THE AQUARIUM, JANUARY, 1893. 



21 



not suflfer from the dry air. All being 

 planted, the next thing to do is to 

 place some small stones or large peb- 

 bles in an apparently careless manner 

 on the bottom, some in the immediate 

 vicinity of the plants to steady the 

 roots of them, while others are placed 

 in gronj)s of threes or fonrs together, 

 leaving small crevices between each 

 stone to catch the refnse matter that 

 will collect in time. 



The aquarium is now ready to re- 

 ceive the water. If you live in a city 

 that has waterworks, use water from 

 the hydrant, provided that it is clear ; 

 if yon cannot have that, take clear cis- 

 tern or spring water, but the water 

 must be clear and fit for anybody to 

 drink Any water that you wonld not 

 like to drink yourself is not fit for an 

 aquarium ! Muddy water is as detri 

 mental to aquatic plants as dust is to 

 garden plants. If the water is less than 

 60° F., some warm water should be 

 added, as otherwise the plants would 

 get chilled. Pour the water into the 

 tank slowly and carefully, in order not 

 to wash out the roots of the plants, 

 filling it up to within two inches from 

 the top. Now take a small stick, and 

 by its aid carefully arrange the branches 

 or blades of the plants to suit, then 

 sprinkle a pinch of common table salt 

 on the surface of the water and your 

 aquarium is started. 



If you wish to do so, you can place 

 the fish in the water at once, but if there 

 is no particuhir hurry, it is advisable to 

 wait a day or two, in order to have the 

 water settle and to give the plants a 

 chance to straighten up and have the 

 sand settled about their roots. After 

 elapse of that period you will see most 

 of the plants covered with minute sil- 

 very bubbles, these are oxygen bubbles 

 and you may consider your tank charged 



with same and in perfect condition to 

 support animal life. Now take the 

 wiper, which is a sponge fastened to 

 the fiat end of a stick, and slowly wipe 

 the inside of the glass of tlie aquarium, 

 making the motion up and down, avoid 

 touching the sand as this would scratch 

 the glass. The aquarium will now ap- 

 pear as clear as if it contained no water 

 ;it all. Now introduce the fish gently, 

 one at the time, getting them gradually 

 used to the temperature of the water by 

 slowly mixing it with the Avater in 

 which they were, then add to your col- 

 lection two or more frog tadpoles to 

 consume the refuse and otherwise de- 

 caying matter and also a few pond 



snails of the ramshorn type, for the 

 same purpose. 



The question, how many fish can live 

 in an aquarium of a certain size, is 

 equal to, how much money must a man 

 have to be rich — the answer is substan- 

 tially the same. The shaj^e of the tank 

 and the location in which it is placed 

 determine the )iumber of fish that can 

 comfortably live in it. Should the lo- 

 cation be bad as regards light, the 

 amount of oxygen generated in the 

 tank will be less, while if the situation 

 is highly favorable in every respect, the 

 evolution of the life-giving gas will 

 reach its maximum degree. The quan- 

 tity of water required for a given num- 

 ber of fish is furthermore regulated by 



