Why I Started Experimenting with Weird Tank Shapes (And What My Students Think)

You know, after eight years of maintaining the same basic rectangular classroom aquarium, I started getting restless. Don’t get me wrong – the 55-gallon tank worked great for teaching about nitrogen cycles and fish behavior, but I kept seeing these amazing aquascapes online in cube tanks and hexagonal setups that made me think, maybe I’m playing it too safe here.

The whole thing started when I was browsing aquascaping forums during summer break (because apparently that’s what I do for fun now), and I came across this incredible cube tank setup. The symmetry was just perfect – you could look at it from any angle and it told a complete story. My wife found me staring at my laptop for like an hour, muttering about “spatial dynamics” or whatever, and she’s like, “Tom, you’re getting that look again.” She knows the look. It’s the same look I got before I convinced the school to let me tear down the goldfish tank and start over with live plants.

So naturally, I started researching. I mean, I went full teacher-mode on this – spreadsheets comparing tank dimensions, notes about viewing angles, sketches of possible layouts. My daughter walked into my home office and goes, “Dad, are you doing homework about fish tanks?” And honestly, yeah, I guess I was.

The thing about different tank shapes is they completely change how you approach aquascaping. With a regular rectangular tank, you’ve got this nice long canvas where you can create depth by putting tall plants in back, short ones in front, maybe some driftwood creating a focal point. It’s straightforward, predictable. But a cube tank? That’s like trying to create a sculpture that looks good from every direction. Suddenly you’re thinking about balance in three dimensions, not just front-to-back composition.

I decided to experiment at home first before inflicting anything weird on my classroom. Found a decent 12-inch cube tank on sale at the local fish store – not huge, but big enough to really test out some design ideas. The owner, Dave, who’s been selling fish longer than I’ve been teaching, was like, “Cubes are tricky, you sure about this?” Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dave.

Setting up that first cube was honestly frustrating. Everything I’d learned about traditional aquascaping just didn’t apply. I’d place a piece of driftwood that looked perfect from the front, then walk around to the side and it looked completely off-balance. Plants that created nice layering in rectangular tanks suddenly blocked views from certain angles. I probably tore down and rebuilt that thing four times before I got something that worked.

But when it finally clicked? Man, it was satisfying. There’s something really cool about creating this little underwater world that rewards you for walking around it, discovering new perspectives. My son actually noticed – he’s usually more interested in his video games than my fish tanks, but he spent like ten minutes just slowly circling this cube setup, checking it out from different angles.

The breakthrough for me was realizing that cube tanks aren’t about traditional depth – they’re about creating a central focal point and radiating out from there. Instead of thinking front-to-back, you think center-to-edges. I ended up using a really interesting piece of branching wood as the centerpiece, with smaller plants clustered around the base and some trailing species that created these natural-looking boundaries without blocking sightlines.

Lighting was a whole different challenge too. With rectangular tanks, you basically just need to cover the length evenly. But cubes? You need light that works from multiple viewing angles without creating weird shadows or dead spots. I went through three different LED setups before finding one that actually worked. My electric bill was probably wondering what I was doing that summer.

Getting confident with the cube setup made me want to try other shapes. Found a 20-gallon hexagonal tank at a garage sale – the previous owner had used it for goldfish with those horrible plastic decorations, but the tank itself was in great condition. Forty bucks, couldn’t pass it up.

Hexagonal tanks are wild. You’ve got six different viewing windows, and each one needs to show something interesting. It’s like designing six different aquascapes that somehow need to work together as one cohesive piece. The angles create these really unique perspective shifts too – plants and hardscape elements look completely different depending on which face of the hexagon you’re viewing from.

I spent weeks just sitting in front of that hexagonal tank with a notebook, sketching out how different arrangements would look from each viewing angle. My wife started calling it my “fish tank homework,” and she wasn’t wrong. But that planning stage was crucial because once you start planting and placing hardscape, making changes is a pain.

The solution I came up with was creating these radiating zones – each face of the hexagon had its own character, but they flowed into each other naturally. One side had this dense cluster of stem plants, the adjacent side featured the main hardscape element (a really cool piece of spider wood), the next side had a carpet of low-growing plants, and so on. Walking around the tank became this journey through different scenes that were all part of the same story.

My students went absolutely crazy when I brought the hexagonal tank into the classroom. They’d never seen anything like it. Instead of just crowding around the front glass like they did with the rectangular tank, they’d spread out around the whole thing, comparing views, arguing about which angle looked best. Some kids started drawing the tank from different perspectives for art class. It became this whole interdisciplinary thing I hadn’t planned on.

The educational value was incredible too. We started talking about perspective in science class – how the same object can look completely different depending on your viewpoint, which tied into lessons about observation and data collection. Kids began understanding that there’s no single “correct” view of something, which is honestly a pretty sophisticated concept for seventh graders.

Column tanks were my next experiment. Found a 30-gallon column at a local pet store going out of business – super tall, narrow footprint. These things are all about vertical space, which completely changes your plant selection and layout strategy. Instead of thinking about foreground, midground, and background, you’re thinking about bottom, middle, and top zones.

I created this waterfall effect with different types of moss and ferns, starting with darker, broader leaves at the bottom and transitioning to lighter, more delicate species as you moved up toward the light. Added some small schooling fish that liked to swim at different levels, so you had this constant vertical movement that drew your eye up and down through the whole water column.

