The Bioclimatic Solar Aquarium is a special tank for aquaculture, designed to be placed outdoors in way to optimize opportunity of natural light while minimizing the problematic.
Taking inspiration from the natural aquarium "self-sufficient" described by Konrad Lorenz (in "The Ring of Solomon"), it focuses on the importance of sunlight.
The design of the systems is meant to optimise the contribution from solar energy and allow the creation of biotopes from the protected micro-climate, isolated systems depending on the external environment but endowed with their own micro-climate.
The use of the Bioclimatic Solar Aquarium is not strictly established in advance, the “naturalist user” himself with his sensitivity is called upon to define the compatibility among the environment, the device and the biological needs of the plants and/or animals accommodated.
We believe that apart from the use of renewable sources of energy, the ecological importance of the “solar aquarium” lies in the intention of creating significant relations between different systems. The equipment and maintenance of an aquarium in a garden requires attention to the solar cycle, the local climate and the micro-climate; which may help us could help to feel relaxed and peaceful as present-day life often keeps us a long way from nature. As an example, just growing a hedge in order to prevent the wind from interfering with the micro-climate around the area of the aquarium, allowing the system a higher temperature, gives us a chance to focus our attention on details and helps us to re-establish a lost relationship between our daily deeds and our environment.
Like small pools among the cliffs, isolated from the tides, these objects, fragile, sensitive, and temporary biotopes can be read as a metaphor of the risks that our civilisation provokes to the biosphere.
They could also be vehicles to disseminate of the opportunities given by solar technologies: in particular, aquariums are very suitable for school gardens, they are safe because they run low-tension electricity and they have great didactic value.