They`re called living furniture, and they command four-figure prices. And that doesn`t even include babysitting. Many are treated with the respect reserved for art or an Oriental rug. They are aquariums, the hottest toy of the affluent.
They are sprouting up in bedrooms as headboards, in libraries as bookshelves, and in living rooms as shimmering columns.
Interest in fish is booming. Gail Morrison, public relations/marketing coordinator for the John G. Shedd Aquarium, says that between 1985 and 1987 attendance at the Shedd was up 23 percent. Not only are people looking at fish, they`re curious about keeping them. The Shedd`s classes in aquarium design and fish care are popular. And for those who don`t want the fish, there`s even a class on aquatic plants.
After a wild day in the pits, stock options trader Chris Warren escapes to a reef off Tahiti-in his living room. Warren owns two saltwater tanks and likens his investment-including monthly maintenance costs-to buying artwork.
”You pay a couple thousand dollars for the pleasure of owning a painting and looking at it. Just because I appreciate looking at one doesn`t mean I need to know how to paint.”
His system-two 28-gallon hexagonal tanks connected by a swimway tube-is designed to simulate a reef with sponges and anemones, sea fans, shrimps, crabs, live coral and a dozen or so fish. Old Town Aquarium designed and assembled his system and maintains it.
An aquarium is a drawing card, claims one Chicago businessman. His 105-gallon tank reigns in the living room of his Gold Coast high-rise and competes with the spectacular view of the city. ”It never fails. Whenever I have a cocktail party, everyone ends up in front of the tank. We look like a bunch of nuts, huddled around this thing, gawking at fish.”
In a corporate headhunter`s office in the Loop, a fish tank replaces the proverbial water cooler as a social gathering point. At Outtakes, 16 W. Ontario St., the 800-gallon aquarium is the bar. Patrons rest their elbows and beer on the three-eighths-inch-thick plastic top and peer in at the activities of the tank`s 250 inhabitants.
The fish bowls we marveled at as kids, the rectangular glass aquariums perched on card tables, are out of style. In their place are inch-thick acrylic sheets in kaleidoscopic shapes and sizes ranging from 20 gallons to hundreds of gallons.
People buy aquariums for many reasons. Dr. Neil Pollock, a North Shore eye-ear-nose-throat specialist and avid aquarist, says his waiting patients are calmer, thanks to a 110-gallon tank in his waiting room. The system-four tanks connected by tubes allowing the fish to swim from one tank to another-looks like a fish condo. It is designed with a wrap-around, padded bench for viewing.
Aquariums may be a warm, natural response to the high-tech computers and electronic gadgets of the modern office as well as an `80s counterpart to the worry beads of the `70s. ”Watching the fish is a way to unwind,” says Michigan Avenue jeweler Morton Goldin, of Sidney S. Goldin & Son Inc.
”Sometimes when I work late I just turn off the lights and watch the aquarium. I`ve always had one at home. So why not at the office?”
Thirty percent of Lauren Merrill`s customers at the Parkview Pet Shop are aquarium-watchers like Warren. The rest, like herself, are avid hobbyists. She welcomes both types of customers. ”Today, aquariums are designer statements as well as hobbies.”
The 150 tanks she manages at the store and the equipment and fish she sells are just a part of the burgeoning nationwide industry related to aquariums, a business that is worth an estimated $600 million a year, according to Pet Age magazine. And that`s conservative, one retailer concludes.
There`s a tank for every budget. A 10-gallon tank including a filter begins around $25 at the dime store. Fish, priced separately, start from $1. But these starter tanks are the low end of the category. A desk-top aquarium including fish and filtration system sells for less than $100. Kits include pump and filter, thermometer, heater, lights, living or plastic plants, plus colored rocks and gravel. Just add fish and you`re in business. The average home or office aquarium measures 2 to 6 feet in length and holds 20 to 125 gallons of water. Prices can run from $200 to $1,000. And more.
Why are aquariums popular? Affluence, answers John Brandt of Aquariums by Design, a Chicago company that designs, sells and services aquariums. ”People appreciate finer things and are willing to pay for them. They consider an aquarium to be fine furniture.” His showroom could double as an art gallery. Tanks built into the walls and displayed on pedestals are illuminated with track lighting.
Today`s technology affords a better tank, says aquarium designer Richard Rush of Richard Rush Studio Inc. in Chicago. ”It offers better-built, more interestingly designed tanks. Filtration systems are more compact, pumps are improved. Better materials, such as acrylic, are available. It is stronger than glass, lighter, more durable, but more expensive.”
