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THE 



A Q I A R I U M 



be used in an aquarium, should be first 

 nickel plated. I found that by inserting 

 in the brass tube a large number of 

 "U "-shaped pieces of copper wire I got 

 a great deal more heat, the idea being 

 that as the heat from the flame passes 

 through the pipe, much of it is absorbed 

 by the copper wire and transmitted di- 

 rect to the pipe. At the top of Fig. Ill 

 is shown three of these pieces of copper 

 wire crossed (a). It is a good plan to 

 cross several of them in this way before 

 forcing them into the tube. Push them 

 in with a round stick which has a flat 

 end and mark on the stick each time 

 how far down the wires have gone and 

 let the next come a little higher. The 

 illustration shows the wires in place. In 

 this w^ay a great many may be inserted. 

 The more the better. 



If one has electricity in the house, a 

 very cheap and satisfactory way of heat- 

 ing an aquarium is by having an elec- 

 tric light directly in the water. The 

 electricity can be carried through a 

 small lead cable, made especially for 

 marine work, and the light bulb set in 

 a porcelain socket without any key. If 

 the light is now held in an inverted po- 

 sition and sealing wax melted around 

 the oj^ening where the socket is screwed 

 in, it will be found to be cjuite water- 

 proof. The Bunsen burner will come in 

 handy for this. By this method I kee]) 

 a 60-gallon acpiarium heated to a tem- 

 perature of 72 degrees in an atmosphere 

 of from oo to (iO degrees, using a o2 

 c. p. carbon fllament lamp with a frosted 

 globe. 



For the heating of the systems de- 

 scribed I have used a miniature Bunsen 

 burner. They may be obtained of dental 

 or jeweler's supply houses. It is some- 

 times dif^cult to get these burners so 

 that they make a blue flame when turn- 



ed down low. It is very im|jortant that 

 the flame be blue at all times. This 

 difficulty has been overcome by ham- 

 mering the gas outlet in the burner 

 smaller so as to require practically the 

 full pressure from the gas main in order 

 to obtain a large enough flame. It seems 

 that in order to secure a proper Bunsen 

 flame, the gas needs to be discharged 

 under a fair degree of pressure in order 

 to mix well with the air necessary to 

 make complete combustion. 



An extremely good small oil lani]) can 

 be had at the larger stores selling lamps. 

 It is called "A Glow Lamp," and uses 

 very little oil. It requires attention 

 about every three or four days. The 

 principle is somewhat different from the 

 ordinary lamp; it burns vapor of kero- 

 sene and makes quite a hot, small flame. 



The following statement of results ob- 

 tained with the different heating n.eth- 

 ods herein described, will no doubt be 

 of interest to those contemplating the 

 installation of a heating outflt for any 

 aquarium. 



I"or ordinary heating, a Hunsen flame 

 from one-ciuarter to one half inch is 

 am])lc. These tests were made with a 

 three-quarter inch flame in order to get 

 maximum results. It niiglil be added, 

 that all of these systems were installed 

 in a single aciuarium, built for this ex- 

 ])erimcntal work in order that the com- 

 l)arative tests should l)e made, as far 

 as ])ossible, under identical conditions. 



The tests occupied about twelve hours 

 each, and the capacity of the aciuarium 

 is 434 gallons. They were made with a 

 glass cover on the aquarium. .System 

 number one gave a maxinunn rise in 

 temperature above that of the surround- 

 ing air of 2S degrees, Fahrenheit; system 

 number two, 31 degrees; number three 

 (with copper wires inserted), 27 degrees; 



