Maintaining an Aquarium 



MAX TRELL 



Too many people are inclined to be- 

 lieve that the maintenance of an aqua- 

 rium is a divine gift bestowed upon a 

 lucky minority much in the same fashion 

 as the gift of music, poetry and the 

 other arts. Fortunately they are wrong. 

 Few things are so easy, give so little 

 trouble ; in fact, so nearly take care of 

 themselves, as the aquarium. All that 

 is required is a short, enjoyable appren- 

 ticeship and a great deal of interest. I 

 am ready to guarantee that, given - a 

 person with a willingness to learn and 

 an interest in the subject (provided he is 

 neither immature in intellect or years), I 

 will put him in a position to keep alive as 

 many finny pets as he has room for, and 

 in a shorter time than he perhaps thinks 

 possible. 



Aquarium, from my pen, immediately 

 excludes bowls, flat dishes, jars, hanging 

 contrivances and a vast army of glass 

 receptacles that are veritable torture 

 chambers for the inhabitants. The normal 

 affair is a rectangular box from a foot to 

 sixty inches long, with a depth of not 

 more than twenty inches in the largest 

 size, the bottom preferably of slate, 

 though glass may be used in small sizes. 

 Aquaria are occasionally manufactured 

 with metal bottoms. Unless these have 

 been so treated as to be rust-proof, it is 

 walking into unnecessary danger to buy 

 them. 



A two-inch layer of small, white peb- 

 bles or sand should, after thorough 

 washing, be spread over the bottom and 

 a quantity of water-plants ( which any 

 dealer can supply) placed in position. 



The quantity of plants needed will de- 

 pend both on the size of the aquarium 

 and the species of the plants. The plants 

 have a two-fold use. The first is to 

 supply oxygen to the air-breathing ani- 

 mals in the water, and the second is to 

 beautify the tank. Without plants the 

 aquarium would be devoid of interest no 

 matter how many fishes it contained. 



Fishes at the surface is an ominous 

 sign. It signifies that either the water is 

 dank and foul or that the amount of 

 oxygen in the water is insufficient to 

 support the animal life contained therein. 

 The fishes may do one of two things. 

 They may remain at the bottom and 

 drown or swim at the top and live a few 

 days longer. Unless other conditions are 

 factors they will be found at the top 

 taking advantage of the oxygen absorbed 

 by the water from the air. The remedv 

 in the case of foul water is a speedy 

 change, and in the second, the installa- 

 tion of more oxygen-giving plants or the 

 removal of some of the fishes to another 

 tank. Excessively hot weather, or a pro- 

 tracted period of dull days, reduces the 

 activity of the plants and brings the 

 fishes to the surface. But even this is an 

 indication of too many fishes, and re- 

 futes that ill-chosen term "balanced 

 aquarium." No aquarium is balanced. 

 Either the plants are giving off more 

 oxygen than is actually being consumed, 

 the excess being given off into the atmos- 

 phere, or there is an insufficient supply 

 and the fishes are at the surface in 

 agonv. The proper term is "self-sus- 

 taining aquarium," the plants being suf- 