Rush, who designs big stuff-90,000-gallon tanks and coral reefs for museums such as Chicago`s Shedd Aquarium, New England Aquarium in Boston and Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Orlando-isn`t surprised by the boom in commercial and residential tanks.
”People are traveling more, they`re into scuba diving and snorkeling. They see the fish. They want them. It`s like owning what you can`t touch. Aquariums have an aura.” Over the last two years, 3 percent of his business has been residential.
People who buy larger or custom-designed tanks consider them an investment. ”The bigger the tank, the more maintenance is required,” says Kenneth Riley, president of Chicago Aquarium Inc., a Chicago company that designs and services residential and commercial tanks. ”When you get a tank over 6 feet, that is a lot of weight. If a tank that size springs a leak, you`ve got a problem.”
Paulette Gardner of Northbrook had a big problem. The aquarium she bought for her husband`s birthday became a four-figure-plus learning experience.
A few weeks after his birthday, the gift backfired: All the fish died.
”I found them, all five of them, scattered over the floor of the aquarium. We didn`t have the slightest idea what had gone wrong. We knew nothing about taking care of it.”
She later discovered that the acid level of the water was too high. This loss in fish, valued at $100, sent her flying to the bookstores and the library. She began to research aquarium maintenance, determined to prevent more failure through knowledge.
Over a two-year period Gardner, now an aspiring aquarist, estimates she lost three dozen more fish. ”I was at wit`s end. I gave it my best try. Finally, I got this advertisement from an aquarium service. I called them up.”
The company, Tank Goodness in Northbrook, now cares for the 75-gallon tank on a regular basis. One year later Gardner, now an avid hobbyist, is considering buying a second tank.
Customers such as Gardner are nothing new to Betty Hoeffner, president of Tank Goodness. ”Not everyone has the time or desire to become an expert. But many are willing to pay for service.”
The price of a service call depends on the size of the aquarium. A cleaning for a 30-gallon tank usually runs $35 an hour. Something larger, say 40 to 75 gallons, needs two hours. Most home aquariums are cleaned once a month. Owners of commercial tanks want them to be spotless; so they are cleaned more often.
”If the tank has elements to be removed to clean the gravel-arrangements of coral, shells, ferns-those require more time. You have to rearrange them,” Hoeffner says.
What if a fish gets sick? An emergency house call for a non-client could run up to $50 ($35 for a regular customer). Sometimes, the aquarist will have to remove a sick fish and put it in a hospital tank for observation.
For her clients, Hoeffner hires aquarists such as Andy Davies, who services Gardner`s tank. A hobbyist as well as a professional with work experience in a major aquarium, Davies says nothing surprises him.
”I had a panic call from one new customer. A fish was acting weird. I went over and found that one of the children put all the remains of his lunch in the tank. In another tank it was breakfast, oatmeal and crusts. Overfeeding is one of the biggest mistakes people make. They think they`re feeding a herd of bulls.”
Getting the right information takes the mystery out of owning an aquarium. Courses offered for youth and adults at the Shedd Aquarium include caring for fish, aquarium design and tank maintenance, as well as (for those who don`t want fish) aquatic plants, both fresh water and marine.
Knowledge is critical. Says Parkview`s Merrill: ”Aquariums require care. You don`t just go out and buy one. You have to build an environment. ”
”You get attached to the fish. When one dies, it`s like losing a friend,” jeweler Goldin says.
Seeing his clients` curiosity grow never fails to amaze and gratify Brandt, of Aquariums by Design. ”Customers start asking questions about the fish. Then they get into the personalities and behavior. Then they ask me to recommend books. Some, when they go on vacations, will even visit aquariums. You don`t live with an investment like an aquarium without getting into it.” Riley, of Chicago Aquarium Inc., says: ”You`ll rarely see a fish book on the bedstand or coffeetable of my clients. Let`s face it. These are toys of the affluent.”
For more information, the following sources were used for this story:
Aquariums by Design, 730 N. Franklin St.; 944-5566.
Chicago Aquarium Inc., Suite 1522, 30 N. Michigan Ave.; 525-7099.
Old Town Aquarium, 1538 N. Wells St.; 642-8763.
Parkview Pet Shop, 2222 N. Clark St.; 549-2282.
Richard Rush Studio Inc., 210 S. Desplaines St.; 648-0046.
John G. Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S. Lake Shore Dr.; 939-2438.
Tank Goodness, Suite 430, 40 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook; 498-4620.
