equip the aquarium with a sealed lid to avoid dust entering it. This will extend the beauty and freshness of the whole composition.
4. Various improvised materials are also suitable for the equipment of built -in aquariums. Artificial algae and corals are used, which are sold in pet stores and points of sale of goods for aquarists. Plastic fish are suitable for this purpose, to give the composition a more natural look, the fish are suspended on the fishing line. The sea star or dried crab will miraculously complement the composition, such “inhabitants” of the aquarium will revive him, but will not require careful care.
5. When decorating a dry aquarium, it is advisable to adhere to two basic rules - to select the composition for the interior and adhere to the sea theme. Even if you do not use artificial fish in the design of the aquarium, its theme will be designed using shells, sea stones, corals, plastic algae and other elements. Also, much attention should be paid to illumination of the composition.
