Life is viTV t-lastic and adaptable to 

 many contradictory pliases and even then 

 may triumph o\-er death. Perhaps even 

 these minute "wheel bearers" may possess 

 organs within their bodies whose signifi- 

 cance so far is unknown to us. 



The illustration shows three species very 

 nuieh maynified. 



Mechanical Helps in Aquarium 

 Work 



A 'New Glass Cleaner 



W. G. LAMl'RECHT, Brooklyn 



The following contrivance for cleaning- 

 algae from the glass of aquaria was de- 

 vised by iNIr. Hubert Siegl, of Prague, 

 and was published in Blaetter fuer Aquari- 

 en und Terrarien Kunde. It has proven 

 itself so practical and useful to the writer, 

 that it is brought to the attention of others 

 who may have had difficulty in keeping their 

 aquaria clean of algae without disturbing- 

 water plants. 



Various methods are used to clean glass, 

 such as bristle, steel and wire brushes, or 

 for the stickier brown algae cuttle bone or 

 a bundle of steel shavings. Plaster of 

 Paris clouds the water; fine sand, in spite 

 of the finest grade used, will scratch the 

 glass, thereby not only giving the algae a 

 still better surface for growth, but also 

 spoiling its transparency. The up and 

 down movement of aquarium brushes causes 

 quite a stir in the water, disturbing the 

 sediment. Nor is it possible to clean the 

 glass to the edge of the sand on the bot- 

 tom, thus leaving a strip — which brushes 

 cannot reach. To overcome all this, dis- 

 carded safety razor blades are brought 

 into use. For example we will take the 

 "Gillette," although any other make may 

 be used. 



Take a piece of brass about l-K) inch in 

 thickness and cut two plates, boring holes 

 to conform with those of the blade. In each 

 of the outside holes of one of the plates in- 



sert a short brass peg, made either of brass 

 wire or screws, which are then soldered 

 fast. Then lay the razor blade between 

 the two plates, cut the i)rojecting part of 

 pegs off and file even. Now bore centre 

 hole B through both plates suitable for a 

 round headed (brass) screw with nut, a 

 stove bolt will do. To complete the contri- 

 vance a handle is made of iron or brass 

 (bent to an angle of iO or 15 degrees) fas- 

 tened to one of the ])lates, making it ready 

 for use. Anyone handy with tools can 

 construct this simple appliance. Although 

 someAvhat clumsier, one of the plates and 

 the handle may also be made of hard Avood, 

 using wood screws for pegs which hold 

 blade in place. The handle can easily be 

 fastened with screAvs on a wooden plate. 

 This will work quite as well as the all metal 

 arrangement. 



It is, of course, necessary to adopt a 

 certain make of blades as standard before 

 making the plates, as each style differs in 

 dimensions. 



To clean the glass move the edge of 

 the tool (with handle held in an upright 

 position) — slowly down along the glass 

 surface to a little below the toj) of tlu; 

 sand and "shave" clean. The algae will 

 roll u}) on the edge of the blade like shav- 

 ings and finally sink to the bottom, with- 

 out clouding the water in the least, after 

 which the refuse can be gathered with a 

 dip tube, or, if preferred, left for the snails 

 to devour. 



Tile jiraetieability of this device will 

 please everyone using- it. Of course, this is 

 suitable only for an aquarium with a per- 

 fectly smooth glass surface. 



There are now known about 13,000 

 species of fishes. Contrast this with the 

 115 species which Aristotle knew\ About 

 4000 of the species are found in fresh 

 water, the others are marine. 



36 



