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Chapter Fourteen 



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Construction 



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AQUARIUM CONSTRUCTION 



The amateur aquarist with a little talent for things mechanical 

 can find profit as well as pleasure in making an aquarium according 

 to his own ideas and requirements. The few necessary tools either 

 are, or ought to be, a part of every household equipment. 



Naturally the first consideration is that of the space to be occupied 

 by the aquarium. In determining this it is well to be influenced, as 

 far as conditions will permit, by the needs of the aquarium inmates. 

 As to proportions, it will be found that most aquarium fishes do best 

 in shallow aquaria with plenty of water surface. However, for artistic 

 arrangement and symmetrical plant growth we must have a certain 

 amount of depth. Twenty inches deep is sufficient even for large 

 aquaria. For all-round purposes, bearing in mind both the artistic 

 and the useful, a good general rule is to make the aquarium in the 

 form of a double cube. That is, the width and height identical, and 

 the length twice that of either. Unless an aquarium is to be viewed 

 only from the top, it is not advisable to make the width over twenty- 

 five inches, as even a slight cloudiness of the water considerably 

 obscures the fishes when there is so much of it to look through. 

 Within reason, make the aquarium as large as possible, but nothing 

 over a seventy-gallon size is to be recommended for the household. 

 An accidental breaking of the glass, even at this size, is too great a 

 catastrophe to contemplate with composure. Since it is very little 

 more trouble to keep a large-sized aquarium than a small one, and 

 the results are so much better, at least with goldfishes, we would 

 unhesitatingly say to those weighing the merits of two sizes, take the 

 larger. 



For most varieties of tropical fishes, a number of small aquaria 

 will be found preferable. These will be treated of hereafter in the 

 present chapter. 



