There`s lots to look at in Jim Feldman`s apartment. On an upper floor of Lake Point Tower, the condo boasts a panoramic view of the city. The living room walls are covered with Feldman`s collection of colorful cartoon cels;
another room has been converted into a high-rise wine cellar to house his growing stockpile of vintage potables.
But after guests have smiled at the pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse and oohed and aahed over the view of the Chicago skyline, they often gravitate to the 125-gallon saltwater aquarium a few feet from Feldman`s dining room table.
”The aquarium becomes an entertainment center when I have people over for dinner,” says Feldman, owner of a Chicago-based promotion and marketing agency. ”Guests focus on it and don`t even miss me while I`m in the kitchen cooking.”
Doris Marks, a homemaker, and her husband, Stanford, an attorney, tell a similar story. When guests enter the den in the couple`s Chicago home, the first thing that attracts their attention is the aquarium, full of fish and living coral.
”Everyone is fascinated by it,” Doris says. ”It`s aesthetically beautiful and psychologically relaxing.”
And then there are Rick and Lynne Freed, who went home-shopping five years ago in the northern suburbs with one rather unusual requirement in mind: The house they bought had to be able to accommodate a 500-gallon aquarium that weighed nearly 5 tons when filled with water. Today, the Freeds enjoy breakfasting in front of their 8-foot fish tank, which Rick built and installed himself; the 500-gallon tank faces the kitchen and extends into an attached garage.
What`s the fascination with fish? ”They`re beautiful,” chorus the Freeds, who recently turned their longtime hobby into a full-time business and opened Aquascape Aquarium Co. in Bannockburn Green Center in north suburban Bannockburn.
”You don`t have to walk them or potty train them,” Feldman says.
”They`re always entertaining, and they animate the room. Having an aquarium is like having a mini piece of the ocean.”
”They`re the perfect pet for city dwellers,” says Doris Marks.
Is this the dawning of the Age of Aquariums? There`s no doubt that fish are right in the swim of things when it comes to a number of 1990s trends. We want a soothing diversion from fast-paced workdays; fish fans insist that watching colorful marine life is one of the most tranquil pursuits imaginable. We`re concerned about ecology; aquariums afford a close-up look at the dynamics of underwater life. We`re short on time; fish are relatively easy to care for.
And now, thanks to new developments in aquarium design, tanks can fit smoothly and stylishly into just about any decor-another reason more people are indulging in piscatorial pleasures.
Sleek, sturdy designs
Gone are the all-too-visible filtration systems, unsightly pumps, makeshift stands and leaky glass tanks. Today`s light but sturdy, mostly Plexiglas aquariums fit into cabinetry that neatly conceals filtration pumps and other plumbing and comes in a variety of styles-everything from Early American to Santa Fe/Southwestern to starkly modern.
Tanks may sit atop stands sporting black lacquer, fruitwood, faux marble or mosaic finishes. They can serve as room dividers. They`re even turning up as part of the scenery at upstream eateries such as Nick`s Fishmarket in Rosemont, where a trio of 450-gallon saltwater tanks representing the natural coral reefs of the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean and Hawaii separate the restaurant`s two dining rooms.
While aquariums have been around practically forever-remember the bowl of goldfish you had as a kid?-it has only been relatively recently that they have become sophisticated decorating elements as well as soothing additions to a room.
Five years ago, when marketing executives and fish fanciers Dana Leo and Jan Gollins decided to tap into the customized decorating segment of the aquarium market and opened Aquariums by Design, 730 N. Franklin St., the husband-and-wife team had difficulty finding craftspeople to build high-quality cabinets, stands and other aquatic units.
”Now, people contact us to tell us that they build them,” Leo says.
”There is a lot more interest in the decorative aspect.”
Getting started
At Aquariums by Design, a relatively simple starter setup with a 30-gallon (24 inches high) tank in an oak, Early American style cabinet complete with lights and filtration system runs between $600 and $700. According to Leo, the average home aquarium enthusiast (who, incidentally, is more likely to be male than female) spends around $2,000 on tank, filtration system and fish, which can cost as little as $2 for a small freshwater goldfish or as much as $800 for a large, colorful saltwater rarity from the Red Sea. Saltwater fish tend to be more colorful and cost more; the average saltwater fish is $30 compared to $8 for the average freshwater fish.
At Aquascape, according to Rick Freed, you can spend ”anywhere from $2 for a goldfish bowl on up to $30,000” or so for a really elaborate custom design setup. Bed headboards incorporating aquariums begin at around $900;
room dividers incorporating aquariums start at around $1,200 and come in oak, birch, black lacquer and turquoise-painted Southwestern style. Among the shop`s more unusual fish are a freshwater African lungfish with a lifespan of more than 50 years, which sells for $130.
While new developments in cabinets and stands have turned fish tanks into decorative assets rather than liabilities, it`s the fish themselves that aquarium owners want to talk about most.
Soothes savage kids
”Fish are fascinating,” says Lynne Freed, who has a 55-gallon tank in her bedroom in addition to the family`s 500-gallon kitchen aquarium. ”They`re so relaxing to watch. Our kids are 19 and 17 years old now, but when they were younger, they could be yelling and screaming, but once they sat down and started staring at the fish they would calm down. Watching fish makes for a nice quiet time before bed.”
”Fish give a room life,” says Marks, whose sleek black lacquer aquarium stand adds a sophisticated contemporary note to the couple`s otherwise traditionally furnished home. ”Having an aquarium makes the house feel lived- in. My husband and I are very personally attached to our fish; if something happens to one of them, we get very upset.”
”Fish definitely have personalities,” Feldman says. ”It`s interesting to watch the hierarchy and see who`s in charge of the tank. For example, see that maroon and white striped clown fish? He`s very territorial; he will attack anything that comes into his space. When it`s feeding time, you see the big fish get the big pieces and the little fish wait. It`s a community, and it really makes you think about pollution.
”Once, when I was out of town, someone fed the fish for me and had grease or something on his hands,” Feldman adds. ”It polluted the tank, and half of my fish died. It really makes you think about what happens when pollution gets dumped into the oceans.
”This isn`t a passive hobby, though,” Feldman emphasizes. ”It requires a financial and an educational commitment. You`re constantly testing the water to make sure it`s chemically balanced; that takes me 10 or 15 minutes each week.”
Help from pros
Feldman, like many other aquarium owners, leaves major upkeep jobs, such as changing the water in the tank once a month, to the pros; many aquarium stores, including Aquascape and Aquariums by Design, offer maintenance services.
”You don`t have to walk fish, but you can`t just feed them and walk away,” agrees Leo, who has a small tabletop tank full of angelfish in her home. ”You need to stay involved and pay attention to their health and eating habits. The most common mistake people make is feeding their fish too much. The leftover food pollutes the water.”
Does owning an aquarium make you less likely to have fish for dinner?
Sometimes. Leo, for example, has no problem with eating fish; she likes being at the top of the food chain. Feldman, on the other hand, recalls the time he and his late wife, Susan, were vacationing in Hong Kong and strolled into a seafood restaurant.
”At this restaurant, they kept the fish in a tank and showed you your fish before it was taken out and cooked,” he says. ”Susan and I looked in the tank and saw fish just like we had at home. We couldn`t order any of them. We ended up having salads.”
