Norrom Aquarium for the Design Conscious

Recently, I have been thinking about whether or not I should consider getting a fish tank so that my girls can grow up having some pets. I had fish when I was little and I really enjoyed the experience, until they died of course, but that is a valuable life lesson in itself. Unfortunately, I am badly allergic to animal fur so I’ve never been able to have cats or dogs as pets and sadly this means my girls won’t be able to either. We could maybe get rabbits or chickens that live in the garden but we have a lot of foxes round here so I’m not really sure that is a good idea. So fish seem like the best option right now and I know that the girls are already quite interested in fish tanks as they have seen one at a friend’s house and were both captivated. However, being the design geek that I am, no normal fish tank would do. I’d have to buy the most beautiful and well designed one on the market obviously. And the good news is I have found it! The Norrom Aquarium is a beautiful Swedish fish tank that is 100% customisable to your home decor.

The Norrom Aquarium was designed by Charles Törnros who was not satisfied with the current design of many standard fish tanks. After 1240 hours of design, 461 days of testing and 93 prototypes, Charles was eventually able to launch his new improved aquarium and all I can say is that his hard work and perseverance was definitely worth it.

The 40 litre freshwater Norrom Aquarium has handmade lids and bases that are interchangeable. They come in a variety of finishes including natural birch wood, white stained birch wood, Zebrano over birch wood, dark mahogany stained birch wood, light mahogany over birch wood, olive wood over birch wood and limited edition walnut over birch wood. I love the idea that you can give your aquarium a completely new look to suit your mood, a new colour scheme, or even a new home. I don’t know of any other fish tank that allows you to do this. There is even the option to choose unfinished wood so that you can paint it yourself in any colour that will match your interior decor.

The tank has an advanced filtration system that is hidden below 4kgs of rocks, creating a subtle filter that you will hardly notice. Even the air pump can be hidden in the base, making it extra quiet, which is a bonus in my book. There is also a unique energy-efficient LED unit, hidden neatly in the base, which eliminates the need for a cable to hang from the aquarium lid. (You all know by now how much I hate cable clutter so this for me is a fantastic advantage of this tank). The lighting system delivers almost 500 lumens of natural white light on full power, and can be dimmed down to any level to create various atmospheres. The light is carried up from the aquarium base to the top and then reflected back down by mirroring inside the lid.

The tank can house a wide range of fish, frogs and invertebrates as long as the room in which the Norrom Aquarium is kept maintains standard ‘room temperature’ of approximately 20°C to 24°C. Gold fish are apparently not compatible with the tank though as they are considered to be too dirty and can get too big.

When it comes to fish keeping, even the more stylish aquariums that have become popular over the past few years, such as Biorbs, have numerous design flaws, such as the cable hanging from the lid, the exterior loud pump, plasticky lids etc. It feels like aquarium manufacturers assume that people who keep fish don’t have an attention to detail. This is why I decided to design the Norrom Aquarium, because I wanted a fish tank that respects the consumer’s design sense and attention to detail – just as you would expect from a good piece of furniture.

Charles Törnros, Founder, Norrom Ltd

I’d love to know what you guys think of the Norrom Aquarium.