Curved Aquariums - Bad for Fish?

[grigorescu]

I hope that this is the right place for this.

I just read an article in a Romanian newspaper discussing a new law where an owner of an aquarium with "spherical or curved sides" would be fined $100. It also said that the entire European Union has such a law in place. The reason cited by one of the voters is that "fish have problems with orientation." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find either an English translation or a similar law in other countries.

I'm guessing they're worried that fish will run into a bowed side, as opposed to a straight side? Is this true? Anyone know of any similar restrictions or laws where they live?

I was just quite surprised, since I've never heard of this idea before. Most likely, it's just another case of lawmakers legislating what they don't know.

Interestingly enough, though, the law also stipulates that transporting a fish in a transparent container would incur the same fine. That one I've heard of (or at least the idea of covering the bottom of the container, so the fish doesn't get overly-stressed).