"Graham Ramsay" wrote in message
...
"NetMax" wrote

snipped


The canopy of the future will resemble what we have today, but will be
much bigger, possibly 8 to 12" thick. It will incorporate things
like:


snipped

The question is, would it sell. Would you buy one?

I wouldn't buy a foot thick canopy no. If anything I'd like
canopies to get smaller and less obtrusive.


--
Graham Ramsay
Secretary
Fair City Aquarist Society

Understood. It would be a bit of a paradyne shift. There is some
consumer demand to integrate terrestrial and aquatic flora & fauna, in
the push for more realistic slices of nature in our livingroom. Along
these lines, very tall sheets of glass could be used, such that a 48"
tall aquarium would only be filled halfway with water, leaving the upper
24" for small shelves (rock appearance) for bog plants, water elements
(small water fall), flowering aquatic plants (some need a lot of
headspace above the water), and terrestrial critters (some insects,
amphibians, reptiles etc as space allowed).

If this sounds attractive, there are many drawbacks i) the glass
thickness cannot be reduced for the upper portion (manufacturing
constraint) making a very heavy and expensive structure, ii) maintenance
access is horrific (our reach is only about 24" to reach the bottom of
the tank), and the upper terrestrial portion of the tank would tend to
have condensation negatively affecting our view.

The work around is a bit of a hybrid on the idea, by integrating some of
the nicer aspects into a canopy. This allows less expensive materials
for the terrestrial portion, better access (canopy sections open to more
easily reach the bottom of the tank) and the use of plastics which would
promote less condensation obscuring our vision.

The canopy becomes another biotope, and hides all the mechanics to
support both terrestrial and aquatic biotopes. It's just food for
thought ). Thanks for the feedback.
--
www.NetMax.tk