The maintenance on column tanks is actually easier in some ways – smaller footprint means less surface area to clean, but reaching the bottom when the thing’s two feet tall requires some planning. I ended up getting one of those long-handled aquascaping tools, which made me feel very professional even though I was basically just a middle school teacher playing with fish tanks.

But here’s where things got really interesting – I started thinking about how these different tank shapes could serve different educational purposes. The cube tank was perfect for discussing symmetry and balance in nature. The hexagonal tank was great for perspective and observation skills. The column tank worked beautifully for teaching about different aquatic zones and how species adapt to different depths and light levels.

Bow-front tanks were next on my list. These things have curved glass that creates this magnifying effect – everything inside looks bigger and more dramatic than it actually is. It’s like having a natural lens built into your aquarium. The challenge is designing something that takes advantage of that effect without looking distorted or weird.

I found that bow-fronts work really well with designs that have strong central focal points. The curve naturally draws your eye toward the center, so placing your most interesting hardscape element or plant grouping right in that sweet spot creates this really powerful visual impact. The sides fade away naturally, so you don’t need to worry as much about perfect edge-to-edge composition.

The curved glass does weird things to your perception of depth though. Plants that are actually pretty close to the front glass can appear much further back than they really are. Fish swimming near the curve look absolutely huge, which the kids love but can be startling if you’re not expecting it. I learned to choose fish species carefully – anything too large or aggressive-looking becomes intimidating when magnified by that curved glass.

Cylinder tanks are probably the most challenging shape I’ve worked with. You’ve got this 360-degree viewing situation where literally every angle needs to work, plus you’re dealing with the visual distortion of looking through curved glass from every direction. It’s like aquascaping in the round – everything needs to flow together seamlessly because there’s nowhere to hide mistakes or awkward transitions.

I ended up using a lot of radial symmetry in my cylinder tank – plants and hardscape arranged in patterns that radiated out from a central point. Think of it like designing a garden that you can walk completely around, except it’s underwater and viewed through curved glass that changes your perspective constantly.

The equipment challenges with these unusual tank shapes are real. Try hiding a filter intake in a cube tank without ruining the symmetry. Figure out how to light a hexagonal tank evenly from all angles. Mount a heater in a tall column tank where it’s effective but not visible from the main viewing areas.

I’ve learned to get creative with equipment placement. Lily pipes and glass filter components help maintain the aesthetic. Small, adjustable LED fixtures can be positioned to work with unusual tank geometries. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little functionality for form, but that’s part of the challenge.

The response from my students has been incredible. These unusual tank shapes spark curiosity in ways that regular rectangular tanks just don’t. Kids ask questions about why things look different from various angles, how the curved glass changes their perception, why certain plants work better in tall versus wide spaces. They’re learning about optics and biology and design principles without realizing it.

Other teachers have started asking about my “weird tanks.” Some think I’m overcomplicating things – why not just stick with rectangular tanks that are easier to maintain and design? But I think there’s real educational value in showing students that there are multiple ways to approach any problem, whether it’s creating an aquascape or thinking about science in general.

After three years of experimenting with different tank shapes, I’ve got seven tanks running at home and two unusual-shaped tanks in my classroom. My garage looks like a fish store exploded, and my wife has officially banned any new tank purchases until I “prove I can maintain the ones you already have, Tom.”

But honestly? Each different tank shape has taught me something new about aquascaping, about teaching, about looking at familiar things from fresh perspectives. The lighting challenges alone have made me better at understanding how plants respond to different conditions. The design constraints have forced me to be more creative, more thoughtful about plant and hardscape placement.

If you’re thinking about trying a non-traditional tank shape, my advice is start small and be patient. Creating depth and visual interest in unusual shapes requires different techniques than rectangular tanks. Don’t expect your first attempt to be perfect – I rebuilt most of my experimental tanks multiple times before getting them right.

Consider how the shape will affect your maintenance routine too. Tall tanks need different approaches than wide ones. Curved glass can make algae cleaning more challenging. Complex shapes might require specialized tools or techniques.

But the creative possibilities are worth the extra effort. There’s something really satisfying about successfully aquascaping a challenging tank shape, creating something that works both aesthetically and functionally despite the constraints. Plus, if you’re using tanks for education like I am, unusual shapes generate way more interest and discussion than standard rectangular setups.

My current project is a paludarium in a custom-built triangular tank – part water, part land, completely ridiculous maintenance challenges. My wife thinks I’ve lost my mind, my students are fascinated, and I’m honestly not sure if I can pull it off. But that’s kind of the point, right? Push your boundaries, try something new, see what you can create when you step outside the standard rectangular box.

Whether you’re a teacher looking to create more engaging classroom displays, or just an aquascaper wanting to try something different, unusual tank shapes offer opportunities you won’t find in standard setups. Yes, they’re more challenging. Yes, you’ll probably make mistakes and need to start over a few times. But the learning experience – both for you and anyone viewing your tanks – is totally worth the extra effort.

Just maybe warn your family before you start collecting weird-shaped tanks. Trust me on this one. Creating underwater waterfalls in column tanks is cool and all, but domestic harmony is important too. Although honestly, once they see that first successful unusual tank setup, they’ll probably understand why you couldn’t stick with boring rectangles. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself when I’m eyeing that octagonal tank for sale online…

The key thing I’ve learned is that different tank shapes aren’t just about aesthetics – they’re about fundamentally different ways of thinking about aquatic spaces. Each shape presents unique challenges that make you a better aquascaper overall. And if you’re lucky enough to share your tanks with students or family members, those lighting effects and viewing angles create moments of wonder that you just can’t get from standard setups.