Aqua Forest Aquarium

(Welcome to Lily, one of the finalists in our San Francisco Blogger search. Comment away!)

We love pets, but cats and dogs are a no-go in our apartment building. A fish tank would be our next choice, but we're not too keen on the plastic treasure chests and fake rubbery plants we recall from our youth. Walking up Fillmore the other day, however, we were floored by the display in the window of Aqua Forest Aquarium...

The shop specializes in "Nature Aquarium Style," meaning real plants used to emulate natural vistas within the tank. The aquariums have a real "bonsai"-like quality to them, and the hand-blown glass filters give a clean look -- definitely a few steps up from the ol' goldfish in a bowl.

Link: Aqua Forest Aquarium

-lily

Comments (18)

I would not feel the least bit sorry for a fish couped up in one of those tanks!

Wow. I never knew I wanted an aquarium until today.

gorgeous, but how do you clean the gravel???

AquaForest is the best place ever!

And if you do get into it, check out the San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society http://sfbaaps.org/home.html

Wow that little tree with the fish is so surreal. I really really want that.

So very gorgeous! But, man, I'd bet I'd kill it within a year.

Me Plant Time = Dead Plant(s)

So beautiful! Reminds me of museum dioramas.

I really like that... I was not a fan of fish tanks until now...even without the fish!

Pretty cool looking- but fish ALWAYS remind me of being a kid, and having to constantly clean the STINKY fish bowl.

Fantastic solution to the boring old school tanks!

Stunning, but oh my god would they be awful to keep clean.

Underwater forests like this require very high powered lights and diligent pruning. Also, you have to be careful about picking your fish - only the meekest will do, since the plant arrangements are so easy to disturb. This is a very zen enterprise about shifting things around just so :)

Just for everyone's knowledge, those tanks ARE NOT tanks from Aqua Forest, they have beautiful tanks, but those pictures are from the aquatic gardener's competition of 2007.

Stealing pictures and not putting the proper rights for them is bad journalism/blogging....

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2007.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=0&id=20
for the lower picture

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2007.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=1&id=190
for the top picture.

I love these, but this is a time consuming expert hobby, not a piece of art that can just be taken home and left alone. I really hope people don't start buying these as a trend.

Aquariums take a lot of stinky, messy work (& money) to maintain. The heavily planted ones are worse because you have to worry about Co2 injectors vs. the fish's chemical needs...you really need to know what you're up against.