124 MARINE AQUARIA 



cial business of marine collections for the household aquarium. We have 

 reason to believe this could soon be developed into a profitable business, 

 such as has been done by many in Europe. Germany has thousands of 

 successful marine aquaria stocked mostly by dealers. 



Tropical marine fishes are of dazzling beauty, a fact enthusiastically 

 attested by those visiting any of our large American public aquaria, or 

 by those so fortunate as to travel in Bermuda, or to have seen the 

 beautiful marine aquarium at Miami, Florida. Most of our tropical 

 specimens are collected at Bermuda and at Key West, Florida. The 

 various kinds of kelp and coral fishes make aquarium specimens of such 

 bewitching beauty that any attempted word-description of them would 

 appear extravagant. Anyone wishing to make a collection should 

 employ a local fisherman at the collecting point who knows the haunts 

 and ways of the fishes, and who understands the danger of sudden tropical 

 storms. Such collections should be shipped in a liberal quantity of water 

 and artificially aerated by pump or pouring whenever the train is still for 

 more than fifteen minutes. On shipboard, new water of the proper 

 temperature should be frequently given. 



Stocking the Aquarium. Perhaps we can repeat to advantage that 

 it is better to under- than to over-stock the aquarium. This is particularly 

 true of the marine aquarium, first, because if we spoil the water by dead 

 animals it is some trouble to obtain more, and second, because the animals 

 are used to more oxygen in the vast ocean than can be had in a crowded 

 aquarium. 



Extra vigilance needs to be exercised when the occupants are first 

 introduced, as some of them may not survive the change. 



It is best to start with some of the more hardy fishes, such as the 

 marine killifish, to see whether the aquarium conditions are in proper 

 working order. It will be time enough to branch out more elaborately 

 after this is proven. The author some years ago received this same 

 advice from a leading expert and, although loath to follow it, decided 

 that advice worth asking for was worth following. This proved to be of 

 value, for the killifish were all dead in a few days, and the same would 

 have been true of more valuable specimens. 



Anemones and other creatures attached to rocks should, if possible, 

 be placed in the aquarium without detaching. Low forms do better if 

 handled with a dipper or spoon. Whether or not mussels are alive can 

 be determined by tapping lightly on the shell with a small stick. In 

 health the shell will promptly close. Gentle disturbances of the water 

 will show whether anemones and other low forms are living, as they will 

 respond by slight movements. Care on this point is of vital importance, 

 as decomposition is very rapid. 



