Manchester City star Stephen Ireland buys £100,000 fish tank

Manchester City star Stephen Ireland has splashed out over £100,000 on a luxury fish tank with a living coral reef which he can control from his mobile phone.

The 23-year-old Irish midfielder had the 6,000 litre aquarium installed during an interior refit of his £5million home in Prestbury, Cheshire.

The custom-built acrylic tank – believed to be Britain’s largest private aquarium – is filled with salt-water and contains 500 tropical fish and a hand-crafted coral reef.

It is also fitted with Wi-fi so that the £70,000-a-week footballer and his Wag girlfriend Jessica Lawlor, 24, can control it via their phones and the internet.

Ireland, who has been fascinated by exotic fish since he was a child, described the tank, which is the centre-piece of his lobby, as ”immaculate”

He said: ”It’s just a breath-taking tank.  When people come to the door and see the tank their first reaction is ‘wow’.

”There’s a lot more to it than just glass and water mate.  It’s very complicated with the pumps and water system we have.

”Basically I just sat back and let them do everything and trusted them.  Thankfully it’s a lot better than I ever dreamed of.

”The guys that have done it are just top class to be fair.  We have a great relationship with them as friends as well as looking after my tank.

”I would recommend them to anyone because what we have here is just immaculate.”

Ireland’s fish tank, which measures 4m by 1m and stands 2.5m high, was built by specialist company Aquarium Architecture.

It was installed in his mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, as part of a refit by Bilton Ward Development who have also worked with Wayne Rooney and Katie Price.

The aquarium, which stands opposite Ireland’s personalised ‘Ireland’ pool table, comes complete with mahogany cabinetry and leather panelling.

The impressive tank is populated with 500 exotic fish including yellow tangs, wrasse and pineapple fish, and also contains half-a-tonne of coral shipped in from Fiji.

It is fitted with a high-tech computer system which allows the temperature and water-level to be monitored via the internet.

Aquarium Architecture who designed and built the aquarium said: ”Stephen is passionate about tropical fish.

”His knowledge and genuine enthusiasm makes it a pleasure to work for him.”

* Ireland became notorious for his luxury lifestyle in October last year when he bought girlfriend Jessica a £264,000 pimped-out Bentley for her 24th birthday.

The GTC soft top was decked out in a custom red and white paint job with embroidered lovehearts and ”To Jess love from Stephen” on the tailored leather seats.