96 



THE AQUARIUM, JANUARY, 1897. 



Queries. 



For the small sum of one dollar in ad- 

 vance, whicli pays for a year's subscription 

 to The Aquarium, you are entitled to ask 

 information on any point regarding the 

 aquarium or the window garden. We offer 

 no other premium to our subscribers than 

 that of putting over 25 years of practical ex- 

 perience in these branches at their disposal. 

 Ask as many questions as you please, but 

 please to enclose postage for reply. All 

 questions are answered by mail, and we 

 publish only such in these columns as are 

 of general interest. 



Rev. W. K. — Wood is not the proper ma- 

 terial to use in the construction of an aqua- 

 rium tank ; metal is everj^ time the cheap- 

 est, neatest and safest. A one and one-half 

 pound box of our waterproof cement will 

 re-set all the glass of your tank, which, 

 you write, measures 7ixl4xS inches high. 

 Directions for using the cement are on the 

 label. 



After having the glass re-set, fill the in- 

 side corners of the tank with cement, and 

 in this imbed carefully narrow strips of 

 glass, sufficient in width, say one-half or 

 three-quarters of an inch, to touch the 

 glass on both sides. Do this work in a 

 warm room to avoid that the oil, used in 

 mixing the cement, will become thick from 

 the cold. 



If this treatment does not stop the leak 

 of your tank, nothing else will, and j'ou 

 had better get a new frame made to fit 

 your glass, using metal this time and fol- 

 y lowing our directions to the minutest de- 

 tail, as given for the construction of an 

 aquarium tank on pp. 106-108, Vol. III. 

 (April, '94) of The Aquarium. 



A. E. S.— The large Two-spined Stickle- 

 backs (Gasterosteiis noreborac£)isis), which is 

 the most reliable nest-building species for 

 an in-door aquarium, are in season from the 

 end of February until April. Under ordi- 

 nary circumstances they will not live in 

 fresh water all the year round, the water 

 becoming too warm for them. Twice we 

 succeeded to keep some as late as the 

 month of August, but the sultry, uncom- 

 fortable weather, characteristic of that 

 month in our location, killed them. 



Miss N. — It is very likely that the 

 stomachs of your telescope fish had been 

 disarranged by improper feeding. 



The one yet alive seems to indicate by 

 his action that your aquarium is not suffi- 

 ciently supplied with oxygen /or Mm ; he 

 is perhaps a larger fish than j^our others. 

 In that case j^ou should regularh' and care- 

 fully remove all the sediment from the bot- 

 tom of your tank by aid of a siphon, and 

 also add a good pinch of table salt to the 

 water. 



Our climate is not exactly unfavorable 

 for imported Japanese fish, but all imported 

 stock has to get used to it by degrees. It 

 is a fact that the majority of them die be- 

 fore a year is up. The best goldfish for an 

 aquarium are those that have been bred in 

 this country from imported stock. 



Mrs. L. K. — It is not absolutely neces- 

 sary to have a sunny window to be success- 

 ful in growing house plants. A northern 

 window is very good for a great many kinds 

 of plants, but it is absolutely necessary 

 that the plants are so placed that they can 

 see the sky. If this view is interfered with 

 by a porch, or some other kind of an exten- 

 sion over or before the window, window 

 gardening will not prove a success. 



Mr. F. W. — Yes, direct sunlight is good 

 for the development of fishes and plants, 

 and we recommend it when the aim is to 

 breed or raise fish, but in an aquarium we 

 simply wish to keep the inmates in a 

 healthy condition for display or study. 

 These two purposes have a parallel in a 

 propagating house and a conservatory. 



Each of these is intended for an entirely 

 difierent purpose and is run on entirely 

 different principles. 



